Brief history of Interamerican Conference on Physics Education (IACPE)
The convening of these conferences was originally an initiative of and under auspices of CLAF and the Organization of American States (OAS). The first Conference was held in Brazil in 1963. The second one was held in Venezuela in 1975. After a period with no conferences, the third conference (organized by Jorge Barojas Weber) was held in Mexico in 1987. A permanent Council for the organization of these conferences (IACPE) was created during this third conference.
Since then, the conferences, called the Interamerican Conferences on Physics Education, have been held in different countries every three years. The fourth IACPE (organized by C. Luis Ladera) was held in Caracas, Venezuela in 1991; the fifth (organized by Robert Beck Clark) was held in College Station, Texas, United States in 1994; the sixth (organized by Alberto Maiztegui) was held in Cordoba, Argentina in 1997 and the seventh (organized by Marco Antonio Moreira) was held in Canela, Brasil in 2000.
The eighth IACPE will be celebrated in Havana, Cuba July 7 to 11, 2003. The goal, activities, main theme and topics of this conference will be the following:
Goal of the conference: To present, discuss, and publish new ideas for improving the physics teaching in the differents educational levels and the preparation of physics teachers for general and higher education.
General Theme of the Conference: The Teaching of Physics in Today’s World.
Topics:
1. The preparation of physics teachers for general and higher education
2. The teaching of physics for physicists and others professionals
3. The utilization of current educational technologies in the teaching of physics
4. The relation between physics and society in the teaching of physics.
5. New ideas for the improvement of the physics teaching in general education.
Conference activities:
Lcturers by invited speakers, roundtables, visits to educational centers, contributing papers, and poster sessions.
The executive committee of CIACPE for the organization of this conference is composed by: Eduardo Molto (chairman of VIII IACPE), vice president of CIACPE, Pedagogical University "Enrique José Varona," Cuba; Leonor Colombo de Cudmani, (president of IACPE), Tucuman University, Argentina; Gordon Aubrecht, (executive secretary of IACPE), Ohio State University, United States; Marco A. Moreira (chairman of VII IACPE), University of Rio Grande del Sul, Brasil; Alberto Maiztegui (chairman of VI IACPE), National Science Academy, Argentina.