Report for UNESCO’s Active Learning in Optics and Photonics (ALOP) Programme 2014-2015

This report covers the years 2014 -2015, encompassing the following activities:

1. ALOP Georgia 2014 at Ilia State University, Tbilisi, Georgia, 8-12 September 2014 2. ALOP Indonesia 2015 at the National Nuclear Energy Agency, Tangerang Selatan,

Jakarta, Indonesia, 23-27 March 2015 3. ALOP Mauritius 2015 at the University of Mauritius, Mauritius, 20-25 July 2015 4. ALOP South Africa 2015 at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU),

Port Elizabeth, South Africa, 7-11 September 2015 5. ALOP Bolivia 2015 at the Universidad Privada Boliviana (UPB), city of Cochabamba,

Bolivia, 23 - 27 November 2015

6. ALOP Pakistan at the Quais-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan, 07-11 December 2015

I. Introduction

Globally, it has been observed that the number of students choosing physics as a discipline is gradually decreasing. There are many reasons for this; most prominent is the way in which physics is taught; others are critical shortage of physics teachers in secondary schools, under-equipped laboratories and libraries, and limited number of job opportunities.

Developing countries in particular need better prepared physics teachers to pass-on their skills to younger generations in a hands-on manner. The Active Learning in Optics and Photonics (ALOP) Programme of UNESCO represents a crucial tool in meeting the need in physics education and capacity-building in the developing parts of the world.

Tackling the problem at its source since 2005, ALOP gives educators active teaching strategies in the fields of optics and photonics, which they then use to pass on their skills to their students. The 2015 International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly (Resolution A/RES/68/221) provides an auspicious occasion to increase awareness of photonics technologies and applications as a main driver for innovation and the development of capacities, conducive to sustainable development.

II. ALOP Georgia 2014

The 2014 Active Learning in Optics and Photonics (ALOP) workshop in Georgia took place at Ilia State University, Tbilisi, on 8-12 September. There were 30 participants, representing schools and universities from across Georgia. The workshop was run by:

- Alex Mazzolini, coordinator and facilitator, Swinburne, University of Technology, Australia

- Ivan Culaba, facilitator, Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines - David Sokoloff, facilitator, University of Oregon, Eugene, USA

There were three general objectives for the workshop:

1. To share information about an ‘active learning’ approach to the teaching of introductory optics

2. To provide an experience of the use of the active learning methods in optics and photonics, including the use of experiments and hands-on exercises, class and group discussions, and conceptual evaluation

3. To promote appreciation of learning physics in general, and photonics and optics in particular

The Facilitators checked the workshop room and equipment prior to the official opening ceremony, which took place on 8 September. The participants also registered for the workshop and received their materials prior to the ceremony. In the ceremony the Rector of Ilia State University, professor Zedania said the first greeting words. In attendance were: the Minister of Education and Sciences of Georgia; the Ambassador of Italy in Georgia; the representative of the UNESCO commission in Georgia; and the economical attaché from the Italian Embassy.

After the official opening ceremony all participants moved to the working room and the workshop was introduced. The participants presented their opinions about physics education in Georgia, completed the forms and stressed the problems they experienced during lessons or lectures in their own classes. On the first and the second day David Sokoloff introduced the principles of geometrical optics through experiments and observations. Along with David Sokoloff, the participants focused on hands-on activities such as rectilinear propagation of light, and reflection and refraction, which were designed carefully for active learning. After Mr Sokoloff‘s session, Mr Culaba introduced

the atmospheric optics. Here the participants learned the basic principles of atmospheric phenomena that occur in everyday life, such as the rainbow, polarization light, Brocken spectrum, differential refraction etc. Mr Mazzolini continued with the introduction of optical communication and wavelength division multiplexing, using Wavelength Division Multiplexing Experiments. On Thursday evening all participants had dinner together in a Georgian restaurant, as a closing celebration to the workshop. At the end of the workshop all the participants received certificates. Participants from all regions got the set of equipment, which they can use in different schools at home.

