Biographical sketches

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These brief biographical sketches, furnished by the authors, are arranged in alphabetical order

 

C. Ferreira-Gauchia
A3 Overcoming the Oblivion of Technology in Physics Education  

CARLOS FERREIRA-GAUCHÍA is a high school science and technology teacher. At present he is performing his doctoral thesis at the University of Valencia. The public dissertation is scheduled for the end of 2008. His research interest is focused on the analysis of Science-Technology-Society-Environment relationships from Technology Education point of view. He has published in journals such as Investigación en la Escuela, Enseñanza de las Ciencias and Didáctica de las Ciencias Experimentales y Sociale

 

Igal Galili
C2 History of Physics as a Tool for Teaching

Igal Galili started his training as a physicist in Russia and graduated in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel.  His area of research was many-body problems in solid state theoretical physics. Since his post doctorate in the Center of Science Education in 1988-89 at San Diego State University (California) his area of research shifted to physics education.  His interests included misconceptions and conceptual knowledge of physics, the structure of the knowledge of physics and of physics itself, for its representation in teaching, the scientific culture.  The latter brought him to issues of the history and philosophy of science, as necessary contents of physics curricula of cultural orientation.  He is currently Professor in Science Education and the Head of the Science Education Department and Science Teaching Center at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.  The results of his studies were implemented in a special physics textbook of "Optics in Cultural Approach" (three parts) for high schools.

 

Diane Grayson
C3 Disciplinary Knowledge from a Pedagogical Point of View

Diane Grayson did an MSc in Plasma Physics at the University of Natal in South Africa and a PhD in Physics Education at the University of Washington in the USA.  Since returning to South Africa in 1990 she has been coordinator of the Science Foundation Programme at the University of Natal (for students from disadvantaged backgrounds),  Academic Vice-Rector of a college of Education for maths and science teachers, Professor of Science Education at the University of South Africa, and now runs her own consultancy, Andromeda Science Education.  Her interests include teacher development, research, curriculum development, educational policy and promoting women in Physics.

 

Paul A. Hatherly
D4 The Virtual Laboratory and Interactive Screen Experiment

Paul Hatherly graduated in physics at the University of Reading, and began a research career in the experimental investigation of molecules in extreme environments using high energy synchrotron radiation and ultra-intense lasers. As Senior Lecturer in Experimental Physics and Director of Undergraduate Studies at the University of Reading, he encouraged innovative approaches to teaching and learning amongst colleagues and led by example through the development and evaluation of technological approaches to course content delivery. As an experimental physicist, Paul has a keen interest in the development and acquisition of practical skills amongst students. He encouraged this at Reading by developing a skills-based introductory laboratory course, which resulted in a massive improvement in retention and ability amongst undergraduates, which fed through into postgraduate ability. The University of Reading recognised Paul’s abilities and innovation through the 2007 Faculty of Science Award for Innovations in Teaching and Learning. In late 2007, Paul joined Physics and Astronomy at the Open University as a key member of the HEFCE-funded Physics Innovations Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (pCETL). His primary role here is the development, evaluation and dissemination of new means of delivering practical skills via distance learning, and innovative means of skills acquisition. Although Paul’s background is in fundamental science, he has strong cross-disciplinary interests and abilities as exemplified by his research interests in archaeological and heritage science, and his advisory role in a course in Heritage Studies currently being developed by the Open University. Paul is a member of the Institute of Physics and a Chartered Physicist, and is a member of the Higher Education Academy. He has published extensively in research journals and has delivered many invited presentations on both research and teaching and learning matters. Paul lives with his family, a dense dog and a killer cat in the heart of England. He has a small, but well-equipped, workshop and is currently building a 1:10 scale coal-fired Burrell agricultural traction engine.

 

Pratibha Jolly

Preface 1

 

 

