increasing numbers in science

Plasma–surface science for future fusion reactorsGrowing tall poppies among our girls

Volume 49, Number 5, Sept–Oct 2012

132 EditorialChange and opportunity

133 President’s ColumnAIP links to otherorganisations

135 News & CommentMurchison Wide!eld Arrayto pioneer SKAAidan Byrne to headAustralian Research CouncilPASA goes to CambridgeInternational award toWLAN technologyLawrence Bragg honouredby Australia Post

138 Letters to EditorGeraint Lewis and colleagues debate the cosmologicalmodel put forward by Fulvio Melia

140 Eureka PrizeUNSW–Swinburne team honoured for its research onvariations in the !ne-structure constant

141 Growing tall poppiesEroia Barone-Nugent, Harry Quiney and Keith Nugent havedeveloped a new program for increasing the number of girlsstudying physics at secondary school

148 Plasma–surface scienceCormac Corr describes the new MAGPIE facility at the ANUfor studying plasma–surface interactions in future fusionreactors

154 ObituariesSandy Mathieson (1920–2011) by Andrew Stevenson,Stephen Wilkins and Jacqui GulbisTrudi Thompson (1924–2012) by Lance Taylor

156 Book ReviewDavid Wiltshire on ‘Cracking the Einstein Code: Relativity andthe Birth of Black Hole Physics’ by Fulvio Melia

157 Product NewsA review of new products from Lastek, Warsash Scienti!c,Coherent Scienti!c and Agilent Technologies

CONTENTS

Plasma–surface science for future fusion reactorsGrowing tall poppies among our girls

Volume 49, Number 5, Sept–Oct 2012

CoverCutaway of the ITER fusion reactor underconstruction in France – see p. 149

AUSTRALIAN PHYSICS 131SEPT–OCT 2012 | 49(5)

Australian Institute of PhysicsPromoting the role of physics in research, education, industry and the community

AIP website: www.aip.org.au

AIP ExecutivePresident Dr Marc Duldig

[email protected] President Dr Robert Robinson [email protected] Dr Andrew Greentree [email protected] Dr Judith Pollard

[email protected] Dr John Humble

[email protected] Past President A/Prof Brian James

[email protected] Projects O!cersProf Warwick Couch

[email protected] Olivia Samardzic

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AIP ACT BranchChair Dr Anna Wilson

[email protected] Joe Hope

[email protected]

AIP NSW BranchChair Dr Scott Martin [email protected] Dr Frederick Osman

[email protected]

AIP QLD BranchChair Dr Joel Corney

[email protected] Dr Till Weinhold [email protected]

AIP SA BranchChair Dr Scott Foster

[email protected] Dr Laurence Campbell laurence.campbell@!inders.edu.au

AIP TAS BranchChair Dr Elizabeth Chelkowska

[email protected] Dr Stephen Newbury [email protected]

AIP VIC BranchChair Dr Andrew Stevenson [email protected] Dr Mark Boland [email protected]

AIP WA BranchChair A/Prof Marjan Zadnik [email protected] Dr Andrea Biondo [email protected]

PrintingPinnacle Print Group288 Dundas Street, Thornbury VIC 3071www.pinnacleprintgroup.com.au

IntroductionIt is well-documented that the fraction of studentsenrolled in physics and the absolute number of studentsenrolled in physics have both been steadily declining forseveral decades [1–3]. Biology, chemistry and physicshave shown decline since 1991 and, of these, the declinein the study of physics is the most signi!cant. "e overalldeclines are even more severe for enrolments of girls inthese subjects and again the drop is most dramatic forphysics [4–8].