The various cities the attendees came from are marked on the map of Georgia below. The ALOP workshop drew people from all over Georgia, and some participants discussed the possibility of them running ALOP workshops in their regions. They would invite the teachers from the neighbouring schools and introduce active learning methods in Optics and Photonics.

III. ALOP Indonesia 2015

The 2015 Active Learning in Optics and Photonics (ALOP) workshop in Indonesia took place

at the National Nuclear Energy Agency, Tangerang Selatan, Jakarta, on 23-27 March. There were three general objectives of the ALOP workshop:

1. To share information about an ‘Active Learning’ approach to the teaching of introductory optics

2. To provide an experience of the use of the active learning method in optics and photonics, including the use of experiments and hands-on exercises, class and group discussions, and conceptual evaluation

3. To promote appreciation of learning physics, in general, and optics and photonics, in particular

This was the twenty-third full international Active Learning in Optics and Photonics (ALOP) workshop, and the fifth to be held in East Asia. The official English version of the UNESCO published training manual, Active Learning in Optics and Photonics Training Manual (second printing) was used, including the Alternate Edition of Module 2.

The facilitators were David Sokoloff from the USA (Module 1), Vaseduvan (Vengu) Lakshminarayanan from Canada (Module 2A), Souad Lahmar from Tunisia (Module 3), Ivan Culaba from the Philippines (Module 4) and Alex Mazzolini from Australia (Modules 5 and 6).

The enrollment in the workshop was 32 participants, most of whom were high school teachers from

throughout Indonesia, and 2 academics from universities in Jakarta. 19 of the participants (59%) were women. The workshop room was spacious, fit for purpose, and very adequate, and could be completely darkened when needed. The arrangements and local equipment provided by Dr. Evvy Kartini, the local workshop organizer, and her assistants was excellent; every request was addressed efficiently and professionally. It quickly became apparent that only about 35% of the workshop participants could speak conversational English and only very few understood technical English terms (such as those found in the ALOP workshop). Fortunately, it was possible to enlist very good local academics who could translate critical concepts and explanations ‘on the spot’. This was initially found to be a challenge, but the workshop facilitators and participants quickly adapted, as the interpreters did an excellent job. In the pre-test assessment the 32 participants scored a mean of 20.0 correct (40%), and 10 out of the 32 (31%) answered the ray diagram question (#51) correctly. These are among the lowest pre-test scores recorded in an ALOP to date. However, it is unclear if this accurately represents their knowledge of light and optics concepts, or, rather, unfamiliarity with English technical terms. The results of the post-test have not yet been evaluated. The participants were very enthusiastic, and seemed to find the activities interesting and challenging. They were very self-conscious, and, after some coaxing, followed requests to work through the workshop activities. By the end of the workshop, the facilitators had reached the conclusion that this was a very enthusiastic and competent group. It was felt that their reluctance to work on the first day stemmed from timidity and lack of experience working on hands-on activities using directions from a manual. It is clear that despite the language difficulties, they were very receptive to the ideas of active learning. In fact, this group of high school teachers was amongst the most enthusiastic and attentive of all participants ever seen at ALOP workshops. All modules ran very smoothly, thanks to the excellent preparation of the local organizer and facilitators. The ALOP training was very well received by the participants, which leads the facilitators to be very optimistic that the participants will implement the activities, and some will present local workshops to their colleagues. Both Monica Raharti, the original contact for this workshop, and Evvy Kartini, the local organizer, were enthusiastic about the possibility of doing a follow-up workshop. The two modules on optical communications went very smoothly as well and seemed to be highly valued by the participants. There was no problem with the equipment. Participants found Module 5 on Optical Communications interesting and felt they could reproduce it with their own students. After the main parts of the module 6, a much simpler WDM unit (using a simple multi-switch circuit, tri-colour LED, CD diffraction grating etc.) was demonstrated to show the participants what could be achieved with more commonly available materials. The simpler WDM setup was used to show teachers how similar learning outcomes could be achieved in a simpler way using lower cost components. Even so, the facilitator believed that participants at this ALOP would struggle to reproduce modules 5 & 6 for themselves without the kits. There were no problems with other three modules on Lenses and Optics, Interference and Diffraction and Atmospheric Optics; they ran very smoothly as well, thanks to preparation of the local organizers and the excellent facilities. The participants appreciated all the workshops. Ten sets of materials for the hands-on activities in Module 1 were brought to Jakarta and distributed to selected participants on the last day of the workshop. Conclusions

