TY - JOUR
AB - YOUR NEWS WANTEDThe news section gives updates on what has been happening in physics education worldwide. Items included show how events in one country could be relevant to good practice elsewhere in the world. Contributions are welcome from all our readers and should be about 200 to 300 words and can include a picture. Please send your news items for the November issue of Physics Education to ped@iop.org before 21 September 2001.Contents:EPS Award Winners: Award for outreach to Physics Education authorsTeacher Training: Helping teachers specialize in physicsAAPT Summer Meeting: The science of lightAAPT Summer Meeting: Do you believe in skepticism?E-Learning: Massive investment in Swedish online learningUK Science Year: News from Science Year11-16 Curriculum: Naming the energy partsTeacher Training: Electronic Discussion Group for Trainee TeachersPublications: Physics on Course 2002Wales: Physics in PowysHigher Education: HE solutions to the physics teacher shortageScotland: The 27th Scottish Stirling MeetingNorthern Ireland: Belfast physics teachers' meetingScotland: Physics Summer School, Edinburgh 2001AAPT Summer Meeting: Physics education research: massive growthAAPT Summer Meeting: Just-In-Time TeachingEPS AWARD WINNERSAward for outreach to Physics Education authorsThe 2001 European Physical Society Outreach Prize has been awarded to Dr Christine Sutton (Oxford University) and Professor Erik Johansson (Stockholm University). Both prizewinners have brilliant track records as particle physicists, but they have never lost sight of the need to communicate physics to the wider public. Readers of Physics Education will recognize Professor Johansson as a regular contributor of articles, mostly relating to the public understanding of particle physics, and we at Institute of Physics Publishing are proud to be associated with such a prestigious author. Johansson is a prominent particle physicist in Sweden who, for the last 12 years or so, has been working with CERN in search of the Higgs particle. At the other end of the spectrum, his most recent submission to Physics Education, in this issue, concerns the provision of a scientific background for audiences of Michael Frayn's play, Copenhagen.The prize is awarded 'For their innovative use of electronic and printed media to bring HEP to wider public, including professional colleagues, students and schools, and in particular their collaboration developing computer interactive packages for educational master classes.' Our congratulations to both Dr Sutton and Professor Johansson.KPTEACHER TRAININGHelping teachers specialize in physicsThe physics teacher shortage is acute in many countries, and one solution is to retrain teachers of other subjects to teach physics. Universities in the UK typically train four times more biology specialists than physics teachers. Inevitably there will be pressure, as the physics teacher shortage bites, on these biology teachers to teach physics. Ironically, 15 years ago there were several courses at UK universities aimed specifically at training biologists to teach physics, but the funding for these was cut. Now the Institute of Physics is seeking to work with other agencies to develop the right sort of support for today's teachers. The developments are embryonic, and interested parties should register their interest with the Education Department at the Institute of Physics. Contact: Catherine Wilson: catherine.wilson@iop.orgKPAAPT SUMMER MEETINGThe science of lightRochester, near the southern shore of Lake Ontario, NY, is a city with a history of optical excellence. Pioneer photographer and Kodak founder George Eastman lived there, and in addition to Kodak, it is home to other optics giants such as Xerox and Bausch and Lomb. The theme for the 123rd National Meeting of the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) in Rochester was therefore The Science of Light, and there were many excellent keynote speakers. For example, J H Elberly of Rochester's Theory Center for Optical Science and Engineering discussed the possibility of teleportation, considering the many obstacles in 'the real world of unreal reality' and, at the more manageable end of the scale, David R Williams from the University of Rochester's Center for Visual Science described the current limits of human vision and how the adaptive optics methods developed to improve the resolution of telescopes can be used to enable the human eye to see with unprecedented optical quality.The summer meeting of the AAPT regularly attracts around 1000 High-School and College-level physics teachers and, increasingly, researchers. With daily poster-sessions and with most presentations being simply 15 minutes, there was opportunity for almost everyone to contribute. The feeling of a supportive, sharing community was wonderful, and the friendly discussion was stimulating. 