"e reasons for these reductions in numbers are notclear, are no doubt complex and are mirrored acrossmany developed nations [9]. One may reasonably speculate

that the reasons include a perceived lack of relevance,lack of career opportunity, scepticism about the value ofscience and, in Australia at least, the removal of scienceas a prerequisite for entry to many university courses.Many of these perceptions have been underlined byrecent reports. For example, a Universities Australiareport released in 2012 [3] indicates that many studentsregard science as uninspiring and that they struggle tocontextualise their learning into their broader life expe-riences. "e report reveals that enrolments in scienceswith an obvious human or social dimension (such aspsychology) have increased, while sciences such as physicshave decreased. "e report also suggests that girls have


Increasing numbers of girls studyingphysics through partnerships

Eroia D. Barone-Nugent, Harry M. Quiney and Keith A. Nugent

The ARC Centre of Excellence for Coherent X-ray Science headquartered in the Schoolof Physics at the University of Melbourne, in collaboration with Santa Maria College,Northcote, a Catholic girls school in suburban Melbourne, has developed apartnership aimed at empowering girls to continue with their study of physics to Year12. The program is called Growing Tall Poppies in Science: An authentic science experiencefor secondary students. The program has succeeded in doubling the number of girlsstudying physics at Santa Maria College. A longitudinal study identified the program’simpact on students’ subject selection, particularly physics in years 11 and 12. Theresults show a statistically significant increase in both students choosing year 11physics and the retention of those students into year 12 physics.

Growing Tall Poppies

particularly moved away from the study of physics. As part of the outreach activities of the ARC Centre

of Excellence for Coherent X-ray Science (CXS) [10]and the partnership activities of Santa Maria College,Northcote (SMC) we have, since 2008, developed an in-teractive and integrated program that engages secondarystudents with current research questions that allows themto contextualise the physical sciences. Our program iscalled Growing Tall Poppies: An authentic science experiencefor secondary students (GTP, for short) and it engagesstudents with research projects that are cross-disciplinaryin nature and highlights how the physical and biologicalsciences work together to resolve complex questions [11].

A recent review of science education by the AustralianAcademy of Science (AAS) [2] indicates the need for agreater emphasis on a pedagogical model of student en-gagement that promotes relevance and meaning to students,rather than on the transmission model. "is has beensupported by the AAS ‘Science by Doing’ program [2]."e AAS also reported the importance of demonstratingand emphasising cross-disciplinary links in order to keepstudents in science. Our program has independently de-veloped and implemented teaching and learning strategiesthat are entirely consistent with these reports and ourresults con!rm the value of such an approach.

We undertook a longitudinal study to identify theprogram’s impact on students’ subject selection, particularlyphysics in years 11 and 12. "e results show a statisticallysigni!cant increase in both students choosing year 11physics and retention into year 12 physics.

A partnership between CXS and SMC"e GTP program is particularly directed towards girlsin the physical sciences with the overarching aim ofdemonstrating that physics is relevant to their owninterests. "e program is a context-based curriculum pro-viding an authentic science environment for studentsaged 15–17 years. "e program promotes enduring science

learning by focusing on how the scienti!c process buildsknowledge that improves the quality of life and how itcan address complex problems that are relevant to society,community and individuals. "e essential tenet is that ifgirls can see the relevance of physics to society via, for ex-ample, developments in the biological sciences and med-icine, and if they can meet working physicists who are ex-cited by what they do, then they will see why it is worthcontinuing with its study to year 12 and possibly beyond."e guiding principles of GTP are outlined in Box 1.

Students crave excitement in their learning environmentand they o#en make career choices based on a perceptionthat their contribution will be valued. Secondary schoolstudents deserve the opportunity to see how science isconstructed, and how the advances being made rightnow can e$ect change, can cure disease, can understandclimate change and improve ‘the lot’ of humanity [7,11–13]. "e key to the GTP program, then, is to linkscience educators, students and scientists via currentresearch projects in which students are able to participateand contribute. At the same time, the outcomes of theprogram are aligned to key curriculum areas allowing theresearch work to support and invigorate the classroomexperience. "e projects are chosen to be engaging, andto provide students with the autonomy to follow theirown lines of inquiry; curiosity and problem solving arecentral parts of the experience. "e students work withyoung scientists who take on a collegial mentoring rolerather than a classical (didactic) teacher role. "e scientistshelp the students to formulate their own questions, followtheir own ideas, to construct investigations and collect!rst-hand data [14]. "is collegial environment includesexposure to cutting edge technology and allows thestudents to explore the sciences in the context of potentialcareer choices. "e students are expected to articulate, intheir re%ective assessment, attractive career directionsthey may have identi!ed.

