HST2003, CERN

/ High School Teachers
at CERN / Alumni Working Group
2003

HST: Past Present and Future

The High School Teachers at CERN programme (HST) was developed to promote the teaching of high energy physics and particle physics at High School level, to promote the exchange of knowledge and experience among teachers of different nationalities, give teachers some direct experience of the front line research and stimulate activities that might raise the profile of physics both within and beyond the classroom. In this fifth full year of the programme, following a trial run in 1998, it was felt that it was time to review the impact and operation of the programme and to look at recommendations for its continuing development.

A small group of former members of the programme were asked to come together to carry out the review and report formally.

The members of the group were:

F. Barradas (Spain 2001), P. Dunne (UK 2000), D. Hoekzema (The Netherlands 1999), W. Peeters (Belgium 2000), G. Shetler (USA 2001), V. van Engelen (Belgium 2002), R. Van Peteghem (Belgium 1999), F. Wheeler (UK 2001)

The group took on the task of collecting information about the impact that the programme had had on former participants, how the experience had influenced their professional development and what kind of contributions to the teaching of particle physics they had developed as a consequence of their stay at CERN.

A brief questionnaire was devised and circulated by e-mail to all 112 former participants in the month leading up to this year’s programme. There were 46 responses to the questionnaire collected and it was felt that this was a sufficiently solid base of information upon which to work. The 40% response rate might be expected as participants will have changed jobs, changed e-mail addresses etc. The responses to individual questions highlighted the fact that some of them might have been interpreted slightly differently by the respondents and so a further but shorter follow-up questionnaire was sent.

This report looks at the responses to the questions sent, the working group’s interpretations of the information and their attempts to relate the findings to the stated goals of the programme. The report is in two parts: the first part deals with the analysis of the questionnaire material, the second part deals with a review of the current HST programme and its responses to recommendations over the years. The second part also includes recommendations for the further development of the programme.

I. Analysis of responses from former HST participants

1. Global opinion of former participants on the HST-programme

The former participants were asked what they felt, in general, about HST programme.
The feelings about the programme were very positive with almost 50% of the respondents rating it as excellent and 44% rating it as very good.

It is suggested that the positive response reflects the fact that the programme organisers have shown great flexibility, have acted on feedback obtained each year and have modified the programme content and structure accordingly.

Examples of the changes implemented in the 2003 programme are:

  • The lecture schedule has been adjusted to include introductory level material with follow up discussions and lectures tailored specifically for a teacher audience. The wide range of participants’ background understanding of the topic areas has been recognised and the delivery of the material has been given with that aspect in mind.
  • The technical and general support personnel have responded to difficulties experienced by participants in the past and continue to introduce changes to make it easier for participants to work effectively. They have supplied electrical adapters, wireless network connections, adopted a more user friendly operating system, adjusted working schedules etc.
  • The overall number of working groups has been reduced and working group schedules have been reorganised to ensure that it is possible for individuals to participate fully in the activities. Membership of the working groups has been limited so that participants would normally be linked to just one group. New groups have been formed to look at ‘hands-on’ activities like cloud chamber construction, accelerator models etc.

2. The impact of the programme

Former participants were asked to give information about how their stay at CERN had influenced their personal development, their teaching, their interactions at classroom, regional, national and international levels etc.

The impact can be described on several levels:

2.1.At the personal level:

More than 90% of these teachers indicated that they mention their HST experience regularly in their schools: 64% indicated that they referred to CERN more than 10 times in the year.

This is an important way of doing outreaching. To many young (science) students the existence of CERN and its activities are becoming well known.

The majority found the HST programme to have a significant impact on their professional approach. The experience was highly motivating.

(The answer “Not applicable” appears because not all participants were classroom teachers; some were involved in educational programmes, etc.)

2.2 At the classroom level

Participants were asked about the use of the materials produced during the HST-programme and adoption of other CERN-materials. Participants were asked a number of specific questions relating to the use of the materials and limitations such as lack of adequate translations and the place of particle physics in the curriculum. Respondents were invited to cite other limitations that they might have encountered.

It was found that more than 50% of these HST respondents use CERN based materials on a regular basis in their classroom. 40% reported that they use the materials only occasionally. This is understandable as in some countries it turned out that particle physics did not currently demand a significant amount of curriculum time.

