Biosketch: Helen Quinn, originally from Australia, is Professor Emerita of Particle Physics and Astrophysics at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. She received her Ph.D in physics at Stanford in 1967.  She has taught physics at both Harvard and Stanford and is an internationally recognized theoretical physicist who holds the ICTP Dirac Medal, the Klein Medal (from The Swedish National Academy of Sciences and Stockholm University) as well as the Sakurai Prize (from the American Physical Society) and the Compton medal (from the American Institute of Physics, awarded once every 4 years). She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Science and the American Philosophical Society. She is a Fellow and former president of the American Physical Society. 

Dr. Quinn has been active in science education for some years. She served as Chair of the US National Academy of Science Board on Science Education (BOSE) from 2009-2014 and as a member of the BOSE study that developed the report “Taking Science to School” as well as chairing the committee for the “Framework for K-12 Science Education”, which is the basis of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) that have now been adopted by multiple states in the US. In 2015 Helen was appointed by the President of Ecuador  as a member of the  initial “Comision Gestora” to help guide the development of the National University of Education of Ecuador. 

Abstract: Almost all physicists are also physics teachers during their career. We all learned, so we think we know how to teach. But teaching as you were taught is unlikely to be the best approach. Repeated experiments at many Universities and with many students, have demonstrated what works and what does not.  Dr. Quinn will summarize the work of physics education research, and talk about how to become a more effective teacher by paying attention to what this research has shown.

The talk will be livestreamed from the ICTP website (ictp.it/livestream). Light refreshments will be served after the event.