E. Leonard Jossem

Preface 2

Dr. E. Leonard Jossem is Professor of Physics, Emeritus, in the Department of Physics of The Ohio State University. Born in Camden, N.J. May 19, 1919, he received his B.S. in Physics from C.C.N.Y. in 1938. During World War II he was a member of the scientific staff at Los Alamos in the Advanced Developments Division. He received his Ph.D. in Physics from Cornell University in 1950, his research field being experimental condensed matter physics. In 1956 he joined the physics faculty at The Ohio Sate University where he continued his research in experimental condensed matter physics and was responsible for building the advanced undergraduate physics laboratories in the department.. He served as chairman of the Department of Physics there (1967-1980) and became Professor Emeritus in 1989. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a Fellow of the Institute of Physics (London), and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (London). His activities in physics education include service as Staff Physicist and Executive Secretary of the Commission on College Physics (1963-1965), and as chairman of the Commission (1966-71). He has served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Michigan-Ohio Regional Educational Laboratory (1967-69), the U.S. National Advisory Committee on Educations Professions Development (1967-70), the Council of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (1967-70), and the Physics Survey Committee of the National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council (1967-1970). He is Past-President of the American Association of Physics Teachers, which has honored him with its Oersted Medal and its Phillips Medal. He has been a member of the Physics Education Research Leadership Organizing Council (PERLOC) which arranged the formation of the Physics Education Research Topical Group (PER-TG) within the AAPT. He is Past-Chairman of C-14, the International Commission on Physics Education (ICPE) of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics, In 1995 he was awarded the International Commission on Physics Education Medal for Excellence. He has been a member of the Committee on the Teaching of Science of the International Council of Scientific Unions, and of the UNESCO-Physics Action Council working Group on University Physics Education. He is the editor of the English edition of the ICPE book “Connecting the Results of Research in Physics Education with Teacher Education “(1997-8), and a co-editor, with Paul Black and Gordon Drake, of the ICPE book “Physics 2000: Physics as it Enters a New Millennium”. He has been a consultant for UNESCO projects in Thailand, and a consultant for the World Bank-Chinese University Development Project in China. He holds Honorary Professorships in Physics at Beijing Normal University, at Beijing Teachers College, and at Southeast University in Nanjing, P. R. China.

 

Robert Lambourne
D3 Physics and Distance Education

Robert Lambourne has spent most of his professional career working on the challenges of teaching physics at a distance in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the UK's Open University. A former head of that department, he is now the Director of piCETL - the Physics Innovations CETL - one of four Centres for Excellence in Teaching and Learning established at the Open University with funds from the Higher Education Funding Council for England. A strong advocate of collaboration and cooperation in physics teaching, he is an active member of the International Commission on Physics Education and the Physics Education Division of the European Physical Society, in addition he has recently been elected as Vice President of the UK Institute of Physics.

 

Priscilla Laws

Comments on D3 Physics and Distance Education

Priscilla Laws received a Ph.D. from Bryn Mawr College in 1966, where she studied nuclear physics. She joined the faculty at Dickinson in 1965 and began focusing her efforts on the health effects of radiation that resulted in the publication of two consumer books on medical x-rays. Since 1986, she has dedicated herself to the development of activity-based curricular materials and computer software to enhance student learning in introductory physics courses. This work has resulted in co-authoring curricular materials published by John Wiley & Sons as part of the Activity-Based Physics Suite including the Workshop Physics Activity Guide, Understanding Physics (a calculus-based introductory physics text), and RealTime Physics (a series of introductory course laboratory modules). She has received several national awards for educational innovations and software design. These include a Charles A. Dana award for Pioneering Achievement in Education (1994) and the Robert A. Millikan Medal for notable and creative contributions to the teaching of physics from the American Association of Physics Teachers (1996). She is currently promoting ways to use physics research and education to enhance sustainable development in Africa, Asia and Latin America. She received the 2008 Medal from the International Commission on Physics Education (ICPE in recognition of “distinguished contributions to Physics Education with far reaching international impact”) 

 

Gabriella Monroy

Comments on C3 Disciplinary Knowledge from a Pedagogical Point of View

 

 

 

Jon Ogborn

A1 Science and Commonsense 

Jon Ogborn started his career in 1957 as a physics teacher, moving to in-service training at Worcester College of Education under Ted Wenham, a leader in the Nuffield Physics Project. From there in 1967 he became, with Paul Black, joint director of the Nuffield Advanced Physics project, which introduced important innovations into physics teaching, especially in quantum physics and thermodynamics, as well as computational modelling. In 1973 he and Paul Black were awarded the Bragg Medal of the Institute of Physics for this work.  In 1971 he moved first to Chelsea College Centre for Science Education, and then in 1984 to be Professor of Science Education at the University of London Institute of Education. His research has focussed on the understanding of commonsense reasoning about the physical world, and on computational modelling. In 1997 he became director of the Institute of Physics post-16 Initiative, leading to the publication in 2000-2001 of a new A-level physics course "Advancing Physics", revised in 2008. In 2006 he was awarded the Medal of the International Commission on Physics Education.  

 

Ann-Marie Pendrill

Comments on C1. Communication Skills for Teaching

 

Anna Maria Pessoa de Carvalho
C1 Communication Skills for Teaching

Anna Maria Pessoa de Carvalho is Professor of Physics Education at the University of Sao Paulo. After graduating in Nuclear Physics she obtained her Doctorate in Science Education. She teaches pre-service and in-service courses for Physics teachers, and has been involved in physics curriculum development for primary school. Her research interests have been focused mainly on Physics Teacher Education and on curriculum development. She is the Brasilian representative at the Inter-American Council for Conferences on Physics Education and is currently (1998) Secretary of the International Commission on Physics Education.

