AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS

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Physics Education Group (PEG)


The Physics Education Group (PEG) of the AIP provides a forum for the advancement of physics education through research and practice. It is also responsible for the education stream at the biennial AIP congress.

Terms of Reference

  • to advise the National AIP Council on educational matters
  • to be responsible for the Education program at National Congresses
  • to provide a communication channel by which AIP members in each state, concerned about Physics Education, can communicate with each other, on educational issues
  • to develop a network of university physics societies to benefit undergraduate and postgraduate students
  • to encourage State branches to conduct special workshops on science education and in-service training courses for teachersto have a special concern for the popularisation of science
  • to be aware of what is happening in Physics Education outside of Australia, and to investigate the possibility of bringing workshop speakers from interstate/overseas
  • to establish an on-line resource for physics teachers around Australia*
  • to develop a program of activities and support for teachers of physics in both the secondary and tertiary sectors*
  • to provide feedback to high school teachers on the strengths and weaknesses of the current curriculum materials*
  • to ensure that at each Congress there is at least one overseas Physics Education plenary speaker, sponsored by the national AIP
  • to advise the Congress committee on the names of suitable Physics Education plenary speaker.

AIP Education Medal

The AIP Education medal recognises an outstanding contribution by an AIP member to University physics education in Australia.

PEG 2023 Committee

PEG State Representatives

Upcoming Events


Latest News

Invitation for nominations for the ICPE Medal

In 1979 George Marx, a Hungarian researcher in the field of physics education, proposed to institute a medal to recognise “outstanding contributions to physics teaching of a kind that transcends national boundaries”. The Commission succeeded in establishing the award of an ICPE Medal with the following two criteria:

  • The contributions to physics education should have extended over a considerable number of years;
  • The contributions should be international in their scope and influence.

The first award of the medal was made in 1980 to Professor Eric M. Rogers during the Trieste Conference on Education for Physics Teaching. The list of recipients can be found at IUPAP C14 ICPE Medal Awardees

The medal was designed by the Hungarian artist Miklós Borsos. The face shows a symbolic picture: the interaction of human beings with forces of nature in the form of the four elements of the ancient Greek philosophers – earth, water, air and fire, the last one being symbolised by powerful rays of sunlight. The human beings capture the essence of physics education, as we seek to understand and share our understandings of nature. The back of the medal bears the text: ‘Awarded to N.N. by the International Commission on Physics Education of IUPAP for long and distinguished service to physics education’.

Submissions now open for ICPE2022

    We invite you to join us online for engaging discussions and presentations about the future of physics education. ICPE2022 will be jointly hosted by Australia, Thailand and Indonesia. With ongoing uncertainty around borders in the current era of COVID-19, we have deliberately decided to make ICPE2022 entirely online. This allows us to single mindedly focus on designing and delivering an outstanding, exciting and productive online conference and allows everyone to make firm plans.

    Theme: Physics Education: Preparing for the Future

    Discussions will encompass university-level and school-level physics education. 

    The program includes an exciting line up of:

    • Plenary speakers are Dr Derek Muller, creator of Veritasium; Prof. Chandralekha Singh and Prof. Nam-Hwa Kang.
    • Keynotes on topics including the effective use of technology, fostering a sense of belonging and teaching physics in schools, see line-up on our website.
    • Invited panels and interactive workshops covering topics such as implementing active learning, making effective videos as well as workshops run by the PhET group for school teachers and university academics.
    • And submissions for presentations and posters are open. 

    Abstract submissions for presentations and posters are now open; see instructions. Registrations are also open. We have tried to keep the cost as low as possible to encourage participation from a wide audience. The Early bird rate is $50 AUD, after 30th September this will increase to $60 AUD.

    Important dates are 2022:

    Open

    Close

    Submissions of abstracts open

    Now!

    11 July

    Early bird registrations open

    Now!  ($50 AUD)

    30 September

    Standard registration

    1 October ($60 AUD)

    15 November

    Conference

    5-9 December

    Please find out more about this conference on our website: https://icpe2022physicseducation.com/

    PEG Newsletter

    PEG Blog 2013 – 2016

    LTAS Physics Standards Statement

    Science and Engineering Challenge


    Previous Meetings Reports 

    Annual Reports

    Annual Report 2003

    Annual Report 2005

    Annual Reports 2014

    Annual General Meeting Minutes

    AGM 2005


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