Some examples of the use were given: materials were used in different kinds of work on high energy physics by students, in experimental clubs and other extra curricular activities, posters in the classrooms, participation in contests like “Life in the Universe” and “Couldn’t do without it”,etc.

2.3 At the local (school) level

Whilst it was indicated earlier that not all schools might have a significant section of the curriculum relating to particle physics, the proportion of schools that did have such a section was reported to be about 70%.

Comments were made to indicate that the school curricula in some cases were not nationally directed and teachers had opted to build the subject in. As one of the goals of the HST programme was to promote the teaching of physics and particle physics in the High Schools, the experience of HST seems to be having a positive impact. Seven of the respondents stated that they had managed to change the curriculum in this direction.

Even if the curriculum had not been changed, respondents reported the incorporation of particle physics through publications in school periodicals, poster sessions on open days, long term projects during the year, directed study, co-operation between schools on particle physics linked projects etc.

2.4 At the regional level

A significant proportion of the respondents reported that they had taken initiatives in doing training sessions for colleagues of other schools in their region. This links well with the goal to stimulate activities related to the popularization of Physics within and beyond the classroom

2.5At the national level

Whilst there was no specific question directing the respondents to give information about their activities at a national level, the open responses to a number of the questions indicated that former HST participants had either maintained or increased their activities at a national level. This goes some way towards meeting the general goal of promoting the teaching of physics, and in particular, particle physics, in High Schools.

It was reported that in seven countries the curriculum was influenced by HST participants. Teacher training sessions were set up in Belgium, Spain and at national science conferences in Germany and the UK. Master classes on particle physics were established in cooperation with the University of Antwerp in Belgium. Publications related to the teaching of particle physics in schools were published in Poland, the Netherlands, Hungary, Bulgaria, the UK and Spain. National projects on science involving HST participants were approved in Spain and Belgium, and the national press mentioned the HST programme in Ireland, Finland and the Czech Republic.

2.6 At the international level

One of the HST programme goals was to promote the exchange of knowledge and experience among teachers of different nationalities and encourage the cooperation between CERN and existing programs sponsored by the European Union in the area ofscience education. More than 50% of HST participants reported that they had maintained their international contacts in the years following their attendance at CERN. HST alumni had direct involvement in the EU Comenius-1 and Minerva programmes

The HST programme is having a significant effect on stimulating intercultural contact and participation in (international) programmes as well as driving the development of an extensive active network of physics teachers.

Note: Several people responded in more than one category.

3. Continuing involvement with the programme

In addition to maintaining their international links, HST participants continued to develop and share particle physics and HST related material on returning home from their stay at CERN. They developed particle physics websites, revised and translated the cartoon booklet “The World of Particles”, they worked on revising and translating the CD “Particle Physics, a Keyhole to the Birth of Time, produced games on particle physics, authored or translated leaflets on the subject etc.

This aspect of continuing international collaboration and involvement is central to the aims of the HST programme and its extent can be expected to grow in the coming years.

II. Observations on the present state of the HST programme and recommendations for future development.

The HST programme has seen year on year improvements. The present very buoyant state of the programme is a direct result of the openness of the organisers to feedback and suggestions.

1. Lectures

The structure of the present HST programme is significantly different to that of earlier programmes. The early programmes involved the teachers attending the lectures designed for the Summer Student Programme during the first two weeks of the three. Feedback from participants suggested that whilst the introductory lectures of the first week were valuable and relevant, the increasingly technical ones of the second week were directed towards the development of the graduate students and became less relevant to that majority of teachers who were interested in developing material aimed at school level.

The programme has been restructured so that the introductory first week lectures have remained to set the scene. They enable the teachers to see that they are part of a larger scientific community and welcome them back into an intellectually satisfying academic environment beyond that of their day-to-day work. The technical lectures of the second week have been replaced by ones that are still delivered by frontier level working academics but are tailored to the needs of teachers and aim to bridge the gap between theoretical physics as done in CERN and physics at high school level. They also set the scene for the working group activities that start to take shape in the second week of the programme. It is felt that the current mix of first week general CERN Student Summer School lectures and ones specifically designed for the HST group is a good one.

