Doc. RNDr. Leoš Dvořák, CSc.
email: leos.dvorak
mff.cuni.cz
phone: +420 951 552 409
Address:
Dept. of Physics Education
Faculty of Mathematics and Physics
V Holesovickach 2, 182 00 Prague 8, Czech Republic
The photo is from a recording of an online lecture Mechanics for 1st year of BSc study programme Physics for Teacher Education from October 2020.
Education
- university studies: 1970-1975, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University, Prague
- RNDr. 1976 at Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University, Prague
- CSc. (equivalent of Ph.D.) 1982, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University, Prague
in theoretical physics, thesis Stationary axially symmetric perturbation of Reissner-Nordström black hole, in Czech - Doc. (= Associate Professor) 1996, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University, Prague
habil. thesis Perturbations of black holes and the education of theoretical physics supported by a computer, in Czech
Profesional interests
has evolved from general relativity (especially black hole perturbations) to computers in physics education (especially computer modelling and simulation in physics education) to physics education (in general)In recent years, I have been particularly interested in:
- low-cost experiments and how they can be combined with theory
- projects and activities that can improve both pre-service and in-service physics teacher training
How to improve physics education? (Especially, but not only, the training of physics teachers.)
And as to what an individual can do about this (and much else), I think the quote attributed to Confucius is apt:
„It is better to lit at least a small candle
than to damn darkness.“
Employment:
All professional life is connected with Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University:
| 1975-1978: | “aspirant” (Ph.D. student), Dept. of Mathematical Physics |
| 1978-1986: | senior lecturer, Dept. of Physics Education |
| 1986-1997: | senior lecturer and lector, Dept. of Theoretical Physics |
| 1997-1999: | assoc. professor, Dept. of Physics Education |
| 1999-2007: | head of Dept. of Physics Education |
| 2008-2012: | deputy head of Dept. of Physics Education |
| 2012-2015 | assoc. professor, Dept. of Physics Education |
| 2016-2019: | head of Dept. of Physics Education |
| 2019-2020: | deputy head of Dept. of Physics Education |
| since Oct.2020: | assoc. professor, Dept. of Physics Education (part-time) |
Teaching
Lectures and seminars for future physics teachers:
NFUF101 Mechanics
NFUF103 Electricity and magnetism
NFUF202 Theoretical Mechanics
NFUF304 Special Theory of Relativity
NFUF503 Physics Worldview (part of this subject)
NFUF805 Electricity and Magnetism Step by Step
NFUF821 Do It Yourself: Simple Physics Teaching Aids
(Plus some more lectures and seminars in the past.)
Other activities, projects etc.
Activities aimed at students and teachers
1973 - mid 80's: |
organization of “Physics clubs” for high-school students (afterwards the clubs are organized by younger colleagues and students) |
1987: |
initiator of “Physics correspondence seminar” for high-school students
|
1988-1992: |
development of computational and modeling system Famulus |
1980’s–2003: |
organization of
Summer Math.-Phys. Camps for high school students. |
1997-2015: |
organization of
Spring Camps for future physics teachers |
since 1999: |
participation at an informal
project Heureka for Czech physics teachers |
since 2013: |
participantion at activities and development of Elixir to Schools programme (with 43 regional centres for physics teachers (plus more centres for IT teachers) from the whole Czech Republic |
2005-2006: |
coordinator of a university project “Program of further professional in-service training of teachers at Charles University in Prague” |
2005-2007: |
coordinator of a university project „Modulární systém dalšího vzdělávání učitelů základních a středních škol v Praze“ podporovaného ESF v rámci programu JPD3 |
2006-2008: |
coordinator of a faculty project „Další vzdělávání učitelů fyziky a matematiky podporující rozvoj aktivizujících metod výuky“ supported by ESF in program OPRLZ |
2006-2008: |
coordinator of a faculty project „Fyzikální vzdělávání pro všestrannou přípravu a rozvoj lidských zdrojů na úrovni základních a středních škol“ in “Národního programu výzkumu II” (National program of Research II of Ministry of Education |
2010-2012: |
principal investigator for our Faculty of the project of Fculty of Science and Faculty of Mathematics and Physics „Přírodní vědy a matematika na středních školách v Praze: aktivně, aktuálně a s aplikacemi“ |
2010-2014: |
principal investigator for Czech Republic of „ESTABLISH“ project (European Science and Technology in Action Building Links with Industry, Schools and Home) in FP7 |