This ALOP workshop was extremely well organized by the local organizer and her

assistants. Based on the discussions and feedback from the local organizers, the workshop went very well, and was very well received by the participants. The participants strongly felt that they had learned something they wanted to apply in their teaching, and modules 4 and 6 were particularly interesting to them. The facilitators were very optimistic that the participants would implement the activities, and some would present local workshops to their colleagues. Both Monica Raharti, the original contact for this workshop, and Evvy Kartini, the local organiser, were enthusiastic about the possibility of doing a follow-up workshop to train trainers for future ALOP workshops. The facilitators suggested that this possibility should be explored.

IV. ALOP Mauritius 2015

The 2015 Active Learning in Optics and Photonics (ALOP) workshop in Mauritius took place at the University of Mauritius, Le Réduit, on 20-25 July, as part of the programme of events organized by the university for the International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies in 2015. The ALOP workshop was conducted by four facilitators, namely: Professor David R. Sokoloff, University of Oregon (modules 1 and 2); Professor Souad Lamar, University of Tunis (module 3); Mr Scott Daniel, Swinburne University (module 4); and Professor Alexandre Mazzolini, Swinburne University (modules 5 and 6). The workshop was co-sponsored by the International Centre of Theoretical Physics (ICTP). The objectives of the workshop were:

1. To promote teaching of optics and photonics at the introductory university physics and final year high school levels via active learning methods

2. To promote research and development in physics education by using activities designed by education experts to investigate students’ understanding of the basic principles of optics

3. To share and compare information about existing teaching practices, in the topics of optics and photonics in schools, colleges and universities.

The ALOP workshop focused on the teaching and learning of:

- The fundamentals of light and optics - Scattering polarization and atmospheric optics - Interference and diffraction - Optics of the eye - Photonics and optical communication

There were 25 people enrolled in the workshop, the majority of which were schoolteachers, although there were also representatives from the University of Mauritius, the University of Namibia, and Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, South Africa.

As part of the programme, there was an opening ceremony on Monday 20 July. The vice-chancellor of the University of Mauritius was the guest of honour, and spoke on the importance of the workshop and its benefit to promote the teaching of physics. The participants expressed their satisfaction and the benefits of the experience they gained during the ALOP workshop. They were requested to ensure that students benefit from the experience gathered, and some of them showed interest in promoting and sustaining the workshop. They particularly appreciated the kits that were given to them.

V. ALOP South Africa 2015

The Active Learning in Optics and Photonics (ALOP) workshop in South Africa took place in the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU), Port Elizabeth, from 7 to 11 September 2015. The workshop was conducted within the Physics department of the University, with the support of the local organizing committee formed by Dr N.G. Hashe (Physics), Mr M.C. Bacela (Physics), Dr E. Lombard and Dr L. Meiring (Education), Prof A. Venter and Ms C. Koekemoer (Physics).

The workshop over five days was facilitated by experts in the field of Physics Education; Professor Souad Lamar (University of Carthage, Tunisia), Professor David R. Sokoloff (University of Oregon, USA), and Professor Alexander Mazzolini (Swinburne University, Australia).

The ALOP workshop focused on the teaching of:

- the active learning pedagogy, using Optics as a vehicle for transferring basic ideas related to the teaching philosophy of the ALOP programme developed by UNESCO.

- the integration of concepts which build sequentially from basic fundamentals of geometric and wave optics.