'This is where physics teachers go for their annual boost of enthusiasm' said one delegate.KPAAPT SUMMER MEETINGDo you believe in skepticism?Physics and Society Education was the theme for a session of eight short papers at this summer's AAPT meeting. An underlying theme seemed to be the concern that non-scientists, or worse, people with a negative attitude to science, are increasingly finding themselves in positions of power. Richard Reimann described how a judge did not allow the testimony of a physicist in a murder trial because he doubted that Newton's law of cooling could be applied to the human body.Most people in the US do not study physics beyond 9th grade (14-15 years old, UK's Year 10), so David Simmons has designed his physics course to encourage students to be able to make value-judgements based on scientific principles. Using It's About Time's Active Physics course, he encourages students to learn the difference between science and pseudoscience, researching topics such as astrology, water divination and ghosts, blended within a more traditional selection of physics topics.A perennial hot topic in many US states remains the teaching of evolution and creationism. Art Hobson, author and teacher of conceptual science courses at University of Arkansas, is committed to ensuring that students learn about evolution (whether or not they choose to believe it). Hobson described how in his courses evolution is taught within cosmology, the second law of thermodynamics, radioactivity and in discussions on extraterrestrial life. There were evidently some strong feelings about this approach: many teachers are still concerned about being prosecuted by creationists for teaching what they feel is good science, whilst others feel that Hobson himself can get carried away with scientific religious fervour. So, the question was asked again: is science a religion? Skepticism certainly has its devotees. Where do we draw the line?KPE-LEARNINGMassive investment in Swedish online learningAs initiators of the European virtual classroom and the Euronet, Swedish educators are firmly committed to developing online learning. Beyond these government initiatives the dot.com bubble has not burst for investment in education: over 20 million has been raised from venture capital and invested in the commercial development of online curricula for secondary schools. It is a high risk, high-investment business, but the potential pay-outs are massive.Theducation sells packages of support materials to schools with access to materials over the internet. The package goes far beyond the standard simulations and quizzes for use in class. Students get their own login code so that they can access work from home, and they can e-mail an online tutor with questions. (Answers are guaranteed within 24 hours.) Students are also encouraged to discuss physics online.Wolfgang DietrichAuthor and designer of much of the physics material is teacher Wolfgang Dietrich. A great enthusiast for the new medium, he uses home experiments and demonstrations as a teaser to the enquiring student, emphasizing animations and interactive simulations.Teacher-turned-salesman for Theducation, Jan Bruce finds that whilst teachers are keen to tap into online resources they are often hesitant about the provision of an online tutor. Will the online tutor undermine their position? Ultimately will online tutors cause job losses amongst regular teachers? Bruce reports enthusiasm and relief at being able to share their workload. Dietrich will never give up face-to-face teaching in favour of the computer, preferring to see these new internet-based resources adding to the teachers' palette. However, as the teacher shortage becomes more acute web-based education provides part of the solution. It will certainly be a slow return on the millions which have been invested.KPwww.theducation.sewww.euronet.seUK SCIENCE YEARNews from Science YearScience Year will be launched on Friday 7 September at four major venues around the UK: The Wellcome Wing of the Science Museum, The Glasgow Science Centre (at the end of the BA Festival), Techniquest in Cardiff and W5 in Belfast. The Prime Minister, Tony Blair, and Secretary of State for Education, Estelle Morris, will be in London, Hamish McLeish (Scots First Minister) and Lord Sainsbury will be in Glasgow and Rhodri Morgan (Welsh First Minister) will be in Cardiff; Martin McGuinness had promised to be in Belfast, but events may prevent his appearance. There will be subsidiary events at the Eden project in Cornwall, @-Bristol, Think Tank etc. There will be satellite links between the venues.Around the country children will be taking part in the Giant Jump using home-made seismometers and more professional equipment to see what effect a million children jumping at the same time can have.Tony Blair will