C.14 Commission on Physics Education (1960)
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Officers 1990-1993: Chairman E.L. Jossem, USA
Vice-Chairman: G. Marx, Hungary
Secretary: J. Barojas, Mexico
Members P. J. Black, U. K N. V. Karlov, Russia
A.M.P. de Carvalho, Brazil D.K. Nachtigall,Germany
K Hirata, Japan A. Tiberghien, France
L. Johansson, Sweden R. K Wassef, Egypt
F. Kaczmarek, Poland Kai_hua Zhao, China
Associate Members: E. Lillethun, Norway S. W. Raither, France
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Activities
The primary charge to the commission in its mandate is to promote
the exchange of information and views among members of the international
community of physicists in the general field of Physics Education
including: the collection, evaluation and distribution of information
concerning education in the physical sciences at all levels; information
relating to the assessment of the standards of physics teaching
and learning; suggesting ways in which the facilities for the
study of physics at all levels might be improved, and giving help
to physics teachers in all countries in incorporating current
knowledge of physics, physics pedagogy, and the results of research
in physics education into their courses and curricula. The commission
also initiates conferences as the need arises, and assists in
the organization of such conferences. A listing of the major activities
of the Commission in these areas during the 1990_1993 term is
presented below.
1. Conferences
International Conference on Physics Education Through Experiments
Nankai University, Tianjin, China, 23 - 27 April 1990
This conference, a joint activity of IUPAP and ASPEN, had as its
purpose the exploration of ideas and the exchange of information
concerning the uses of experimental physics in the education of
students. The Proceedings of the conference have been published
and information about their availability may be obtained from
Professor Pan Weiji. Department of Physics, Nankai University,
Tianjin, China.
A meeting of C.14 was held in Tianjin during the two days immediately
preceding this conference.
II. InterAmerican Conference on Physics Education: Preparing for 2000
Simon Bolivar University, Caracas, Venezuela, 14 - 20 July 1991
Arranged under the auspices of the Council for InterAmerican Conferences on Physics Education, this conference addressed a wide variety of current concerns in physics education. Information about the Proceedings may be obtained from the conference organizer, Professor Celso Luis Ladera, Departamento de Fisica, Universidad Simon Bolivar, Apdo Postal 89000, Caracas 1086A, Venezuela, Fax: 58-2-962-1695.Teaching About Reference Frames: From Copernicus to Einstein
Nicolas Copernicus University, Torun, Poland, 19- 24 August 1991
Organized by GIREP, this conference explored various aspects of
the subject named in its title. Information about the publication
of its Proceedings may be obtained from Dr. Jzefina Turlo,
The Institute of Physics, Nicolaus Copernicus University, 5 Grudiadzka
Street, 87-100 Torun, Poland, Fax: 48-56-24-602.
A meeting of C. 14 was held in Torun in conjunction with this
conference.
Physics Education for Reforming Fundamental Physics Teaching
Southeast University, Nanjing, China, 25-29 May 1992
The reform and improvement of physics education at the introductory
college and university level was the topic of discussion at this
conference. The proceedings of the conference have been published.
Further information may be obtained from Professor Yun Ying, Department
of Physics, Southeast University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210018, China.
Teaching Modern Physics; Statistical Physics
University of Extremadura, Badajoz, Spain, 19 - 25 July 1992
This conference, the third in the ICPE series of Teaching Modern
Physics conferences, addressed the problems of teaching about
statistical physics at all grade levels. As with previous TMP
conferences it provided an opportunity for interactions between
those at the research frontiers of the subject and those who teach
the material. The proceedings of the conference are in process
of publication. Further information may be obtained from Professor
G. Velarde, Department of Physics, UNED-Ciencias, Apartado 60.141,
Madrid 28.071, Spain.
A meeting of C. 14 was held in Badajoz in connection with this
conference.
Education for Physics Teaching
Universität Dortmund, Dortmund, Germany, 21- 25 September
1992
This conference was concerned with the theoretical and practical
problems involved in the training of teachers in physics, primarily
at the elementary and secondary levels. For further information
write to Professor D. K. Nachtigall, Lehrstuhl fur Didaktik der
Physik, Fachbereich Physik, Universität Dortmund, Otto-Hahn-Strae
4, D-44227 Dortmund, Germany.
Physics Education for Development
University of the Philippines, Manila, Philippines, 1 - 5 December
1992
This conference focused on interactions between physics teaching
and physics teachers and the community in which the teaching is
carried out. A proceedings containing the texts of papers presented
at the conference has been published. For further information
write to Professor Porfirio P. Jesuitas, Director, Institute for
Science and Mathematics Education Development, University of the
Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City 1101, The Philippines.