- in particular, active learning in physics education research, with predict-observe-discuss-synthesize (PODS) learning cycle.

The topics studied in the five-day ALOP workshop explored many fundamental concepts which build sequentially from basic fundamentals of geometric and wave optics, through important applications, such as optics of the eye, atmospheric optics effects, and optical communications, that bring together many of the ideas covered in former modules. The topics, of great significance to modern life, were presented through tools with which teachers could motivate student learning, replacing lectures with sequenced activities based on direct observation of physical phenomena.

The active learning pedagogy integrated conceptual questions and hands-on activities with practical applications, giving students the means to understand their everyday world.

Participants in the workshop furthermore learnt about the active learning pedagogy, as well as physics education research showing the efficacy of active learning. Most importantly, the participants underwent, first-hand, the full “student experience” of active learning classes and the predict-observe-discuss-synthesize (PODS) learning cycle.

In keeping with all ALOP workshops, the project was designed to be practical and affordable. The materials used in the activities are generally simple, inexpensive and available in most countries. The five-day workshop followed the Programme’s training manual which provides inquiry materials, teacher guides and apparatus plan.

There were 22 local participants in the workshop, five of which were from outside of Port Elizabeth. Four of the five were from the Eastern Cape and one from the Western Cape. Most of the participants were science teachers and some were the subject advisors. From the NMMU there were education department lecturers, physics department lecturers and some honors’ physics students, as well as a Physics’ department technician and a first year physical science education student.

As part of the programme, there was an opening ceremony on Monday 7 September 2015 which was chaired by the head of the physics department, Prof André Venter. The Dean of Science of NMMU, Prof Cedric McCleland, was the guest of honour.

A day before the end of the workshop, on 10 September 2015, the facilitators and the participants were taken out to Addo Elephant National Park for a safari ride and thereafter the workshop dinner was held at the restaurant in the National Park.

On the last day of the workshop there was a closing ceremony and 10 participants were given the experimental kits for which they were grateful, and all the participants were awarded the workshop certificates. The participants expressed their satisfaction with the experience gained during the ALOP workshop. They have been requested to ensure that students benefit from the experience garnered. The NMMU were very privileged to act as host for the 2015 ALOP South Africa workshop.

VI. ALOP Bolivia 2015

The 2015 Active Learning in Optics and Photonics (ALOP) workshop in Bolivia took place in the city of Cochabamba from 23 to 27 November 2015 at the Universidad Privada Boliviana (UPB).

Facilitators of the activities were Prof. Angela Guzmán, Florida Atlantic University; Prof. David R. Skoloff, University of Oregon; Prof. Freddy Alberto Monroy, Universidad Sede Bogotá; and Prof. Omar Ormachea Muñoz, Universidad Privada Boliviana.

The objectives of the workshop were: 1. To share information about an active learning approach to the teaching of introductory optics;

2. To provide an experience of the use of the active learning methods in optics and photonics, including the use of experiments and hands-on exercises, class and group discussions, and conceptual evaluation;

3. To promote the appreciation of learning in physics in general, and photonics and optics in particular;

Among participants, high-school teachers and first year university professors of Latin American countries were present in the activities.

The ALOP Workshop included 6 modules:

- Geometrical Optics: Rectilinear Propagation of Light, Reflection and Refraction

- Lens and Eye’s Optic

- Interference and Diffraction

- Atmospheric Optics

- Optical Data Transmission

- Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM)

During the duration of the workshop, new contacts with the education ministry, teachers’ organization and State universities to recruit further participants for future activities were made, in particular owing to efforts by Omar Ormachea Muñoz.

Cultural activities were also included in the programme of the workshop, with afternoon visits for the team to Palacia Portales and Christo de la Concordia, and a banquet with entertainment Friday night was also organized.

During the closing ceremony the participants received a Certificate of Attendance, endorsed by UNESCO, mentioning the number of hours of participation. Ten experimentation kits were donated to the participants’ institutions.