be launching the Science Ambassadors Scheme, which will be putting real scientists in classrooms with 6 million of DTI money (over three years)it will also encompass existing schemes and the KITPOT where schools can bid for extra equipment from a pool of stuff. Both of these are to be finalized.Steven ChapmanScience Year Manager London  www.the-ba.netsteven.chapman@the-ba.net11-16 CURRICULUMNaming the energy partsAn interesting discussion developed at the Schools Physics Group meeting at Rugby in June. Professor Robin Millar of York University gave a presentation on Talking about Energy. Discussion focused on 'the power station question' - a common example of transfer of energy featured in textbooks and examination questions. Water, flowing down from a dam, drives a turbine to generate electricity. Many books describe conversion of gravitational potential energy into kinetic energy of the water and then kinetic energy of the turbine blades. Millar pointed out that the water did not slow down, neither did the turbine speed up while the water was flowing. So, although the water lost potential energy, the kinetic energy was constantthe energy was continuously being transferred to the end-users of the electricity. Millar suggested focusing students' attention on the systems in which energy is stored at the beginning and end of a processin this case, in the water at high altitude (as gravitational PE) at the start, and in the environment around the 'consumers' of the electricity generated (as internal energy) at the end. Rather than look for intermediate 'forms' it is clearer to think of the different ways in which energy is being transferred: by mechanical or electrical work, by heating or by radiaton. Tom McCleish, a previous speaker, raised the question of local energy conservation, and several teachers pointed out that if the correct exam answer was to identify kinetic energy of water into kinetic energy of the turbine blade, then that was what they should teach.Teachers study their lunch at the Rugby meeting.As ever it is the simple things that still cause the most fierce discussions. But can examiners and teachers agree a more purposeful and useful way of talking about energy?PBTEACHER TRAININGElectronic Discussion Group for Trainee TeachersOne of the genuine advantages of new technology is the productive networking we can enjoy. The Institute of Physics is launching a new e-group aimed at supporting student teachers. Moderated by Bob Kibble, teacher trainer at the University of Edinburgh, it is hoped that students will be able to offer mutual support and share experiences, complementing the stimulating Physics Teachers Notes and Comment (PTNC) conference. Students are welcome to subscribe to PTNC, which is for all teachers of physics, but can have more space for their particular concerns in their new, as yet unnamed, discussion group.KPPUBLICATIONSPhysics on Course 2002The next issue of the Institute of Physics's popular guide to higher education, Physics on Course 2002, is now available. Its pages are brimming with useful information to help school and college students who wish to study continue their study of physics at university level in the UK and Ireland.Under the heading 'Summary Tables of Physics Courses' every university listed in the book has a table which includes all the courses on offer, their entrance requirements, duration and the awards given. A section entitled 'Departmental Information' includes data on the teaching and assessment styles of the Physics Department, special facilities and contact details.These sections, together with an expanded set of case studies of recent students and various other interesting articles, make this publication a must for anyone who is making the very important decision regarding their particular choice of physics course. Copies of Physics on Course 2002 are available, free of charge, from Leila Solomon, Education Department, Institute of Physics, London W1B 1NT, UK or leila.solomon@iop.orgLeila SolomonWALESPhysics in PowysSoon to be in its third year the Powys Physics teachers conference is due to be held at Maes-y-dderyn School in October 2001.The initial impetus for the meeting (the first was held at the John Beddoes School, Presteigne) was the new AS courses, and excellent presentations were made from two teachers at pilot schools for Salters Horners and Advancing Physics.The second meeting (at Llanfair Caereinion High School) focused on organizing a trip to CERN open to all sixth-form Physics students in Powys. When you realize that there are only 13 secondary schools in Powys, and some of them are small, you see the need for a bit of cooperation.The IoP helped oil the wheels at the start, and because they covered the cost of lunch and tea and biscuits and travelling expenses for speakers', that 'what if it all goes horribly