Workshop report: Physics education—strategies for engaging female students in physics
Abstract
The three sessions of the Physics Education Workshop focused on good education practice, with particular reference to gender awareness. The first session consisted of country-specific talks, from the United States, Tanzania and UK, with emphasis on engaging female students in physics, including strategies that work and strategies that do not work. Delegates discussed sharing best practices in their own countries and explored initiatives and pedagogy that may work in their own contexts. The second session demonstrated an example of practical physics teaching, with delegates observing teacher Dr. Jenny Watson delivering a workshop on friction to 30 local primary school girls. Following a brief introduction about the force of friction, the students built their own CD hovercraft using an old CD/DVD, a bottle cap and a balloon. Students were shown how to plan their own investigation into the factors that affect the amount of friction involved as their table-top hovercraft moved. Discussions on running experiments which engage girls and encourage them to fully participate followed the session. The final session focused on the notion that creativity is an integral aspect of physics: The last two talks described how art and beauty in physics can be used to engage girls who may otherwise not connect with physics. The workshop finished with discussions on best practices in gender-aware physics education that translates across cultures.
- Publication:
-
Women in Physics: 6th Iupap International Conference on Women in Physics
- Pub Date:
- June 2019
- DOI:
- 10.1063/1.5110074
- Bibcode:
- 2019AIPC.2109d0005P