I recently returned from two years in East Timor, the world's newest nation. There I worked with teachers to develop the national physics curriculum for middle and high schools, taught at the national university (UNTIL), and trained teachers across the half-island. Here I'll share some of my successes and a few of the activities we developed, especially as related to the local culture and tropical environment.
REFERENCES
1.
The Institute of Current World Affairs gave me a fellowship that paid all my expenses, leaving me to focus on activities of my own choice.
2.
Tetum is something of an archaic language and lacks many modern words. It is currently being developed for modern use, and our Manuál was a small step to standardizing and socializing the use of Tetum for technical subjects. The Manuál contains a glossary with about 150 technical terms cross-referenced with Tetum, Bahasa Indonesia, Portuguese, and English.
3.
A list of the items included in the kit and more photos of the experiments can be found in EPAPS Document No. E-PHTEAH-42-014402.
This document may be retrieved via the EPAPS homepage (http://www.aip.org/ pubservs/epaps.html) or from ftp.aip.org in the directory/epaps. See the EPAPS homepage for more information.
4.
Though the exact output voltage in this experiment is difficult to determine because of a nonsinusoidal input, and output current would be even more difficult to know, I have seen hundreds of students experience the shock without bad effects. I also think it is important for the teacher to take the first shock.
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© 2004 American Association of Physics Teachers.
2004
American Association of Physics Teachers
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