 

Daniel Gil-Perez
A3 Overcoming the Oblivion of Technology in Physics Education  

DANIEL GIL-PÉREZ, is a professor of Science Education at the University of València, Spain. His researches and publications deal with different science teaching/learning problems such as teachers' conceptions about the nature of science, laboratory work, paper and pencil problem-solving or assessment and evaluation. All these researches are linked and aim to contribute to the construction of a coherent body of knowledge in the field of Science Education. Nowadays his main line of research is on Education for Sustainability. He has directed 19 PhD theses in science education and he is directing at the present 2 other theses. He is the author of more than 30 books and has published in international journals such as International Journal of Science Education, Science Education, Studies in Science Education, Bulletin de l'Union des Physiciens, Aster, La Fisica nella Scuola, Enseñanza de las Ciencias, Science & Education, Revista de Enseñanza de la Física, etc.

 

Maurício Pietrocola

A2 Mathematics as Structural Language of Physical Thought 

Maurício Pietrocola started his professional career as a physics teacher in high school level. Parallel of this activity, he made his master degree in Physics Education at the University of Sao Paulo. In 1992, he finished his doctor degree in History and Epistemology of Science at the University of Paris  VII (Denis-Diderot). He is now associate professor at the Faculty of Education at University of São Paulo. His interests in development and research have been focused mainly in curriculum innovation and development and in pre and in-service courses for physics teachers. He is currently (2008) the vice-chair of the International Commission on Physics Education.  

 

Elena Sassi

General Introduction: Making the results of research in Physics Education available to teacher educators; D1 Aims and Strategies of Laboratory Work 

Elena Sassi is professor of Physics and Physics Education at the University of Naples “Federico II”, Department of Physics. She started her career as an experimentalist in Elementary Particles Physics working for many years at CERN and Frascati National Laboratory on apparatuses design, data collection and phenomenological analysis, until her participation to the discovery of the J/Psi particle. In the early ‘80s, she moved to educational research, starting in the Physics Department a science/physics education research group that focuses on conceptual understanding of physics, learning/teaching problems commonly encountered in secondary school, teacher education programs, contributions by ICT and Educational Technologies. The main topics are lab-work, both ICT and low-cost materials based, and modelling activities. She have participated to many Italian National research projects on physics education and several EU funded science/physics teacher education programs. She as served, in Naples, as Chairperson of the Physics Curriculum Board and is currently serving as a member of the International Commission on Physics Education and of the Physics Education Division of the European Physics Society. Since 2003 she is working also at the Science Education Faculty of Gulu University (North Uganda), to design and implement pre-service and in-service teacher education programs in sciences. In 2006 she was given the Didactical Award of the Italian Physics Society. 

 

Vivien M. Talisayon
B2 Development of Scientific Skills and Values in Physics Education

Vivien M. Talisayon had a bachelor's degree in physics from the University of the Philippines and a Ph.D in Science Education, major in physics, from Cornell University in New York. After teaching university physics for a number of years, she became director of the National Institute for Science and Mathematics Education Development, University of the Philippines.  She is Dean of the College of Education of the same university.  She has won national awards, including a research award from the National Research Council of the Philippines. She received outstanding researcher and administrator awards from her university. She has published in local and international publications. Her areas of research are in physics education, science education, and education. She became executive secretary of the Asian Physics Education Network. She served as associate member and newsletter editor of the International Commission on Physics Education. 

 

Ronald K. Thornton

D2 Effective Learning Environments for Computer Supported Instruction in the Physics Classroom and Laboratory

Ronald K. Thornton (Tufts University) holds a Ph.D. from Brown University in High Energy Physics. He is Director of the Tufts Center for Science and Mathematics Teaching and a professor in both Physics and Education. He has been a visiting professor at the Universities of Sydney, Rome, Naples, and Pavia. He does research on student learning and has co-authored the RealTime Physics and the Tools for Scientific Thinking laboratory curricula and Interactive Lecture Demonstrations (ILDs).  He has led the development of the Tools for Scientific Thinking Microcomputer-based Laboratory (MBL) software and hardware, and the LoggerPro, Visualizer, and WebILD software packages.  He has developed student and teacher conceptual understanding evaluations including the Force and Motion Conceptual Evaluation (FMCE). These materials, developed with support from the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Education, F.I.P.S.E., are used extensively, in many countries, in universities, colleges and schools.  He has led teaching workshops for physics professors, K-12 teachers, and teacher educators around the world and is an author of the Teacher Education Module.  Among his awards, Professor Thornton received the 1993 Dana award for Pioneering Achievement in Education and the 1992 Smithsonian/Computerworld Leadership in Education Award.  He has twice been chair of the National Committee on Research in Physics Education of the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT). His work in energy (solar, energy design & efficiency, energy monitoring, energy education) has won two state awards and the National Award for Energy Innovation from the US Department of Energy.

