A new Italian member in the EPS Physics Education Division Board

Professor Nicola Vittorio from the University of Roma Tor Vergata has been appointed new Board Member of the Physics Education Division (PED) of the European Physical Society (EPS). He succeeds in this position to Professor Elena Sassi, who recently passed away.

The Physics Education Division was created in the Spring of 2000 and since then has been very active in the EPS, dealing with issues relating to pre-university and university education:

• Teaching & learning of physics at all levels
• Teacher education
• In-service teacher training
• Public understanding of physics/science
• New trends in physics education
• Implementation of the Bologna process
• Differences in the European educational system in physics
• EPS Position Papers

The PED has the ambition to contribute to strengthening the perception of the physics discipline in society, contribute to bridging the gap between school teachers and teachers and scientists at the universities and to support and strengthen physics teachers to maintain and improve the quality of physics teaching.

In its Position Paper of 2012, the EPS PED supports all the efforts to develop research in physics education. As one can read, “it encourages others to recognize the importance of its efforts to improve European physics education and invites them to participate in achieving this goal”.

In this respect, the newly created SIF Permanent Commission on Education (Commissione Didattica Permanente, CDP) will indeed take advange of the links that the presence of Nicola Vittorio in both the SIF CDP and the EPS PED Board will ensure from now on.