Physics Training for Developing World

Two award-winning physics educators are among several quality instructors at ICTP from 16 to 27 February to conduct Physware, a collaborative workshop aimed at enhancing the quality of physics education. The course provides an opportunity for physics teachers from developing countries to jointly develop low-cost equipment and technologies for hands-on physics education at the undergraduate level.

The teacher-participants will share and work with prototypes of affordable, hands-on equipment that can be locally adapted for construction by teachers and their students throughout the developing world. Participants will also develop instructional materials, create construction plans, and gather ideas for activities to help them make effective use of the equipment in their home countries.  The course serves to establish a primary network of outstanding physics teachers who can extend the knowledge of hands-on technologies locally.

Physware is a direct outcome of recommendations from the education task force of the 2005 World Conference on Physics and Sustainable Development, and is to be the first in a series of similar workshops to be held regionally. Besides its base funding from ICTP, Physware is generously sponsored by the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) and UNESCO.