 

Gunnar Tibell

B3 Student’s skills Developed by Participation in International Physics Competitions; Comments on A1. Science and Commonsense

Gunnar Tibell started his research career focusing on experimental nuclear physics in accelerator laboratories. Before and after a thesis on proton scattering at Uppsala University there were extended stays at CERN in Geneva, both at the synchrocyclotron and at the antiproton ring LEAR. Other research visits abroad have included University of Maryland, USA, University of Osaka, Japan and the accelerator facility at Villigen, Switzerland. Among other activities are posts as Department Head at Uppsala University, President of the Swedish Physical Society, Chair of the IUPAP International Commission on Physics Education and President of the International Young Physicists' Tournament, as well as initiatives in physics education in the European Physical Society, and continuing education for Swedish physics teachers.

Matilde Vicentini

General Introduction: Making the results of research in Physics Education available to teacher educators; D1 Aims and Strategies of Laboratory Work

Matilde Vicentini started her research  doing experimental work on diffusion in liquid metals. The research continued in the field of superfluid Helium and on the phenomenological analysis of experimental data in the critical region of fluids and magnets in the light of the scaling hypothesis. She then shifted to educational research with a starting interest in primary school curriculum in an interdisciplinary framework. She did research on the alternative conceptions of students and teachers. As a full professor at the University of Messina first and then at Roma La Sapienza she focused on the problems of University teaching and on Physics teachers education with a specific interest on Thermodynamics and on epistemological issues. She retired in 2004 but continues to collaborate on teachers training courses.


Laurence Viennot

B1 Learning and Conceptual Understanding: beyond Simplistic Ideas, what Have we Learned?; Comments on C2 History Of Physics As A Tool For Teaching


Laurence Viennot is an emeritus professor at Denis Diderot University. After five years of research in astrophysics, she moved to didactics of physics in 1971. Since then until 2007, she has taught physics, and - after her thesis in this new field (1977) - didactics of physics. She has been a member of the national committee in charge of preparing new curricula in physics (GTD) for secondary schools in France (1990-1995). She has been a member of the first executive board of the European Science Education research Association, founded in 1995. She founded and headed a master in Didactics of Scientific Disciplines, while teaching physics in the physics department. Her professional interest is in the quality of the teaching learning process, and has led her into research on common ways of reasoning in physics, design and evaluation of sequences and teachers reaction to innovative interventions. A large part of this research is synthesised in two books, Reasoning in Physics (Kluwer 2001) and Teaching Physics (Kluwer 2003). More recently, students’ intellectual satisfaction became her main topic of research. Laurence Viennot was awarded the medal of International Commission of Physics Education in 2003.

Amparo Vilches
A3 Overcoming the Oblivion of Technology in Physics Education  

AMPARO VILCHES is a high school science teacher and is also responsible for science teachers' training courses at the University of Valencia. Her research interests and publications are centred in Science-Technology-Environment-Society relationships, and more particularly in Education for Sustainability. She has directed 5 PhD theses in science education and she is directing 5 other theses. She is the author and co-editor of several books and has published in international journals such as Science Education, Science & Education, Science & Technological Education, Educación Química, Enseñanza de las Ciencias, Revista de Enseñanza de la Física, etc.


Dean Zollman

Comment on D2 Effective Learning Environments for Computer Supported Instruction in the Physics Classroom and Laboratory

Dean Zollman is the William & Joan Porter University Distinguished Professor, Distinguished University Teaching Scholar, and Head of the Department of Physics at Kansas State University. He has focused his scholarly activities on research and development in physics education since 1972. He has received three major awards – the National Science Foundations Director’s Award for Distinguished Teacher Scholars (2004), the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching Doctoral University Professor of the Year (1996), and American Association of Physics Teachers’ Robert A. Millikan Medal (1995).  His present research concentrates on investigating how students transfer learning while applying physics to new contexts and the effects of different pedagogies on future teachers..  He also applies technology to the teaching physics and to providing instructional and pedagogical materials to physics teachers,. Dr. Zollman earned his PhD in Theoretical Nuclear Physics from the University of Maryland College Park (1970) and his MS (1965) and BS (1964) from Indiana UniversityBloomington.

 
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