A critical factor allowing students to bene!t from this

AUSTRALIAN PHYSICS 142 49(4) | JULY–AUGUST 2012

Box 1. Attributes of GTP(1) GTP takes students out of the classroom and immerses them in world leading science laboratories with world-class scientists and

cutting edge technology (2) GTP provides context-based projects to relate science content to a broader contextual meaning(3) GTP allows an inside look at science(4) GTP expects students to gather results that contribute to scienti!c knowledge (5) GTP expects students to present their work to the scienti!c community and publish their work online, and to re"ect on the meaning

and importance of science(6) GTP develops student expertise and knowledge that is shared with their school community and friends and family (7) GTP participants are encouraged to develop a mutually supportive community


partnership is that CXS is an interdisciplinary centreworking at the intersection of physics, biology and chem-istry. "e fundamental science research goals of CXSaddress questions that are directly relevant to society,such as alternatives to existing antibiotics and new curesfor malaria. Of course CXS is not alone in having an in-terdisciplinary research program. "e School of EarthSciences at the University of Melbourne has also participatedin GTP via a project that investigates questions regardingglobal warming in an interdisciplinary manner. As partof their GTP experience, students searched througharchived historical documents for reports on weatherdata to analyse if there has been a discernible change ofAustralian climate since colonisation; this project linkedphysics, earth sciences and Australian history. (For a dis-cussion and some idea on such approaches to learningsee [15, 16].)

A sample project"e GTP program has run projects over a broad range oftopic areas [10, 11, 14] and we invite interested readersto visit our website for details of many of them [seewww.coecxs.org/growingtallpoppies]. In this section, wedescribe in detail a project highlighting how an abstracttheoretical aspect of physics can be articulated to Year 10students.

A central scienti!c aim of CXS is to develop newforms of X-ray structural analysis applicable to singlebio-molecules using data obtained by scattering extremelyhigh-intensity coherent X-ray laser pulses from singlebio-molecules. Increasingly the bio-molecules of interest,such as membrane proteins, do not form crystals. "isnew approach to structure determination does not requirecrystallisation of bio-molecules. We need to put aside,therefore, the well-established methods of crystallographythat have been developed in the 100 years since Australia’s!rst physics Nobel laureates published the Bragg equa-tion.

"ere is a fundamental di$erence between deducingthe molecular structure from a periodic (crystalline)di$raction pattern, and the use of the continuous di$ractionpattern that would be produced by a single molecule (anon-crystalline structure). Fortunately, while the singlemolecule experiment is very much harder than an exper-iment with a crystal, the data analysis, while still challenging,is rather easier.

"e key to solving the structure that will produce acontinuous di$raction pattern is to recognise that thestructure that produces it is subject to a considerable

number of constraints. For example, we know that themolecule has !nite extent, we probably know a lot aboutits atomic constituents by independent methods ofchemical analysis, and we know that its electron densityis numerically positive and real. It is now well-establishedthat iterative processes that systematically guess thatanswer and impose constraints such as these can get youto the solution reliably and, with modern computer re-sources, rapidly.

Interestingly, the method of recovering the phase for acontinuous di$raction shares some deep connections tothe solution of a Sudoku puzzle and to other problems in

Box 2. X-Ray SudokuE#cient computational algorithms exist for thedetermination of structures from experimental X-raydi$raction data. While the concepts of optical phase, theFourier transformation of complex amplitudes and iterativecomputational algorithms are unlikely to be familiar tosecondary-level students. Elser has pointed out (seeseedmagazine.com/content/article/microscopy_and_the_art_of_sudoku/) that the general strategy involved in thephase retrieval of X-ray di$raction data is common to a widerange of problems, including the solution of themathematical puzzle Sudoku. Large numbers of people maybe daily observed performing “constrained searches oniterated maps” as they commute home on the train. InSudoku, one requires that the integers 1 to 9 appear exactlyonce in each row, each column and each 3%3 sub-block of a9%9 grid, subject to the !xed ‘clues’ that distinguish onepuzzle from another. The solution of problems in coherentphase recovery and Sudoku puzzles may be cast within acommon framework.