Conclusions

Based on the report written by the long-standing ALOP Workshop facilitator, Dr Sokoloff, this ALOP workshop was well organized and was beneficial for participants, given, among other elements, the increase in test results at the end of it. Based on the discussions and feedback from the participants and organizers, the workshop could serve retrospectively as a platform to seek the improvement of ALOP workshop methodologies, particularly in contexts where participants are not necessarily fluent English speakers and where, despite participants being enthusiastic and hard-working, levels in optics education are low. (In this case for instance, participants were mostly engineers, not physicists, lacking a certain background to make specific deductions). This required a more flexible approach to teaching which can be improved through experience gained through workshops experiencing such difficulties. To counteract the language barrier, interpretation may be sought after by local facilitators, but it was observed that having a fluent English speaker per (sub)working group would be highly valuable and is worthy to be remembered for future workshops.

It was furthermore noted that the Bolivia ALOP workshop experience brought to the fore the need for innovations in the learning methodology, as well as a Second Edition of the ALOP Training Manual, endorsed by the editor of the first edition, Dr Sokoloff (who participated in the Bolivia workshop). The facilitators agreed work on the new edition would be welcome as soon as possible, as many changes and some corrections are felt. In order to facilitate the collection of corrections and new entries, it was suggested a designated editor for the Second Edition be decided upon and, if possible, rewarded accordingly.

The Bolivia workshop provided an opportunity to reveal suggestions by facilitators, such as Freddy Alberto Monroy and Prof. Omar Ormachea Muñoz, who have already conceived improvements such as comprehensive, simple ways to build some of the apparatus for Modules 3 and 4, or a new design for the apparatus for Modules 5 and 6. One of the participants or facilitators also produced a source list for obtaining parts for circuit designs,

which may be expanded and put to use on a larger basis. It was also noted many “new and clever ideas” immerged during the workshop.

VII. ALOP Pakistan 2015

The 2015 Active Learning in Optics and Photonics (ALOP) workshop in Pakistan organized by the National Centre for Physics (NCP) and the Centre for Physics Education (CPE), took place at NCP, Quais-i-Azam University Campus in Islamabad, Pakistan, from December 7 to 11 2015 in collaboration with the Abdus Salam - International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) and UNESCO.

The facilitators of the workshop, of which 4 were local resource persons and 5 foreigners, were Dr. M. Aslam Baig (National Centre for Physics), Dr. Imrana Ashraf (Quais-i-Azam University), Prof. Aquila Islam (Centre for Physics Education), Prof. Aziz Fatima (Centre for Physics Education), Dr. Niemela Joseph James (Italy), Prof. Souad Chekir Lahmar, (Tunisie), Prof. Vasudevan Lakshminarayanan (Canada), Dr. Siti Hendon Binti Sheikh Abdullah (Malaysia) and Prof. Dr. Deepak Prasad Subedi (Nepal).

For participation in the ALOP workshop, physics teachers in the field of optics were encouraged to apply. An online registration form was made available on the NCP website (http://www.ncp.edu.pk) to interested participants. Further selection was made by the Technical Committee of ALOP, and 23 participants among 32 selected people joined the activity. Local hospitality and partial travel assistance was provided to the selected local participants. Travel grants were made available to foreign facilitators.

The ALOP Workshop aimed to:

1. Provide the participants with an introductory update in the fields of optics and photonics.

2. Give the participants strategies for teaching that are active and that have been demonstrated to be more effective than traditional methods.

