Loyola University Chicago

Department of Physics

Committee Mission Statement

Committee On International Education Mission Statement

Rationale

Historically and traditionally, science has transcended national boundaries and narrow national interests. It is therefore only fitting that concerns with physics education should do so as well. Intercommunications among physics teachers in countries of the world can serve to broaden pedagogical horizons and help to avoid insularity and parochialism. In the increasingly global economic and intellectual community of the world, no nation can afford to try to be an island unto itself. The Committee on International Education (CIE) has a vital and significant role to play among the Area Committees of the AAPT in assuring that AAPT members are kept well informed about developments in physics education on an international scale. We believe that the mission of the committee should reflect international sharing of ideas and experiences in physics education.

Mission

Physics teachers world wide, whether they teach high school, two or four-year college or university students, share many of the same problems. Each country has developed its own solutions to these problems. The principal function of the CIE is to facilitate for AAPT members the interchange and dissemination of information about physics education on an international scale and in doing so to promote an awareness of the activities of physics teachers around the world. Consistent with the charge of the AAPT Executive Board to the committee, the CIE will:

a) provide information to AAPT members about physics education worldwide at all levels, and cooperate with other appropriate AAPT Area Committees in this process.

b) provide a regular column or article on International Education in the AAPT Announcer.

c) make available to AAPT members, information about international conferences, seminars and workshops on physics education at all levels, and, where appropriate, initiate and/or assist in the organization of such activities.

d) encourage AAPT sections to include in their meetings, items on international physics education and reports from section members who have been engaged in international physics education activities.

e) arrange for sessions on International Physics Education at AAPT meetings. Where feasible, arrange for internationally known physics educators worldwide to present papers at such sessions, and encourage the publication of such papers in an appropriate AAPT journal.

f) encourage AAPT members and/or their institutions to subscribe to journals devoted to physics education and published in others, including for example the International Physics Olympiad.

g) facilitate active cooperation between AAPT and other national and international groups concerned with physics education worldwide, including, for example the International Physics Olympiad.

h) encourage and assist in the establishment of relationships with physics teachers worldwide. Encourage assistance to teachers in developing countries through personal contacts, sponsored AAPT memberships and sharing of educational materials.

Gordon P. Ramsey