2. Working groups and discussion sessions

The lectures that have been designed specifically for the HST participants are always followed by a session in which the teachers can ask questions directly of the person giving the lecture. The kind of questions that emerge in this arena are quite different to those that might occur in the larger Student Summer School lectures: they are a mix of questions driven by the personal academic and intellectual needs of teaching professionals who have been away from higher education for a period of time, and ones related to application of the lecture content to classroom situations. It is felt that those discussion sessions are extremely valuable and their development and implementation is welcomed.

Similarly, the attachment of CERN academics to the working groups has been very fruitful. The equal relationship between the academics and the groups allows teachers to ask questions without fear of appearing naïve and to develop their understanding of topics in a tutorial/seminar-like atmosphere that leaves their professional self esteem intact. It is felt that the attachment of scientists to working groups should be continued and extended if possible.

The programme in the past has tended to involve the development of working groups that concentrated on the development of web based classroom materials. In this year's HST programme there have been opportunities for teachers to allocate time to discussion about lesson content and teaching methods. Participants also came together to share information about national and international projects that promote physics in general. The sessions were felt to be very valuable and are an aspect of the programme that might be developed more within the working group time.

3. Numbers of participants

The numbers of participants have grown over the years to the current size of 35 to 40 teachers. This has been a mix of new participants and alumni invited back to share their experience. It is felt that this number of participants is about right and is manageable.

4. Site visits

The programme has traditionally involved a range of visits to the experimental facilities. It is felt by the participants that the site visits are very valuable and it always seems to be stimulating for teachers to be able to tell their students what they saw at CERN. The visits are well organised, are very much appreciated by the participants and should remain a significant part of the experience.

5. Website and materials

Much workgroup activity has involved the development of materials to put on the HST web page. Whilst it is true that the respondents to the questionnaire indicated that they used the materials, many of the pieces of work produced remained unfinished. There is a need for some kind of follow up to the work done during the HST weeks to sort out those materials that are simply stored as a record of work done and those that can be realistically presented for practical use by others. It would be helpful to advise developers of website materials to think of the prospective user, to indicate the target age range and any clear linkage to existing curricula etc.

6. Social activities

The organisers of the HST programme have taken great care in organising a full programme of social activities to make sure that there is a good balance between the work and necessary relaxation. That programme is much appreciated and is of great value in developing the social cohesion of the group. The creativity, tirelessness, the investment of time and energy of the organisers that is put in to ensure that their visitors feel at home and enjoy their stay is commendable.

7. Proposals for possible further developments of the current HST programme

It is recognised that the HST programme has a heavy agenda but feedback from a number of participants has indicated that the following might be considered:

  • The development of a school level experiment laboratory to enable participants to do experiments in the field of modern physics. Many participants do not have opportunities in their schools to carry out certain modern physics experiments and the opportunity to carry out such experimentation at CERN would be welcomed.
  • Arranging for the HST participants to make contact at CERN, if possible, with scientists from their own countries. It might be possible for that contact to result in authoritative support for the dissemination of the work of the HST teachers at a national level
  • Formalise the collection of feedback about the programme by issuing a questionnaire at the end of the programme with a follow up questionnaire approximately nine months later. It would be valuable to keep in touch with the activities and achievements of the HST participants, their work might feed back into the HST programme.
  • Arranging for one or two teachers to be in charge of the follow up of the programme permanently, consolidating unfinished materials, gathering and spreading information about forthcoming new materials from formal participants, disseminating teaching strategies etc. It would be useful if the follow up teachers were linked to a CERN physicist to have access to academic support.

8. Proposals for possible further developments, aimed towards teachers, beyond the current HST programme

To further realise the goals that were set for the High School Teachers’ programme we recommend the establishment of further 1 week HST programmes aimed at two different target groups of teachers:

  • One programme aimed at former HST participants to enable them to evaluate and exchange experiences such as existing classroom materials, including translations, teaching approaches, dissemination processes, actions towards colleagues and general public, national and international exchange programmes and projects. It would be good to restrict this group to about 35 persons for practical and social reasons
  • A programme aimed at a larger group of teachers selected from different countries modelled on the 3 week HST programme but with a smaller emphasis on working group activities. It would build on the experience developed at the 3 week HST programme and be aimed at developing understanding of basic aspects of particle physics and the work of CERN. More teachers might be able to attend a one week training programme. The social and professional aspects of such a programme might help to raise the awareness of other European cultures: this programme might be sponsored by the EU.

It is suggested that the content and the possibility of organising this event should be further discussed at CERN with the organisers of the now existing weekends for teachers.