Teachers play a very important role in building societies and grooming students to be the future leaders. Training of teachers of all subjects and schools to be more active, constructive and effecient is very crucial for the development of a nation. In line with this vision, the Physics Department at the Syed Babar Ali School of Science and Engineering (SBASSE), LUMS organised a day-long research-focused workshop on, 'Selected Topics in Mechanics for Physics Teachers.'
Physics teachers belonging to secondary and higher secondary schools and colleges participated in the Workshop held on December 27, 2018. The Workshop aimed to reinvigorate the primary responsibility of college and university teachers, which is to train the future generation so that they are scientifically literate and develop critical thinking skills. The instructors of the Workshop were Dr. Asad Abidi, Professor, University of California, USA and Inaugral Holder of the Abdus Salam Chair, LUMS who was the lead trainer along with Dr. Muhammad Sabieh Anwar, Associate Professor, Physics Department, SBASSE, LUMS.
Dr. Abidi presented topics from mechanics relating to rotational kinematics, that are usually found confusing to the students, and how theory connects to the real world. He emphasised the importance of physics teachers to invoke examples from everyday life to develop intuition and infuse critical thinking so that students may develop a sound national scientific mindset.
The session was followed by a vivid exploration of a science experiment through artistic demonstration of the some concepts by Dr. Anwar. Using a camera and an inclined plane, Dr. Anwar presented a hands-on classroom approach towards laboratory teaching to the participants. He exhibited how the theoretical derivations of rotational and translational motions could be explored using a simple carrom board through the eyes of a camera and image processing techniques.
The Workshop was a success with over 85 participants from across the country, from cities such as Abbottabad, Faisalabad, Peshawar and Haripur. The sessions were very enlightening and were a great learning experience for the participants, who went back with many tools and techniques that will improve their teaching skills.
