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1997 Annual Report of the Committee on International Education
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I. Sponsored Sessions

PHOENIX:

1. "Physics Teaching Around the World: Personal Perspectives".
Chair: Gordon Aubrecht. Summary of international conferences which AAPT
members had attended in the past year.

2. "Highlights of the LMFK conference in Sweden". Chair: Gordon Ramsey.

DENVER:

1. Posters: Progress in International Physics Teaching - G. Ramsey
(Combined with the general poster session).

2. (Joint with Instructional Media) "From Here to There: Uses of Instructional
Media in Physics Education" Co-chairs: Nina Morley and Gordon Ramsey.
Included an invited Speaker from Germany- Ulrich Harms, educational software
developer.

3. Cracker Barrel: Making Connections with International Physics Teachers.
Convenor: Betty Preese

NEW ORLEANS: Upcoming

Inv/Con: Teaching Physics Around the World: Personal Perspectives - G. Aubrecht
Inv/Con: Report on the 6th Inter-American Conference on Physics Education in
Cordoba, Argentina - H. Manos, R. B. Clark and T. Halpern
Workshop: Logarithmic Park: the scales of dinosaurs. - E. Martinez (Argentina)

FUTURE MEETINGS: Planned

University of Nebraska, August, 1998:
Cracker Barrel: Making Connections with International Physics Teachers -
this would be similar to the Cracker Barrel session in Denver.

Trinity University, San Antonio, August, 1999.
We plan sponsor a reception for international visitors at this meeting, due to
its close proximity to Mexico. This would be similar to the highly successful
reception at the University of Maryland meeting, sponsored by our committee.
We will also sponsor a session for papers related to Latin America.
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II. Summary of completed projects

1. The committee maintains a data base of "friends of the committee" to
keep them informed and involve them in committee activities. This list
has over 100 entries and continues to grow. There is a corresponding e-mail
lists to expedite information exchange. These lists are continually updated
at each meeting.

2. The committee introductory package for new members, including a current
list of members, a copy of the mission statement and a list of activities
is distributed at each January meeting.

3. The Announcer has been publishing our list of international conferences.

4. A list of potential plenary speakers of international reputation
has been submitted to the AAPT staff.

5. Fuller Fund memberships to AAPT were awarded to: Maria Jose P. M. De
Almeida (Brazil), Alejandro Gonzalez Hernandez (Mexico), Khadeeja Ibrahim-Didi
(Maldives), Mikhail Ivanov (Russia) and A. Kul'ment'ev (Ukraine). Nomination
forms are on the committee web page: http://www.unl.edu/physics/cie.html

6. The committee endorsed and aided in obtaining NSF funding for a delegation
from the USA to visit Denmark and attend the Scandinavian LMFK conference.
Highlights of this conference were covered in a session of the Phoenix meeting.
Copies of the monograph, containing the Phoenix session papers which
highlighted this meeting were distributed to members and friends of the
committee. A copy was also given to Bernie Khoury. The committee recommends
that similar reports be generated on other international meetings for which
AAPT members are involved. This is an effective way to disseminate information
and would likely be a minimum requirement for funding received from an
external agency.

7. A number of committee friends attended the VI IACPE conference in Argentina.
The committee is sponsoring a session in New Orleans with highlights from this
conference.

8. A letter to each of the Stray Cats was sent out by the chair, in appreciation
for their wonderful session at the University of Maryland meeting. We are
maintaining close contact with the Stray Cats for future projects and exchanges.

9. Workshop guidelines (submitted by A. Menard) were forwarded to the
Executive Board for possible adoption and dissemination. These guidelines are
available on the committee web page.

10. A recommended mission statement for the international involvement of AAPT
was submitted to B. Khoury and the Executive Board for adoption. It encourages
collaborative ventures and exchanges with international physics teachers,
in support of the AAPT and the committee's mission.
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III. Status of continuing projects:

1. The committee website is functional, thanks to Chris Moore.
It contains a list of members, the committee's mission statement, a list of
international conferences, a copy of the workshop guidelines and a link to
the AAPT home page. The AAPT executive office has cross-linked their home
page to the committee home pages. Our home page can be reached by:
http://www.unl.edu/physics/cie.html
Frequency of updating the page was recommended to be monthly, with new
information being added as it becomes available.
The following additional items are going to be included on the page:
(1) a brief summary of the minutes of the latest committee meeting,
(2) current list of contacts around the world,
(3) invitation for volunteers to submit their names to serve on the
committee and a point of contact,
(4) summaries of committee activities and international participation,
(5) the latest Annual Report submitted to the AAPT Executive Board.

2. Our list of international contacts around the world has grown to twenty
different countries being represented. Members and friends are encouraged to
submit names and e-mail addresses of potential international colleagues who
would be interested in sharing physics teaching information in their area
with AAPT. Duplication of representatives from a given country is encouraged.
The committee agrees on the importance in sharing information internationally,
and one of our aims is to provide this information to the AAPT membership.

3. A new project to support international contacts has been initiated.
Each committee member is assigned to a specific area of the world, according
to his/her area of expertise or involvement. The member will then initiate
contacts, gather meeting information and arrange visits and exchanges with
physics teachers in that area. This actively involves all members with the
committee activities.

4. We are continuing the three joint collaboration efforts with: (1) Latin
and Central America, (2) China, Japan and the other Pacific Rim countries
and (3) Denmark and Scandinavia. In addition to personal contacts with the
committee, we hold follow-up meetings at each of the national AAPT meetings.
More joint exchanges are being discussed in all cases.

5. The Chair received a letter from a Fuller Fund awardee: Prof. Victor
Aleshkevich of Moscow State University. He mentions that a similar organization
to AAPT exists in Russia, called the General Physics Council of Russian
Universities (GPC). He extended an open invitation to AAPT members to visit
Moscow State U. and encouraged contact between our committee and the GPC.
Attempts are also being made to contact the APS Forum on International Physics
and the European Physical Society, to initiate collaboration on possible
projects common to all groups.

6. A committee member, Laszlo Baksay, is working with George Marx (Hungary)
in the planning of the tri-lateral conference (Germany-Hungary-USA) on physics
teaching. We are hoping that this may establish a middle/eastern European
collaboration, similar to the ones which exist with Latin America, the Pacific
Rim countries and Scandinavia.

The Committee on International Education is dedicated to providing information
and contacts from around the world to AAPT in order to promote collaborations
and exchanges with other physics teachers with similar interests. Both our
short range activities and our long range projects reflect our support of this
important objective.
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Submitted by Gordon Ramsey, CIE Chair