Elser described a general computational search algorithmfor Sudoku in which two constraints on arrangements of theintegers are applied in turn until a solution is obtained. Thisalgorithm is able to solve Sudoku puzzles in between 10 and100 steps. We have devised a simpli!ed version of thisalgorithm, also involving the satisfaction of two constraints.The rules are simple and have been used to formulate a boardgame that we ask the students to make and then play.

“Our program … engagesstudents with researchprojects that are cross-disciplinary in nature andhighlights how the physicaland biological scienceswork together to resolvecomplex questions.”

code breaking. "e details of the connection to di$ractionare outlined in Box 2, but of course these require a levelof knowledge that is well beyond even the most optimisticexpectations of a Year 10 student. "ese students are,however, familiar with Sudoku puzzles and are usuallyable to solve them guided mostly by intuition; theapproach adopted in the GTP project may most simplybe regarded as a formal articulation of that intuitivesolution process. One of us (HMQ) has developed aniterative scheme that enables all but the most !endish ofSudokus to be solved via a new form of board game. "isemploys an iterative approach that works by repeatedlyimposing the constraint on a Sudoku – that each rowand column contains all digits from 1 to 9. "us theGTP program involves ‘playing’ di$raction, explaininghow it relates to biology and drug-design, how CXS istrying to take the !eld to a new level using the latest sci-enti!c facilities and then relating it to the familiar. As abonus they take home a new board game that’s a lot offun for everyone (Fig. 1). "e students understand theanalogy between Sudoku and X-ray imaging and explainit in their presentations at the conclusion of the program.

"e Sudoku project is perhaps the most ambitious inthe GTP program, but there are numerous other interestingand exciting projects in which students work in biology

AUSTRALIAN PHYSICS 144 49(5) | SEPT–OCT 2012

Box 3. Re!ections of StudentParticipants in the Growing TallPoppies Program“Before the Growing Tall Poppies program, I thought thatPhysics, Biology and Chemistry were separate from eachother.”

“The Growing Tall Poppies program revealed the importanceof science in today’s society and has inspired me to continueto study science.”

“My experience helped me see the importance of science andrelevant applications of the things you study at school. Youcan also see the links with the di$erent areas of study.”

“Not only do you realise science is awesome but also that thedi$erent branches of science such as biology, physics andchemistry are all joined together. I really feel I can do this typeof study as a career.”

“Before the program my de!nition of a scientist was a manin white lab coat and now I see that scientists are all sorts ofpeople with a wide range of interests and really creativeminds.”

“The program has helped me see science-in-action and whatscientists really do. It has helped me stay interested in thescience we learn at school.”

“The best part was learning how the three sciences (physics,chemistry and biology) complement each other.”

Fig. 1. The board of the GTP Sudoku game. White tiles arethe "xed clues. The constraint to be applied iteratively isthat each row and each column must contain all digits from1 to 9. Keeping the movable squares of a particular colourin the 3#3 regions ensures that the second Sudokuconstraint is obeyed automatically. Fig. 2. GTP conference delegates in 2010 explore the display

put on by the School of Physics at the University ofMelbourne for the event.

labs attempting crystal formation, perform experimentsat the Australian Synchrotron or in femtosecond laserlabs, or perform 3-D X-ray tomography using laboratorysources [14].

"e reception by the students and by the scientiststhey work with has been fantastic and some sample com-ments are outlined in Box 3. "e community of GTPalumnae continues to communicate though a website.In 2010, a student conference was organised at whichProfessor Margaret Murnane, a leading laser physicistfrom Colorado, agreed to speak on her experiences as ayoung female scientist (see Figs 2 and 3). "e next con-ference in the series will be held in 2012.

