Proceedings of the 25th Annual Stirling Physics Meeting 1999

Details Proceedings of the 25th Annual Stirling Physics Meeting 1999 Proceedings of the 25th Annual Stirling Physics Meeting 1999

Sep 1999

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1999phyed..34..254m&link_type=abstract

Physics Education, Volume 34, Issue 5, pp. 254-257 (1999).

Physics

Physics Education

Scientific paper

The 25th Annual Stirling Physics meeting took place on Thursday 20 May on a warm sunny day when the country setting of Stirling Campus could be seen at its best. A total of 225 participants from all sectors of physics education attended. There was an opportunity to view and discuss with exhibitors a wide range of state-of-the-art equipment and teaching materials both before and after the meeting.
The theme of the meeting was `Maintaining Standards'. Gemmel Millar, Scottish Branch Secretary acting as Chairperson for the morning session and in anticipation of the first speaker, wondered if a new unit qualification, the `Planck' might be introduced. Half units would then be `Short Plancks' and how many Short Plancks must there be in a unit? Great stuff.
Scottish Qualifications Authority
Hugh McGill began with a brief history and description of the Scottish Qualifications Authority. Born on 1 April 1997 (a light frisson of amusement swept through the audience) it was a unification between SEB and SCOTVEC and has a range of responsibilities covering schools, further and higher education. It oversees Standard and Higher grades, HNC and HND and SVQs, and it has 500 full-time employees as well as some 13500 appointees who act as examiners, assessors and verifiers etc, without whom its remit could not be carried out.
The committee structure of the Board was outlined, one each for national and higher national qualifications and a third for Scottish vocational qualifications. These will be served by a proposed 19 Advisory Groups. The Science Advisory Group will be the key body for advising SQA on strategic developments to ensure that qualifications meet the needs of both client groups and end users. A consultation paper `Added Value To Learning' was referred to, in which all qualifications available in Scotland are given parity of esteem on a rising 11-point scale.
Mr McGill stated that standards would be best maintained by ensuring continuity in procedures developed over many years. The Physics Sub-panel would still exist. Nominees from this would serve on the Science Advisory Group. An Assessment Panel for physics would be created and a Principal Assessor would be appointed for three years to oversee both Higher and Advanced Higher. There would be continuity in retaining Arrangements Documents.
National Physical Laboratory
Metrology, the science of measurement, was the subject of a fascinating and wide-ranging talk by Dr Keith Berry. He described the origins of NPL, established in 1900 in Bushy House, a Royal property donated by Queen Victoria and not far from Hampton Court. Added to over the years, it now covers 60 acres and employs 700 staff, of whom 500 have professional qualifications in Metrology. NPL holds over 100 standards.
Dr Berry, in addressing the fundamental units of mass, length and time, described the evolution of the standard metre, defined originally 200 years ago as one ten-millionth of the polar quadrant running through Paris but in reality referenced to a standard platinum bar. The bar and its variants survived until 1960 when the metre was referenced to the wavelength of light from 86Kr. It is currently defined in relation to the speed of 633 nm light emitted through a vacuum from a stabilized HeNeI laser (1983).
Research was under way to redefine the standard kilogram with something more reliable than the current platinum iridium standard kg, accurate to only 1 part in 107, possibly by counting the number of Si atoms in a standard macroscopic sample. Refinements in the standard second led to the development of the atomic clock with an accuracy of 1 part in 1013. This will vary by no more than 1 second in 300000 years. It is now widely used in GPS satellite technology.
All measurements have to be traceable back to a national standard but each step in the calibration chain results in a loss of accuracy.
Towards the middle of the 19th century, anomalies in national standards (the UK for example had a different length standard for imports and exports!) resulted in the establishment of the Convention Du Mètre, an agreement on the definition of a standard metre to which all signatories would adhere. This now has 48 signatories and has given rise to the International Bureau of Weights and Measures located near Paris but technically not in France (merely surrounded by it). The French Government has accorded its couple of acres international status. The Bureau is the Secretariat to the International Committee on Weights and Measures and it is this committee which has overall responsibility for international standards.
Dr Berry described a proposed international agreement which all national standards institutions will be required to sign. This will result in the production of a database listing the standards being used in all the participating countries and will be totally transparent.
Uncertainties were touched on. A draft NPL document entitled `A Beginner's Guide to The Uncertainty of Measurement' already exists and will be made available to the profession in due course. The Scottish Branch was invited to have an input to this publication.
Dr Berry concluded by describing a number of interesting everyday examples in which measurement was critically important. These ranged from calibration of aircraft altimeters by pressure measurement to the equalisation of National Lottery balls to a paltry 1/1000 inch (more non-SI units!). The audience was left with much to take back to the classroom from a valuable and entertaining presentation.
Advancing Physics
Philip Britton set the scene in a light-hearted and often hilarious introduction, e.g. `when you're in a room full of physicists you don't feel so awkward because everybody else is weird'. The Advancing Physics initiative, he explained, was an Institute of Physics response to a deteriorating situation within physics education in England and Wales, particularly in the following areas:

• too few young people south of the border are choosing to study physics;
• the ratio of boys to girls taking physics is too high;
• a restricted framework of A-level qualifications currently exists;
• there is a crisis in recruitment of physics teachers with only 60 signed up to train for next year.

In response, IOP is investing half a million pounds in the initiative. Teachers are at the heart of Advancing Physics, as exemplified by the following: a national physics teachers' network, a newsletter, database and website.
Some features of the website were described: as a forum for teacher discussions it permits considerable input via an e-mail list to which teachers can subscribe and list messages. A series of resource discussion booklets: `Making Physics connect', `Shaping the future', `Maths in Physics', `Physics in the study of matter' were also highlighted.
The jewel in the crown of Advancing Physics was a brand new A-level physics course (not merely a syllabus) supported by `serious' IT in the form of a CD-ROM, together with comprehensive teacher's notes and course book.
The new CD-ROM was skilfully previewed by Ian Lawrence, who guided the audience through a small selection of the many layers of its fascinating and enticing menu. Philip concluded by assuring us that the Advancing Physics initiative was for everyone and he expected a significant spin-off for the Scottish curriculum and the physics profession north of the border. The audience was greatly impressed with the prospect of an exciting new resource and by a truly memorable presentation.
Higher and SYS Physics prizes
Lunch was followed by the presentation of prizes to the highest scoring candidates at Higher and SYS (sixth year studies) physics in 1998. It was noteworthy that there were six equally placed candidates for the Higher prize, each scoring 100%:
Higher Alistair Gilmour, Mackie Academy, Stonehaven Andrew J Hood, Boroughmuir High School, Edinburgh David Borthwick, Gracemount High School, Edinburgh Iain D Drummond, Denny High School Lynsey Granger, Kilmarnock Academy Andrew J R Allen, Greenock Academy
SYS Andrew D Wilson, Que

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