wrong' feeling was hardly noticeable. (If it all had gone horribly wrong then one lucky person would get to eat a lot of biscuitsnever a bad thing!)The next conference will be looking at:Terminal Server NetworkUsing old cast-off PCs to network science labs to run at Pentium speed.Dr Daq datalogging equipmentADC40 & ADC200 Virtual Oscilloscopes (www.picotech.com)Digital cameras as learning toolsLynne Harris (Philip Harris)Exhibition of new equipment and how to fund science equipment through training costs.And an update on the CERN trip.There will also be the usual chance to chat and share ideas. Anybody is welcome to attend, from Powys or otherwise, and given the location of Maes-y-dderyn it would be nice to see a few faces from South Wales.Contact Martin Sykes on mpsykes@hotmail.comG D WilliamsHIGHER EDUCATIONHE solutions to the physics teacher shortageFor the last nine months the Institute of Physics has been carrying out a major review of Undergraduate Physics in UK Higher Education. At time of writing the findings of the review have yet to be agreed by the IOP Council; publication is expected in the autumn. One of the topics it is believed to touch on is the critical shortage of physics teachers in schools - this shortage is believed to affect (and result from) the declining numbers of students continuing with physics at university level.The report may look for ways to improve pay and working conditions for teachers, making teaching more attractive: the controversial possibility of differential pay scales, to allow physics specialists to be better paid than those not in shortage areas, may be considered. New, broader and less mathematically concentrated physics degree courses are another possibility. The thinking is that such courses would be very attractive to the sort of people who may well also be thinking of going into teaching.KPSCOTLANDThe 27th Scottish Stirling MeetingStrong stuff in StirlingFollowing the popular tried-and-tested formula this annual meeting at the University of Stirling provided an excellent balance of information and inspiration.Preceded by coffee and registration in a display area for laboratory equipment and publishers, the morning session featured a series of presentations updating teachers on various key initiatives and programmes. Stuart Robertson explained the latest government ICT initiatives, involving key skills for teachers and students, and Mike Steel described a new Scottish interactive web-based distance-learning programme known as the SCHOLAR initiative. The newly established 'schools laboratory' at Heriot-Watt provides high quality experiments designed to support the practical assessments for outcome 3 at Advanced Higher. Interested schools simply book their places in advance.Heather MacDonald, from Jordanhill School Glasgow, gave a positive account of her first two years of teaching Intermediate 2 physics. She sees the course as a genuine stepping stone between Standard grade and Higher that is enjoyed and valued by most of the pupils. Derek Walker (of DJB Microtech) demonstrated software which he has created for use with the Alba interface. Derek selected two of the 44 embedded experiments: the measurement of internal resistance and the growth of current through an inductor in a d.c. circuit, and showed how the software could control experiments and analyse data.Radiation in the environmentThe final session of the mornining was provided by Ron Wheelton from NRPB in Glasgow as he described how his organization provides services in radiation safety, radiochemicals and film badge dosimetry. The main focus of the talk was radiation exposure, and Ron outlined the main ionizing and non-ionizing sources to which we are exposed. Exposure rates have been rising over the last decade due to increased use of CT scanners and jet flights but the main contributor is still, at around 50%, radon gas. Methods of detecting and reducing radon exposure in the home were described.Radiochemical services provide monitoring for radiation in seafood, foodstuffs, water and grass. Non-routine work included reactor leaks, radioactive pigeons and whisky!Ultraviolet and microwave monitoring is also part of the NRPB remit. UV monitoring can reveal holes in the ozone layer which are often small and short-lived, as well as the more serious large polar holes. The location of mobile phone base stations is a current hot topic in the UK: Wheelton explained that whilst there was no evidence of health damage from mobile phones there are guidelines for exposure to the general public given the lack of long term data, particularly regarding children. Curiously, the least microwave radiation is found directly beneath the mast!IOP mattersCatherine Wilson, of the Institute's Education Department, and Physics Education Editor Kerry Parker described recent developments from IOP education and