Does it work? It is universally accepted that outreach activities and thepromotion of science are worthy activities but the successof such initiatives is o#en merely anecdotal. With GTPwe have adopted the principle that we would apply thesame standards to our outreach as we do to our science."is necessitates the formulation of well-articulated goalsand the measurement of outcomes.

"e goal of GTP is quite simply to increase the numberof girls studying physics to year 12 and, in particular, toensure that once the student embarks on their !nal year

of physics study, they persevere to the end of theirsecondary schooling. Year 12 enrolments in physics atSanta Maria College are now approximately twice thehighest pre-GTP enrolment over the last decade. Asecond feature of GTP is the con!dence that it providesthe students to persist with the study of physics. By thismeasure, GTP has been a fantastic success, as shown inFig. 4 where we plot the retention rate of students fromUnit 2 physics (second semester in Year 11) to Unit 3physics (!rst semester in Year 12). "is plot also showsthe state-wide !gures for girls obtained from the VictorianCurriculum and Assessment Authority website(www.vcaa.vic.edu.au). It can be seen that the retentionrate at SMC has increased very signi!cantly from a ratebelow the state average to one that is well above a#er theintroduction of the GTP program in 2008. "e historicalretention rate of around 40% has increased to over 90%,indicating both higher participation and higher retention."e enrolments, though small, have increased from a2002–08 average of six students in Unit 3 (year 12)physics to a 2009–12 average of 9.25 students. "is year13 students are enrolled, the highest number ever atSMC.

"e small numbers dictate that we must ensure thatthe numbers are statistically signi!cant. Analysis via


Fig. 3. Professor Margaret Murnane from the University ofColorado describes the science she pursues to the 2010 GTPstudent conference.

Fig. 4. Retention rate from Unit 2 (Year 11) to Unit 3 (Year 12)physics. The diamonds show overall numbers for girls inVictoria. The squares show the corresponding rate for SantaMaria College. The increase in retention rate for SMC afterthe commencement of GTP in 2008 is apparent andstatistically signi"cant (p < 0.001).

“The goal of GTP is quitesimply to increase thenumber of girls studyingphysics to year 12 …”

Fisher’s test for association has shown that the probabilitythat the impact seen in Fig. 4 is due to chance is negligiblysmall (p < 0.001); the impact of GTP is a real e$ect andthe impact does live on with the students. We believethat our data allow us to conclusively claim that our ap-proach does change student outcomes.

Conclusions and futureGrowing Tall Poppies is an active research project inoutreach that is having positive e$ects in changing per-ceptions and subject choices of students. "e studentsbene!t from the intensive mentorship they receive duringthe week of participation in an environment that is newand exciting. "e hosting research group integrates thegroup of students with little disruption and the young

scientists who mentor them develop skills in communi-cating their research goals in an understandable way.Several PhD students have expressed an interest in ateaching career a#er their GTP experience, because theyhave enjoyed the process of facilitating students’ learning;it can be life changing from both sides!

As many research groups are involved in CXS, it ispossible to deliver this immersion program to a largenumber of students. We see no fundamental obstacle toscaling the program up to a signi!cantly larger scale ifaccess to more laboratories were possible, for examplevia a university- or laboratory-wide program. In our case,about three hundred students have been involved in thefour years of its operation, helping to encourage anddevelop scienti!cally-inclined students to continue with

AUSTRALIAN PHYSICS 146 49(5) | SEPT–OCT 2012

Fig. 5. Eroia Barone-Nugent with student Yvonne Liu.

the study of science and especially physics. "ere is nosign of any diminution of the importance of physics toscienti!c advancement and through this program we arecontributing to the future generations’ tall poppies. Weare obliged to do all we can to ensure the continuedstudy of physics.

Acknowledgements"e GTP program is supported by Santa Maria College,Northcote, CXS, the Catholic Education O&ce Mel-bourne, a University of Melbourne Knowledge TransferGrant and as the 2009 winner of the National AustraliaBank Schools First State Award for Victoria. We also ac-knowledge the wonderful contributions of the manymentors who have willingly contributed their time, aswell as the resources of CSIRO, the Australian Synchrotronand a number of university departments from the Uni-versity of Melbourne, La Trobe University and SwinburneUniversity. "e ARC Centre of Excellence for CoherentX-ray Science is supported by the participating institutionsand by the Australian Research Council.