Future Conferences
An International Conference on Physics Education: Light and
Information, is scheduled to be held in Braga, Portugal, 16
-21 July, 1993. Topics to be discussed include, for example, advances
in optics teaching, optical encoding of information, and biophysical
aspects of optics. For further information write to: Professor
L. Chainho Pereira, Vice-Rector, Universidade do Minho, Largo
do Paco, 4719 Braga, Portugal, Fax: 351-53-61-69 36.
Three conferences for 1994 are in the initial stages of planning:
The InterAmerican Conference on Physics Education, to be held
at College Station, Texas in July 1994, a conference on Teaching
Modern Physics to Non-physics Majors, to be held in the Sinai,
Egypt in July 1994, and a conference on Physics and the Environment;
"After Rio" to be held at Balaton, Hungary in September
1994.
2. The Medal of the Commission
The Medal of the ICPE is awarded for "contributions to physics
education which are major in scope and impact and which have extended
over a considerable period". In 1991 the Medal was awarded
to the International Physics Olympiad and in 1992 to Dr. Nahum
Joel.
3. The Newsletter of the Commission
Under the Editorship of the Vice-Chairman of the ICPE, Professor
George Marx, the Commission continues the publication of its Newsletter
on a semi-annual basis with issues appearing in March and in September.
The Newsletter is mailed free to about 1000 persons and institutions
worldwide.
4. Other Activities
Under the auspices of the ICPE, and with financial sponsorship
from UNESCO, a book entitled Physics Examinations for University
Entrance: An International Study was edited by a member of
C.14, Professor Paul Black This study, which examines the situation
in eleven countries world wide, has been published and distributed
by UNESCO as Document No. 45 (ED-92/WS-15) in the UNESCO Science
and Technology Education Document Series (STEPS).
Work also continues on other publication projects, in particular,
on a Reader on Research in Physics Education and Teacher Training.
New Developments in the Field
It has been said (Bruner, 1966) that education is in constant
process of invention, because there are changes both in circumstances
an in knowledge that impose constraints on and give opportunities
to the teacher in each succeeding generation. However, it is also
true that many of the same problems reoccur from generation to
generation, albeit often in new forms. In the past three years
the situation has been made more difficult by the political, social
and economic changes that have occurred, and are still in progress,
in many countries, including industrialized countries. Educational
systems are particularly vulnerable to such changes, and their
full long-erm effects are yet to be seen.
Nevertheless, in the past three years there has been a continuation
of world wide concern with the physics curriculum. This concern
has existed at all levels, and has been particularly strong at
the secondary and early tertiary levels. In many countries efforts
are being made to restructure the introductory physics curriculum
and to provide more contemporary insights into physics for the
students. The conferences in the Teaching Modern Physics Series,
initiated by C.14, have attempted to further this process
by bringing together research experts in a field of physics and
teachers with expertise in physics pedagogy. The participants
are asked to consider contemporary developments in the subject
matter field, to discuss the extent to which it might be practical
to incorporate such new knowledge and insights into the curriculum,
and to develop practical ways of doing so.
Significant developments have also occurred in another aspect
of physics education, namely, in an increased attention to the
student as the center and focus of the process. In particular,
research studies on how students learn, and on the conceptions
and models of the physical world they bring with them to the classroom,
have stimulated renewed efforts towards the improvement of instructional
strategies and tactics. In some countries there is a trend toward
modification of lectures to make them more interactive with students,
but there are also instructional models in which the lectures
are abandoned in favor of interactive laboratory experiences which
continually confront the student with the real physical situation
being studied.
Developments in instructional technology, especially the rapidly
growing availability of personal computers, CD-roms, and laser
disks are also influencing the ways in which students are being
helped to learn.
What one hopes to see coming out of these efforts to improve physics
education is a broadened point of view and a more imaginative
and effective utilization of new knowledge and insights in the
process of educating students, and, of no less importance, educating
the next generation of teachers.
Acknowledgments
Finally, as retiring Chair of C.14, I would like to take this
opportunity to acknowledge with great thanks and appreciation
the contributions of the other officers and members of C. 14 to
the work of the Commission. It is to their ideas and efforts that
the Commission owes whatever measure of success it has achieved.
Acknowledgments and thanks are due, also, to our Associate Members,
to the IUPAP Secretariat, and to UNESCO for continuing support
and assistance.
E. L. Jossem
Page prepared by:
last updated 7/25/96