2018-2022: |
„senior“, then "further investigator" for physics in Charles University project UNCE/HUM/024 "Centre of Didactic Research in Natural Sciences, Mathematics and their Interdisciplinary Context" |
+ other activities: |
other projects aimed at pre- and in-service training of physics teachers, |
Membership and positions in physics organizations and editorial boards
- member of the Union of Czech Physicists and Mathematicians, 2002-2018 member of the National Committee of the Union
- 2001-2015 member of the Editorial Board of Czech journal Pokroky MFA (Advancement of Mathematics, Physics and Astronomy)
- 2011-2019 member of the Editorial Board of European Journal of Physics
- 2010-2019 member of the Editorial Board of (and editor for physics) of the Czech journal Scientia in Educatione
- 2008-2018 member of C14 (International Commission on Physics Education) of IUPAP (International Union of Pure and Appliad Physics), in 2011-2014 the secretary and in 2014-2018 the vice-chair of the Commision
- 2010-2019 member of the Board of GIREP („International Research Group on Physics Teaching“)
Conference organization
- 2000: member of organizing committee of 3rd IOSTE Symposium for Central and East European Countries, Prague, 2000
- member of scientific commitees of GIREP-EPEC 2011, Jyvaskylla, Finland; WCPE 2012, Istanbul, Turkey; GIREP-MPTL 2014, Palermo, Italy; GIREP-EPEC 2015, Wroclaw, Poland; WCPE 2, Sao Paulo, Brazil; GIREP-ICPE-EPEC 2017, Dublin, Ireland; GIREP-MPTL 2018, San Sebastian, Spain; GIREP-ICPE-EPEC-MPTL 2019, Budapest, Hungary
- 2013: main organizer of The International Conference on Physics Education (ICPE-EPEC 2013, Prague, 6.-9.8.2013) organized by IUPAP, European Physical Society and Faculty of Math.and Physics, Charles University. (311 participants from 55 countires)
- member of programming committes of annual or bi-annual national Czech conferences for physics teachers and educators (Fair of Inventions of Physics Teachers, Modern Trends in Physics Teacher Training) and Slovak national conferences DIDFYZ
Invited talks
- 2004: GIREP conference, Ostrava: Physics – not only with chalk and blackboard
- 2005: The adapted version of this talk was presented as “on-stage presentation” at final event of European program Science on Stage, CERN, November 2005
- 2005: GIREP seminar, Ljubljana: Informal Physics Education and Teachers’ Training – Some Examples and Experiences
- 2007: Frontiers of Physics 2007 (conference of Irish physics teachers) Cork, Ireland: Hands-On, Minds-On Physics, Not just for Teachers
- 2010: XVIII Taller Internacional „Nuevas Tendencias en la Enseñanza de la Física“, Puebla, Mexiko
- 2015: invited speaker at international workshop PhysWare 2015 (ICTP Terst, 25.-30. 1. 2015)
- 2016: keynote lecture at World Conference on Physics Education 2, Sao Paulo: Simple experiments in Physics Teaching and Learning: Do they have any perspectives?
- 2019: international conference DIDFYZ 2019 (Slovensko): Dvořák L., Dvořáková I., Koudelková V.: Views of Physics Teachers Concerning Possible Reform of Framework Educational Programs in the Czech Republic
Selected bibliography
Full texts (or manuscripts) of more recent publications are available on a separate page.
Older publications:
Bičák J., Dvořák.L: Stationary electromagnetic fields around black holes. I. General solutions and the fields of some special sources near a Schwarzschild black hole. Czech.J.Phys.B27 (1977), 127-147.
Bičák J., Dvořák.L: Stationary electromagnetic fields around black holes. II. General solutions and the fields of some special sources near the Kerr black hole. Gen.Rel.Grav.7 (1976), 959-983.
Bičák J., Dvořák.L: Stationary electromagnetic fields around black holes. III. General solutions and the fields of some special sources near the Reissner-Nordström black hole. Phys.Rev. D22 (1980), 2933-2940.
Dvořák L.: Obecná teorie relativity a moderní fyzikální obraz vesmíru. skriptum, SPN, Prague 1984, 412 s. (General relativity and modern physics picture of a cosmos, student textbook, in Czech)
Dvořák L.: Famulus 3.5. User Guide.. Computer Equipment, Praha 1992, 310 p. + other manuals to the system Famulus /partly with M. Sobotka and T. Ledvinka/, in Czech, more than thousand pages altogether
Dvořák L., Houfková J.: Physics Web for Everybody. In: Proceedings of the International Conference CBLIS 01, Brno 2001, Ed. Chapman G.M., Pedag.Faculty of Univ.of Ostrava, 2001, E5 (8p.)
Dvořák L.: Hands- and Minds-on Physics for All. In: Proceedings of the conference GIREP 2004, Ostrava, Ed.: Mechlová E., Univ. of Ostrava, Ostrava, 2004, p. 211-212.
Koudelková I., Dvořák L.: Heureka: Hands- and Minds-on Physics at School. In: Proceedings of the conference GIREP 2004, Ostrava, Ed.: Mechlová E., Univ. of Ostrava, Ostrava, 2004, p. 209-210.
