Physics – Physics Education
Scientific paper
Nov 1999
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1999phyed..34..336.&link_type=abstract
Physics Education, Volume 34, Issue 6, pp. 336 (1999).
Physics
Physics Education
Scientific paper
Joining the team
A new member of staff has recently joined the Institute of Physics Education Department (Schools and Colleges) team. (Dr) Steven Chapman will have managerial responsibility for physics education issues in the 11 - 16 age range, particularly on the policy side. He will work closely with Mary Wood, who spends much of her time out and about doing the practical things to support physics education pre-16. Catherine Wilson will be spending more of her time working to support the Post-16 Physics Initiative but retains overall responsibility for the department.
Steven graduated in Physics and Astronomy and then went on to do his doctorate at Sussex University. He stayed in the research field for a while, including a period at NPL. Then, having decided to train as a teacher, he taught for the last five years, most recently at a brand new school in Sutton where he was Head of Physics.
Physics update
Dates for `Physics Update' courses in 2000, intended for practising science teachers, are as follows:
1 - 3 April: Malvern College 9 - 10 June: Stirling University 8 - 10 July: York University 8 - 10 December: Oxford University
The deadline for applications for the course to be held on 11 - 13 December 1999 at the School of Physics, Exeter University, is 12 November, so any late enquiries should be sent to Leila Solomon at The Institute of Physics, 76 Portland Place, London W1N 3DH (tel: 020 7470 4821) right away.
Name that teacher!
Late nominations are still welcome for the Teachers of Physics/Teachers of Primary Science awards for the year 2000. Closing date for nominations is `the last week in November'. Further details can be obtained from Catherine Wilson or Barbara Hill in the Institute's Education Department.
Forward and back!
The Education Group's one-day meeting on 13 November is accepting bookings until almost the last minute, so don't delay your application! The day is entitled `Post-16 physics: Looking forward, learning from the past' and it aims to celebrate the Group's 50th anniversary by examining what has been done, focusing on why and how it was done, with lessons and ambitions for the future. The meeting will be held at Institute Headquarters and the programme is as follows:
10.45 - 11.00 Welcome and introduction (Philip Britton: Chair of the Education Group)
11.00 - 11.45 Examinations and assessment through the ages (Tim Akrill, Chief Examiner for A-level Physics with Edexcel)
11.45 - 12.30 Curriculum reform in physics, past, present and future (Professor Jon Ogborn, Director of the Post-16 Physics Initiative)
14.00 - 14.15 Physics education and the Institute of Physics, some personal reflections (speaker to be announced)
14.15 - 15.00 Connecting with Advancing Physics: the first year in HE physics (Professor Mick Brown, University of Cambridge)
15.15 - 15.35 Physics education, the next 50 years! (Ken Dobson, Honorary Editor of Physics Education)
The day should hold something for everyone, so reserve your place if you can.
Schools and Colleges lecture
Dr Zbig Sobiesierski of the University of the West of England is the 1999 - 2000 Institute of Physics Schools and Colleges lecturer, touring the country with his talk `Seeing is believing?'. He will demonstrate the different physical ways in which we can both make and mix colour and will then proceed to discuss why our eyes respond to light in the way they do. The lecture will be aimed primarily at students aged 14 and above, but it will also be suitable for older audiences. The intention, as with previous series, will be to show the relevance of the physics concepts to the members of the audience and the world in which they live.
To find out more about the lecture in your area and to make a booking, contact should be made with the local organizer (full details of the list can be obtained from Catherine Wilson at Institute Headquarters). The dates and venues planned so far are as follows:
1 Nov: Northern College, Aberdeen 2 Nov: University of St Andrews 3 Nov: Heriot-Watt University 4 Nov: Strathclyde University 17 Nov: York University 24 Nov: Bristol University 1 Dec: Open University 7 Dec: Kent University 14 Dec: Cardiff University 15 Dec: University of Wales, Swansea 24 Jan: Reading University 10 Feb: Abingdon School 16 Feb: Plymouth University 2 Mar: Sheffield University 7 Mar: CLRC Daresbury Laboratory 8 Mar: Liverpool University 9 Mar: Manchester 10 Mar: Lancaster University 15 Mar: Surrey University 16 Mar: Brighton University 17 Mar: St Vincent College, Gosport 22 Mar: Leeds University 23 Mar: Loughborough Grammar School 24 Mar: Oakham School 30 Mar: St Peter's School, Wolverhampton 18 May: University of Hertfordshire 11 Jul: Science Museum 12 Jul: Royal Institution
The assistance of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, CLRC Daresbury Laboratory and DERA Malvern is acknowledged in staging this year's events.
Courses, lectures and competitions
`Physics in perspective', the study course for sixth-formers and college students, will take place in London on 6 - 8 February 2000, offering insights into many different aspects of physics. The programme commences during the afternoon of Sunday 6 February at King's College London with a Balloon debate, followed by Brian O'Rourke's talk on the `Physics of Formula 1 cars'.
On Monday 7 February at the Royal Institution, John Avison (former Honorary Editor of Physics Education) will develop the `Thinking physics' theme by presenting the audience with varied topics in an unusual and challenging way. The second talk of the afternoon, by Professor Roy Sambles, will cover `Lasers, light and liquid crystals'. On the final day (Tuesday 8 February), again at the Royal Institution, Sara Ellison will lead the audience in `Heavenly pursuits', whilst later Dr Colin Wright will entertain with `Juggling - theory and practice'.
Futher information and bookings for the course can be made by contacting Mrs Leila Solomon at The Institute of Physics, 76 Portland Place, London W1N 3DH (tel: 020 7470 4800, fax: 020 7470 4848, e-mail: leila.solomon@iop.org). The cost for the complete series of lectures is £20 - one teacher accompanying a minimum of ten students will be admitted free.
`Paperclip physics' is the contest for students who have the admirable desire to explain physics to nonscientists and who can also build a physics demonstration from items found around the home! Closing date for entries to the 2000 competition is 30 November 1999 with regional heats and finals planned for January/February and the Grand Final on 22 March 2000 at the Institute's Headquarters in London. Entries will be welcomed from Year 12, S5, Transition Year/First-year Leaving Certificate students or equivalents from schools and colleges: each team must consist of no fewer than three and no more than six students. Presentations should take no longer than five minutes and a hazard assessment must be submitted for each entry beforehand. As for the course mentioned above, more details and entry forms can be obtained from Leila Solomon at the Institute of Physics.
Finally, the programme is now available for education events to be staged at the annual Physics Congress being held in Brighton on 27 - 30 March 2000. There will be hands-on activities for pupils aged 10 - 12 (school years 6 - 7), which must be booked in advance, as well as lectures and activities for students in years 8 - 10 on Music and sound (28 - 29 March) and Static electricity (30 March). In addition there will be INSET for teachers and technicians based on `Teaching physics at key stage 3' - hands-on workshops open to nonspecialist teachers of physics at an affordable cost. Further details can be found at the Congress website (www.iop.org/IOP/Congress), and bookings should be made through Leila Solomon.
The public lectures during the Congress and commencing each evening at the Brighton Centre at 6 pm will be:
27 Mar: Mike & Wendy Gluyas `Musical Squares' 28 Mar: Professor Malcolm Longair 29 Mar: Adam Hart-Davis 30 Mar: Peter Barham `The physics of ice-cream'
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