Centre for Physics Education, Karachi Pakistan

💫Why it is important to be a member?💫

❝IUPAP has an important mission: to assist in the worldwide development of physics research and physics education, to foster international cooperation in physics, and to help in the application of physics toward solving problems of concern to humanity.

At present, there are sixty-five members, who work together through the 💫 General Assembly, the 💫 Commissions,
💫 and the Working Groups, proposing and hosting major international conferences, taking up concerns with publication and research facilities, awarding prizes, and fostering the progress of young scientists.

Through their joint work, the members defend the free circulation of scientists and the equitable treatment of all scientists 🌪❞

This was the main point of "Why it is important to be a member?", a session that took place during the IUPAP CENTENARY. The members had the opportunity to discuss the importance of being a member of IUPAP, and to share thoughts about the evolution of membership into the future ✨

Conveners: Nithaya Chetty and Irvy (Igle) Gledhill, Wits University

ICWIP2023: 📃Women in Physics 📃

"We have observed that the number of female enrollees is higher than that of male students, yet this number significantly reduces when it comes to postgraduate studies or faculty positions. After gathering input from various groups of girls and career women, we concluded that certain factors, including cultural impact, hinder the women to grow as scientists and make it hard for them to manage work-life balance.

To combat these irrational cultural parameters, Steps are required to be taken to change mindsets and popularize science among the masses. Paucity of female role models in physics and lack of encouragement for girls to opt physics are the reasons for having low enrollment of girls in postgraduate physics.

In order to reduce gender disparity in sciences, a sense of belonging must be nourished for women scientists to feel empowered. While a little progress has been made in recent years to support women in physics in Pakistan, there is still much work to be done to address the structural and cultural barriers.

Awareness is essential, but steps must be taken to provide more scholarships, grants, and financial aid. Activities like ICWIP2023, we have more stories to share with our young girls to encourage them to pursue a career in physics."

✒️Siddique, Rizwana, Department of Physics, University of Karachi Times - KU Times", Pakistan
✒️Hasnain, Aziz Fatima, Centre for Physics Education, Karachi Pakistan

More: https://icwip2023.hbcse.tifr.res.in/

گزشتہ رات میں گلشن اقبال سے سولجر بازار کی جانب اپنی اہلیہ اور 5 ماہ کی بیٹی کے ہمراہ بائک پر جارہا تھا کہ اچانک بارش شروع ہوگئی, ہم دونوں پریشان ہوگئے اور بائک روک کر شیڈ کی تلاش کرنے لگے کہ کسی طرح شیڈ کے نیچے جاکر بارش سے بیٹی کو بچایا جاسکے اتنے میں ایک بائک والا آکر رکا اور میری جانب اپنا اپر بڑھا دیا مجھے نہیں معلوم وہ نامعلوم شخص کون تھا بس اپر حوالہ کیا اور یہ کہہ کر روانہ ہونے لگا کہ اس سے بچی کو ڈھاپ لیں, میں نے اپر واپس لوٹانے کیلئیے نمبر مانگنا چاہا تو واپسی نا لینے کا کہہ کر چلتا بنا, وہ نامعلوم شخص بنا جانے ہماری مدد تو کرگیا لیکن واپسی پر میں اور میری اہلیہ اس بھائی کیلئیے دل سے دعا کرتے رہے, پروردگار اس بھائی کو زندگی کی تمام خوشیاں نصیب فرملئے۔
بشکریہ: کاشف حسین

Workshop on STEM education for secondary school teachers

Topic: KU1966 Meeting Oct 31, 2021 10am-12pm
Time: Oct 31, 2021 10:00 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Dr. Talat Shahnaz will speak on
“Some Strategies that may help Enhance Diversity and Inclusion in Physics – locally and globally.”

You are invited to a Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84590154101?pwd=Yjd1UUdDZkNhYlJRNXF0cXVHREo4UT09
On 31st October 2021 at 7:00 pm PST

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Aziz Fatima Hasnain
Teaching of physics at high school level
Having taught physics at APWA Govt College Karimabad for 37 years, I am sharing my experiences with students and teachers and also with the parents along with the attitudes and mindsets towards high school education. It is to be mentioned here that teaching /learning system was highly influenced by a grade oriented pattern and it has developed into the criterion of judging an individual's success. All the learning theories seemed to fail against this continuing set pattern of teaching and learning. An attitude has developed among students to obtain good grades by any means. So the short cuts, memorization and cheating has flourished.
The pattern of examination encourages memorization of facts and principles. Transformation of knowledge has become a transferring of textbook materials. Due to this mindsets, teachers have adopted same attitude for dissemination of knowledge. Developing learning skills among students is supposed to be a futile exercise. Administrators and parents force the students to obtain good grades. Nonetheless, the teacher's focus has been on grades; a market of coaching centers has started promising students good grades. The teaching and learning pattern has been greatly damaged by these strategies adopted by teachers. Although the teachers and students have become happy with the ongoing pattern of teaching learning but it is observed that students have started losing skills of learning.
To bring the teaching and learning system on the track of a purposeful process, we at the APWA college, organized a workshop for teachers in 1985. This initiative was applauded by the teachers from higher education institutions and also from different research organizations. The most encouraging message we received was from prof Dr. Abduss Salam (N.L). Since then we have started holding workshops, seminar and conferences for promoting knowledge along with skills based teaching and learning process. After holding first International Conference on Changing face of Physics Education in June 1991, we established The Centre for Physics Education . Prof. Abdussalam gladly accepted our request to be the Chief Patron of CPE.
For holding many academic activities to motivate teachers for bringing change in teaching and learning pattern, we were not able to achieve the goal. Instead of striking our heads on concrete wall, we thought of holding activities for students. For example, we had started celebrations of birthdays of physicists, like prof Salam, Galileo, Newton, Faraday and asked the students to give presentations on the life and work of the physicists. That has developed a new motivation for learning Physics among students. Students were asked to design and perform the experiments that the physicists performed to discover phenomena. We have been successful in developing different skills among students. To develop problem solving skills, we started competitions among students with cash prizes.
At the end, I request education planner to understand the shift that has taken place in the world by the advancement of technology. Before planning curricula, deeply observe the demands of the society. I hope the planned curricula will bring changes in the society.
Now the centre for Physics Education is fully convinced that competitions is the strategic mehod for development of skills. And also it will be a tool for bringing change in the teaching learning pattern.
We are organizing a competition on *breaking the stereotype teaching / learning of Science" for secondary school teachers* in December 2020.
We are hopeful to get good results.

The Centre for physics Education is very well known by national and international forums. The CPE's academic activities were supported by UNESCO Jakarta, Abdussalam International Centre for Theoretical Physics Trieste Italy, Pakistan National Science Foundation, Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission. SUPARCO
The CPE represented Pakistan at international forums. The CPE had been National point of Contact at Asian Physics Education Network, a body of UNESCO (ASPEN),
National Point Of Contact at IUPAP commission on Women in Physics.

https://forms.gle/emWtqGAxb7h8rc4R9 for registration use the above link