Dvořák L.: Informal Physics Education and Teachers' Training Some Examples and Experiences. In: GIREP book of Selected contributions of the Third International GIREP Seminar 2005, Ed. G. Planinšič, Univ.of Ljubljana, Ljubljana 2006, p. 86-95.
Koupil J., Dvořák L.: Digital recordings and analysis of physical experiments. In: GIREP book of Selected contributions of the Third International GIREP Seminar 2005, Ed. G. Planinšič, Univ.of Ljubljana, Ljubljana 2006, p. 196-201.
Dvořák L.: Labs outside labs: miniprojects at a spring camp for future physics teachers. In:European Journal of Physics 28, No. 3, 2007, p. S95-S104.
Koupil J. Dvořák L.: Which side up? Falling bread revisited. In: Proceedings of GIREP 2006. AMSTEL Institute, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, 2008, p. 794-799.
Dvořák L.: Why a simple school model of AC generator does not produce sinusoidal voltage? (From false concepts to modeling and multipole expansion.) In: Proceedings of GIREP 2006 Conference, AMSTEL Institute, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, 2008, p. 770-775.
Dvořák L.: A do-it-yourself optical bench.> The Physics Teacher 49 (October 2011), p. 452-455.
Dvořák L: Low-cost electrostatic experiments> Latin American Journal of Physics Education, Volume 6, Suppl. I, August 2012, p.153-158
Dvořák L: Bipolar transistors can detect charge in electrostatic experiments.> Phys. Educ. 47 (2012), 434-438
Dvorak L.: Simple quantitative electrostatic experiments for teachers and students. In: Teaching and Learning Physics Today: Challenges? Benefits? Proceedings of selected papers of the GIREP-ICPE-MPTL 2010. Eds: W. Kaminski, M Michelini.
Dvořák L.: Semiconductors at Work. In: ICPE-EPEC 2013 Conference Proceedings. Eds: L. Dvořák,V. Koudelková. Charles University, MATFYZPRESS, Prague, 2014. p. 818-825.
(+ more than one hundred papers in Czech)
Papers and other publications from last years:
Koudelkova V., Dvorak L.: High school students’ misconceptions in electricity and magnetism and some experiments that can help students to reduce them. Il Nuovo Cimento 38 C (2015) 101
Dvořák L.: How to Increase Teachers’ Self-Confidence: An Example Concerning Semiconductors. In: Key Competences in Physics Teaching and Learning. Proceedings of the konference GIREP-EPEC 2015. Eds: E. Dębowska, T. Greczyło. Inst.of Experimental Physics, Univ. of Wrocław 2016. p.292-297.
Dvořáková I., Dvořák L.: Electricity and magnetism step by step and optics step by step: optional special labs in first year of pre-service teacher training. Journal of Physics Conf. Series 1076 (2018) 012003.
Dvořáková I., Dvořák L.: Informal Physics Teacher Training In The Czech Republic: A Possible Inspiration. In: Contemporary Science Education and Challenges in the Recent Society: Perspectives in Physics Teaching and Learning. Book of selected papers presented in the 2nd WCPE International Conference held in São Paulo, 2016. Eds: M. Pietrocola et al. São Paulo: FEUSP, 2017. pp 161-164.
Koudelková V., Dvořák L.: Teaching-Learning Sequences Using Low-Cost Experiments Aimed at Understanding of Concepts of Electricity. In: The Role of Laboratory Work in Improving Physics Teaching and Learning. D. Sokołowska, M. Michelini (Eds), Springer Nature Switzerland AG , 2018, pp 191-200.
Dvořák L.: Magnets and magnetic field around them: what can we learn from simple experiments. In: IOP Conf. Series: Journal of Physics: Conf. Series 1286 (2019) 012005.
Dvořák L., Dvořáková I., Koudelková V.: Views of Physics Teachers Concerning Possible Reform of Framework Educational Programs in the Czech Republic.> In: AIP Conference Proceedings 2152, (2019); DIDFYZ 2019, 020001
Dvorak L.: Simple Experiments in Physics Teaching and Learning: Do They Have Any Perspectives?> In: Upgrading Physics Education to Meet the Needs of Society. M. Pietrocola (Ed.): Springer, Nature Switzerland AG, 2019, p. 99-124.
TJ Kelly et al.: Different approaches to helping students develop conceptual understanding in university physics. Journal of Physics Conf. Series. 1929 (2021) 012001.
Dvořák L., Dvořáková I., Houfková J., Koudelková V.: Experiments and inquiry-based learning in online in-service physics teacher training.> In: AIP Conf. Proceedings 2458, 030006 (2022); https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0078890
Bearden I., Dvořák L., G. Planinšič G.: Work Group 2 Position Paper: Experiments and Laboratory Work in Teacher Education. J. Phys.: Conf. Ser. 2297 (2022) 012008
(+ about 40 papers in Czech)
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