Genesis

International Union for Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) has, since its inception in 1922, played a vital role by providing a common platform to physicists from all across the world. Its broad objective is to simulate and facilitate international cooperation in physics and the worldwide development of science by encouraging research and education. It works through twenty commissions responsible for overseeing exchange of information and activities related to select physics domains. Of these, C14, the International Commission on Physics Education (ICPE) came into being in 1960. It was born out of the realization that unlike research speciality areas, physics education lacks spontaneous international linkages even though teaching of physics and education of physicists is of concern to all. Indeed, t here is a great deal of commonality in the problems faced by various countries despite the diversity in their social and cultural fabric. The primary mandate of the Commission is t o promote the exchange of information and views among the members of the international community of physicists in the general field of Physics Education including:

• collection, evaluation, co-ordination and distribution of information concerning education in the physical sciences at all levels;
• information relative to the assessment of standards of physics teaching and learning;
• suggesting ways in which the facilities for the study of physics at all levels might be improved, stimulating experiments at all levels, 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.

Over the past four decades, ICPE has played a vital role in achievement of its objectives by organizing conferences of great significance. The increasing importance of these conferences underscores the fact that global concerns about physics education are center stage.

2005: The International Year of Physics

At the Berlin assembly, IUPAP adopted a resolution for declaring the Year 2005 as the World Year of Physics to celebrate the 100 th anniversary of a series of great advances of Albert Einstein. Specifically, Resolution 9 stated:

Whereas Physics has been the basis of a developing understanding of the physical world and nature as a whole,

Whereas Physics and its application are the basis of much of today's technology,

Whereas an education in Physics is essential for the nations of the developing world to develop their scientific infrastructure, and

Whereas the year 2005 marks the 100th anniversary of a series of great scientific advances of Albert Einstein,

Therefore, at the suggestion of the European Physical Society, the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics declares that 2005 should be the World Year of Physics and will seek support from appropriate national and international organizations.

This resolution was the end product of deliberations that emphasized the worldwide need to increase the public understanding of physics at all stages of the educational program. It was pointed out that Germany had shown a possible way by declaring 2000 as the "Year of Physics" the success of which was reflected by a dramatic increase in the enrollment of physics students.

Following the example of Germany, it was suggested that 2005 should be declared as the world year of physics, the emphasis of which would be:

1. promotion of public understanding of physics and physical sciences;
2. physics education;
3. physics as the basis of many other disciplines and the incubator for newly emerging scientific and technological fields;
4. the great challenges of physics for the 21st century;
5. physics in developing countries and for development;
6. increasing the number of women in physics;
7. physics as part of our cultural heritage.

It was suggested that plans could include local and itinerant exhibits, local events on physics in everyday life, and actions in schools, universities, etcetera. The national physics societies were urged to provide all support and include announcements regarding the World Year of Physics and devote special sections on it in their news letters. Recently, the UN General Assembly has voted to give the year the status of the International Year of Physics.

Given the commitment of India to Science and Technology Education, it would be an honor if an ICPE/ IUPAP supported conference on Physics Education is organized in India, and that too, in the World Year of Physics 2005. Such a conference would provide, for mutual benefit, a forum for showcasing and evaluating the best of global practices in the teaching-learning of physics. The present document is to garner support for this effort.

New Directions in Physics Education

Over the last four decades, there have been in Physics Education discernible changes of paramount significance. Reporting to the 1993 IUPAP assembly, then Chairman Paul Black, identified four main trends as affecting the nature of physics education at all levels.

1. Changes in Physics as a Subject . There is a need to help teachers of physics keep pace with the progress in domain knowledge and better understand, both, the methods and the concepts. Advances in the discipline also make it imperative that both, teachers and students, get a flavor of excitement which inspires professional physicists.
   
2. Research into How Students Learn . Seminal work by Physics Education Research Groups across the world has generated a greater understanding of cognitive aspects of teaching-learning. In depth investigations have generated a wealth of data on the naïve beliefs students bring to the classroom and provided insight into how students learn new concepts and solve problems. This has helped build what many now call the Science of Physics Teaching, an area of work characterized by its own vocabulary, research methodology and scientific rigor. Curriculum development has acquired a research-base that incorporates models of the student, the learning process and instruction coupled with suitably designed instruments for assessment. Increasingly, the view of teaching-learning is becoming student centric. It is now believed that to engender conceptual understanding, students’ preconceptions need to be explicitly challenged and the resulting conflicts with expert view point need to be resolved before new ideas can take root. All this requires active mental engagement. Then the efficacy of the traditional lecture is questionable. Research shows that domain knowledge combined with a natural flair for exposition by itself does not necessarily make a teacher effective; also important is pedagogic knowledge and the underpinning model of instruction.
   
   

   In as much as teaching of physics is of concern to the entire community of physicists, there is an urgent need to communicate the new findings of physics education research in usable forms to various players. It is imperative that serious efforts be made to bridge the gap between the view points of the domain expert, the teacher, the education researcher and the policy maker.
   
   
3. Changes in the Context and Goals of Physics Teaching . Although study of physics per se continues to be of vital interest and contemporary applications of physics span many exciting areas, the traditional physics course is no longer able to attract the numbers it used to. Data shows this to be a global trend triggered by rapid changes in the work place that have changed the expectations of students as also the profile of potential employers. No longer is it prudent to teach physics to all students as one would to a future physics researcher or specialist. This realization is beginning to impact physics teaching in two directions. One, there is need to impart to all students a basic threshold of scientific acumen crucial for life as a responsible citizen in a science and technology driven society. Then there is a renewed effort to design learning experiences that make learning a joy and convey the excitement of science in the context of problems of relevance in everyday life. It has become crucial to build capacity early enough for independent life long learning as well as social skills for collaborative team work and better communication. Societal issues make it imperative that some emphasis is placed on teaching the concept of evidence – how data and evidence are to be evaluated to arrive at judgments. Two, there is a need to reach out to wider special interest groups by designing curriculums with a strong component linking physics to other disciplines ranging from medicine and life sciences to sports, music and arts. Summarizing, physics for new fields and new students is the need of the day.
   
   
4. Changes in How Physics is Communicated . With the advent of computer-based technologies, in particular the internet, there is an additional shift in how knowledge is communicated. Research-based curricula have a strong component of technology input. The full gamut now includes professional general purpose application software and visualization tools, computer simulations, computer-based data-acquisition systems and interfaced laboratory experiments, web-based learning materials and comprehensive virtual laboratories. In changing demographic profile of the student, also on the scene is the distance learner. There is a need to train teachers in the use and development of these materials. Further, there is a need to realize the full potential the internet as an instrument for linking communities of physics educators and publication of widely accessible resource materials. The last has major implications for developing countries or those with a poor tradition of innovation in education or limited capacity for access to works of significance from elsewhere.

The above developments in physics education have impacted the teaching-learning programs the world over.