USP: Form 7 Physics Workshop : Students Get Real With Physics

A physics workshop for Form 7 students was held at the Physics Division, School of Engineering and Physics, within the Faculty of Science, Technology and Environment (FSTE) on 15 April 2010. The workshop was jointly organised by the University of the South Pacific’s Physics Division and the South Pacific Physics Society.

It was immensely well received by the 14 participating schools from the Suva, Nausori, Navua, and Tailevu areas, which sent a total of 91 students along with a teacher from each school. At the workshop, student groups carried out a roster of ten experiments set up in duplicates, and heard talks on studying physics as well as career opportunities in physics.

The Divisional Coordinator for physics at USP, Dr Sushil Kumar, said that very few schools offering Form 7 studies in physics have adequate equipment and facilities to give their students the practical laboratory experience required for their coursework.

“Many end up doing ‘make-believe’ experiments on the blackboard” he said. Both the Physics Society and the Physics Division have been aware of this for some time, and have jointly mounted laboratory workshops in a bid to provide students with the necessary practical experience.

The first such workshop was held in September 2008 at Tilak High School in Lautoka, where more than 60 Form 7 students from 12 schools benefited from it. The second workshop was held on 16 April 2009 at the Physics Division, USP where more than 65 Form 7 students from 11 schools participated.

The organising committee also managed to fit in a tour of the Physics Division’s research facilities in Renewable Energy and Communications (ICT). The President of the South Pacific Physics Society, Dr Anirudh Singh said, “We are planning our next outreach to be a multi-disciplinary and regional one, in which we wish to team up with the other societies and divisions”.

Outreach workshops such as these provide a convenient means of promoting the University amongst one of its most important stakeholders – future students. Towards this end, the program of activities included power point presentations on studying at the School of Engineering and Physics and career openings in physics, renewable energy and environment, and electronics and communications.

Contact: Dr Sushil Kumar, Physics Division, e-mail: kumar_su@usp.ac.fj, ph 3232144