This article describes the 25-year history of development of the activity-based Workshop Physics (WP) at Dickinson College, its adaptation for use at Gettysburg Area High School, and its synergistic influence on curricular materials developed at the University of Oregon and Tufts University and vice versa. WP and these related curricula: 1) are based on Physics Education Research (PER) findings and are PER-validated; 2) feature active, collaborative learning; and 3) use computer-based tools that enable students to learn by making predictions and then collecting, displaying, and analyzing data from their experiments. Research has shown that Workshop Physics courses at Dickinson College and other institutions that have adopted it have achieved impressive learning gains in introductory physics topics known to be difficult for students to master. The same is true for related curricula described in this article such as Interactive Lecture Demonstrations and RealTime Physics laboratories.