the successful relaunch of Physics Education. TV weather-presenter Heather Reid presented awards to top physics students, and hijacked the meeting to make the 'unscheduled' presentation of a special gift of thanks to Jack Woolsey. After organizing the Stirling meeting for around 15 years, Jack is now retiring. Norman Fancey recounted Jack's contributions over the last two decades and his work developing the physics syllabus and writing teachers' guides and course material. Jack was awarded a fellowship last year as a measure of IOP's appreciation. Catherine Wilson, describing Jack as a 'shining example', made the presentation on behalf of the Institute.There were two winners at Higher Grade1st place David Pennicard, Lesmahago High School2nd place Martin Montgomery, Bearsden AcademyThere was one winner at CSYSCSYS Christopher Howlett, Marr College, TroonJack WoolseyMusic and physicsThe main entertaining and instructive lecture of the day was delivered by Murray Campbell. His fascinating presentation on how instruments work involved actually playing a wide range of instruments: woodwind, brass, stringed, synthesizer, flexible plastic tube and human voice (his own), tubular bell, long alpine horn and serpent. The concept of the harmonic series was at the heart of the presentation and the relationship between the frequencies in the series was examined using some clever software (Murray offered a copy free on request). This was developed into how musical notes are made from particular combinations of harmonics. We were treated to a neat demonstration of fundamental and harmonics on a stretched rope. Coupled vibrations were explained, e.g. a violin body acting as a coupled resonator.Glasgow Science CentreGillian Lang provided an update on this new 'hands-on science experience with an emphasis on fun', which includes a tower Imax cinema and the first virtual reality theatre available to the public. She described how the centre was developing teaching initiatives, outreach programmes and establishing links with agencies such as ESA.Michael McVeyNORTHERN IRELANDBelfast physics teachers' meetingThis annual meeting draws teachers from all over Northern Ireland and provided an exciting mixture of updates, entertainment and challenges. A few highlights: the hot new venture in Belfast is W5, a science centre built into the heart of the city. Everyone was talking about it, proudly, and Sue McGarth (pictured) of W5's education programme came to demonstrate the simple but exciting ways they are seeking to inspire youngsters with physics. The trick, of knocking away the tray so that the eggs land in the tumblers, is well known, but who dares demonstrate it in front of a hundred teachers? Entertainment came from Omagh Academy students with their five-minute prize-winning 'paperclip physics' presentations. The tough challenge was delivered by Sanjoy Mahajan, whose research exposes parrot learning without understanding. He has developed nine multiple choice questions. His physics undergraduate subjects averaged 41%. How did the Irish physics teachers (and an English physics teacher/editor) fare? Worse!KPSCOTLANDPhysics Summer School, Edinburgh 2001Twenty-four teachers from across Scotland enjoyed the first Scotland Physics Summer School this June. Hosted by the University of Edinburgh the event, which was designed to incorporate a physics update theme, was sponsored by the Institute of Physics. The programme included a series of hands-on laboratory sessions which offered a chance for participants to spend some quality time engaging with modern school apparatus, advanced optics practicals and a computer physics lab. A special feature was the 'early physics' lab, offering ideas for pre-14 physics experiments.The first day closed with us watching the sunset over the Edinburgh skyline from the roof of the Royal Observatory. Wine and nibbles and a friendly tour by observatory staff ensured that the first day closed with a magic moment.Tuesday took us into the heart of the microelectronics industry in the central belt with visits to Agilent, NEC, Shin Etsu and the Alba centre. It became clear from the industrial presentations that there is a bright future for keen physics graduates in these growth areas, with starting salaries of around 22k. A special evening of rocketry in Holyrood Park (with HRH permission) entertained us until dusk.We were fortunate to secure the services of a team of excellent speakers throughout the week. Broadcaster Heather Reid ensured we knew the difference between our 'forecasts' and our 'nowcasts'. Professor Steve Beaumont and his colleagues illustrated how our op-amp and MOSFET ideas reached fruition through the new technology of Integrated Systems. Dr Lindsay Fletcher offered an insight into solar magnetism and Professor Miles Padget led our excursion through optical fibres and medical