References [1] J. Ainley et al., ‘Participation in Science, Mathematics

and Technology in Australian Education’, ACER ResearchMonograph No. 63 (2008).

[2] D. Goodrum et al., ‘"e Status and 'uality of Year 11and 12 Science in Australian Schools’ (2011), O&ce ofthe Chief Scientist [see www.science.org.au/publications/documents/Year11and12Report.pdf ].

[3] Universities Australia: ‘STEM and non-STEM First YearStudents’ (2012) [see www.universitiesaustralia.edu.au/re-sources/680/1319].

[4] A. Kelly, ‘"e development of girls and boys attitudes toscience – a longitudinal study’, European J. Sci. Educat.8, 399 (1986).

[5] A. Kelly et al., ‘Girls into science and technology. Finalreport’ (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED

250 203), Manchester: GIST, Department of Sociology(1984).

[6] B. Smail, ‘Encouraging girls to give physics a secondchance’, in ‘Science for Girls?’, A. Kelly (ed.), pp. 13–18(Open University Press, Milton Keynes, 1985).

[7] E. K. Stage et al., ‘Increasing the participation and achieve-ment of girls and women in mathematics, sciences andengineering’, in ‘Handbook for achieving Sex Equitythrough Education’, S. Klein (ed.) ("e Johns HopkinsUniversity Press, Baltimore).

[8] C. Williams et al., ‘Why aren’t secondary studentsinterested in physics?’, Phys. Educat. 38, 324 (2003).

[9] T. Lyons, ‘"e puzzle of falling enrolments in physicsand chemistry courses: Putting some pieces together’,Res. Sci. Educat. (2005), DOI: 10.1007/s11165-005-9008-z.

[10] K. A. Nugent and A. G. Peele, ‘"e ARC Centre of Ex-cellence for Coherent X-ray Science’, Aust. Phys. 47, 10(2010).

[11] E. Barone-Nugent, ‘Growing Tall Poppies in science: Anauthentic science experience for secondary school students’,Labtalk: Secondary Science J. Science Teachers’ Associationof Victoria 54, 29 (2010).

[12] A. M. W. Bulte et al., ‘A research approach to designingchemistry education using authentic practices as contexts’,Int. J. Sci. Educat. 28, 1063 (2006).

[13] C. Hart et al., ‘What does it mean to teach physics ‘incontext’? A second case study’, Aust. Sci. Teachers J. 48, 6(2002).

[14] T. Kirkinis and E. Barone-Nugent, ‘Jurassic Park in minia-ture: Why imaging fossils can be cool’, Labtalk 54, 29(2010).

[15] ‘Providing hands-on, minds-on, and authentic learningexperiences in science’ [see www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/content/cntareas/science/sc500.htm].

[16] Pedagogical models on how to teach in novel engagingways can be found at: serc.carleton.edu/sp/library/pedagogies.html.


AUTHOR BIOSEroia Barone-Nugent is a science teacher and Head of Partnerships Development at Santa Maria College, Northcote. She has a PhDin palaeontology from the University of Melbourne, a MEd in mathematics and science education from La Trobe University and anhonours degree in biochemistry from the University of Adelaide. She has been the driving force behind the Growing Tall Poppiesprogram which won the inaugural State Award from the Schools First in 2009. Eroia was a !nalist in the 2012 Eureka Prizes inrecognition of the GTP program. Keith Nugent is a Federation Fellow and Laureate Professor in Physics at the University of Melbourne.He is also Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coherent X-ray Science (CXS) and of the Australian Synchrotron. Harry Quineyis Assistant Director of CXS and Head of the CXS Theory and Modelling Program. He specialises in understanding quantum molecularscience and decoding di$raction patterns. He doesn’t particularly enjoy Sudoku. Eroia does.

increasing numbers in science

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