3. Empower teachers to educate their students effectively using locally-available resources.

The opening session started with the introductory welcome by the ALOP coordinators. Ms. Rabia Rasheed, Manager Collaboration and Academic Activities Department, NCP, welcomed the honorable guests and the participants. She briefed the audience about the goals and objectives of ALOP workshop. Dr. Hafeez Hoorani DG NCP gave a welcome address and welcomed the foreign facilitators. The ICTP Representative Dr. Joseph Niemela gave the inaugural address in which he praised the efforts of the organizing team and the motivation shown by the researchers. Dr. M. Aslam Baig, Distinguished Scientist NCP, introduced formally the activities of the ALOP Workshop to the participants. Prof. Dr. David Sokolof (USA) also presented a video talk in the inaugural session on the topic titled: “Interactive lecture demonstration and Introduction to the ALOP”. The workshop was divided into a working group peer evaluation, 6 modules and a post ALOP test. The modules were:

1. Geometrical optics: Rectilinear propagation of light and Reflection and Refraction (Souad Lahmar, Jabeen Islam).

2. Lenses and Optics of the Eye (Vengu, Siti Hendon , Shazia Naz).

3. Interference and Diffraction (Imrana Ashraf, Jabeen Islam, Raheel Ali).

4. Atmospheric optics (Souad Lahmar, Asima Ali).

5. Optical data transmission (Deepak, Rehan Ali, Rizwan Ahmed, Ahmad Shahzad).

6. Optical data transmission and wave division multiplexing (Deepak, Rehan Ali, Rizwan Ahmaed, Ahmad Shehzad).

The concluding session was chaired by Dr. Hafeez R. Hoorani, NCP and Dr. Joseph Niemela, ICTP. Dr. Hafeez appreciated the efforts of the facilitators in making the workshop successful and thanked the sponsors for their generous contribution that made this workshop possible. He also thanked the foreigners for coming to Pakistan for the ALOP Workshop and for sharing their worthy experience with young faculty of various universities and colleges of the country. Dr. Niemela expressed his gratitude to speakers, facilitators, participants and organizers of the ALOP. Many participants provided their comments/suggestions. At the end, participation certificates were distributed among the participants.

Conclusions According to Dr. Nimela, such activities should be continued. Prof. Vasudevan Lakshminarayanan and Prof. Souad Chekir Lahmar, trainers/facilitators of the workshop, valued the keen interest of participants in learning and offered their guidance/intellectual support even after the workshop. Participants’ conclusions are as positive as those of organizers: Ms. Saqba Urooj, lecturer of the University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Muzafarabad, underlined that the workshop was “fabulous” and noted that the traditional, old-fashioned methods were drawn away from their education with the great efforts of facilitators. Mr. Muhammad Aslam Khoso, from the institute of Physics of the University of Jamshoro, shared the opinion that such activities should be spread to other areas of Pakistan.

VIII. FINANCIAL REPORT

Expenses for ALOP Georgia (8-12 September 2014)

USD

Ilia State University 5000

Alexandre Mazzolini 2930

Ivan Culaba 2550

David Sokoloff 2175

Sub-total 12655

Expenses for ALOP Indonesia (23-27 March 2015)

USD

National Nuclear Energy Centre 0*

Alexandre Mazzolini 1200

David Sokoloff 2030

Ivan Culaba 550

Sub-total 3780**

Expenses for ALOP Mauritius (20-25 July 2015)

USD

University of Mauritius, Le Réduit 5000

Alexandre Mazzolini 1950

David Sokoloff 3100

Sub-total 10050***

Expenses for ALOP South Africa (7-11 September 2015)

USD

Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University 5000

Souad Lamar 2761.79

David Sokoloff 2800

Sub-total 10561.79

Expenses for ALOP Bolivia (23-27 November 2015)

USD

Sub-total 0

Expenses for ALOP Pakistan (7-11 December 2015)

USD

Nacional Center for Physics (NCP) 7500

Sub-total 7500

TOTAL ALOPs 2014-2015 44546,79 USD****

* ICTP contributed 5,000 USD to the National Nuclear Energy Centre.

** For ALOP Indonesia, ICTP has covered the expenses for two additional facilitators (Vengu and Souad Lahmar).

*** For ALOP Mauritius, ICTP has covered the expenses for two additional facilitators (Scott Daniel and Souad Lahmar).**** The total amount given does not include ICTP contribution.