optics technology.Inputs from Jim Jamieson (SSERC), Don Vass (HMI) and Bob Kibble managed to keep our minds focused on teaching and learning. The participant evaluations have encouraged the organizing team to push ahead and repeat the event next year. Space is limited so watch out for advanced booking details.Bob KibbleAAPT SUMMER MEETINGPhysics education research: massive growthOf the 100 or so sessions at the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) Annual Summer meeting in Rochester, NY, around 15% were presentations of Physics Education Research (PER). Neither physics teachers nor teacher trainers, the PER contingent are increasingly playing a key role in shaping the teaching of physics in the USA and beyond. So much research is going on - there was a separate PER conference for a day following the main AAPT meeting, in addition to the presentations at the meeting itself - and most of the researchers are young, keen and very dynamic.A common problem of 'descriptive learning' was highlighted by Sallie A Watkins, as she addressed the conference on receipt of the Robert A Millikan Award. She challenged US teachers to improve the international ranking of their students - on a world-wide scale US 8th graders are 'very average' at physics. Watkins outlined how quiet, hardworking students could pass physics courses with an A-grade by rote-learning and memorizing worked examples, undetected by their teachers. Without understanding physics, these 'descriptive learners' often believe that physics itself is impossible to understand and encourage other students to avoid physics wherever possible. But this sort of problem is not confined to the US: Sanjoy Mahajan described the results of his investigations which tested the physical reasoning of some of the UK's top physics students at the University of Cambridge. His conclusion was that the British system also teaches students 'to perform like parrots in exams, but not how to reason like physicists'.There were interesting results of investigations into underrepresented and at-risk students such as Laura McCullough's studies comparing the answers students gave when given questions with girly or macho contexts for questions. Other discussions concerned the effectiveness of web-based and online learning, assessment tools, problem-solving and the use of labs in the teaching of physics. Researchers are providing important and meaningful input to the physics teaching community. For example, getting students to ask questions and to reflect on their own learning may not be easy, but, as Eugenia Etkina and Yuh-Fen Lin reported, such techniques can produce significant conceptual gains.The challenge will be to ensure that the results of all this research can be used to improve physics education for the many students who remain bored and uninspired by the physics lessons they receive. Sallie Watkins described how the Glenn Report (2000) is proposing to make physics teaching more attractive to well-qualified graduates and how the 'No Child Left Behind' Act aims to give every US child a good physics education. There are so many great ideas and grand objectives - let's hope that they get the support they really need to make it happen.KPAAPT SUMMER MEETINGJust-In-Time TeachingAt this month's AAPT meeting in Rochester, New York, several sessions and many talks were devoted to the use of 'JITT'. The idea is to use the interactive, 24/7 nature of the internet and the ubiquity of web browsers to allow a teacher to pose questions for which his/her students must submit answers for the teacher's review and comments before the start of class or lecture each day. The questions may relate to a reading assignment, a previous lecture, or anything the teacher feels the students need as a foundation for the day's lesson. The submitted answers are then read and analysed by the teacher before going into the class, and serve to focus and enhance the lesson by revealing student understanding and/or misconceptions about the material.In The Sun, The Genome and The Internet, Freeman Dyson states his belief that the technology of the Internet will one day help to close the gap between the various nations of the world. While it is only one small step in the right direction, JITT should be able to bring more effective teaching into classrooms around the world. From the results presented at the AAPT meeting, there can be little doubt that it is an effective tool for learning and teaching physics. The matter that remains to be solved is making JITT usable with just a simple web browser and basic e-mail system, so that no additional expensive or proprietary software is needed.Steve Mellema
TI - NEWS
JF - Physics Education
DO - 10.1088/0031-9120/36/5/601
DA - 2001-09-01
UR - https://www.deepdyve.com/lp/iop-publishing/news-G9R9Ow5oVY
SP - 359
VL - 36
IS - 5
DP - DeepDyve
ER -