Preface

This journal contains 94 selected contributions of the GIREP-ICPE-EPEC-MPTL 2019 Conference held 1-5. July 2019 in Budapest Hungary in the premises of the Budapest University of Technology and Economics. This conference coincided with the centenary year of Roland Eötvös to commemorate his achievements in physics. Also the UNESCO was associated with this celebration. Roland Eötvös (1848-1919) was a Hungarian physicist, who was not only an outstanding scientist-measuring the strict proportionality of the inertial and gravitational masses to a precision unprecedented before-, but was also an excellent educator and reformer of the Hungarian science education system. More than 350 participants gathered from 47 countries all over the world to share their newest results on physics education research with their colleagues. There were 7 invited keynote talks (60 mins each), 10 symposia (90 mins)-containing altogether 39 oral presentations-, 11 workshops (90 mins each), 173 oral presentations (15 mins +5 mins discussion) and 76 posters. The main international scientific bodies organizing the conference were the following: • Group International de Recherche sur l’Enseignement de la Physique (GIREP) • Physics Education Division (PED) of the European Physical Society (EPS) • International Commission on Physics Education (ICPE) of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) • Multimedia Physics Teaching and Learning (MPTL). The leading organizing body was GIREP, which is an international membership organisation founded in 1966, open to academics, teachers, curriculum developers and all other stakeholders with the concern to improve physics teaching and learning by means of Physics Education Research, Innovative Experimentation in Physics Teaching/Learning, Innovative Materials and Methods, Suggestions for Stakeholders, International Cooperation in Conferences, Seminars, Selected Paper Books. The key topics of the Conference were the following: A. Strategies and methods to improve Physics learning and teaching B. Multimedia in Physics Teaching and Learning C. Contemporary Physics and Modern Physics in School D. Physics Curriculum: Development and Implementation E. Experiments in Physics Education F. Early Science Learning G. Environmental Physics H. Teacher Education and postgraduate education I. Informal learning and science centres J. Outreach of Physics There are several papers in this journal about most of the topics above. The papers were subject of double blinded reviewing process, and only those got accepted, which have met the high standards set by the referees. During the Conference also Symposia were organized where groups of researchers working on the same fields shared their results and discussed the actual problems of the field. Also reports of some of those symposia are published here in the Journal. In addition to these interesting topics GIREP also launched a new initiative during the Conference: The Community on Teaching/Learning Quantum Physics. This explains why the readers find here especially large number of papers about this very hot topic. We also draw the attention of the interested reader that some selected papers will be published soon in Springer book series “Challenges in Physics Education” under the title: “Teaching-Learning Contemporary Physics – from Research to Practice”. We, as main local organizers of the Conference, would like to express our thanks to the many organizations who contributed and helped organizing this Conference. Firstly, the international organizations mentioned above, who not only assured the high scientific standards, but also contributed financially. We are also indebted to the Budapest University of Technology and Economics who provided its nice premises and infrastructure and welcomed all lectures, workshops and meetings. We express our thanks also to the Hungarian Education State Secretary for the financial help and continuous encouragement. Last, but not least our thanks goes to the many institutions-in the country or abroad-who offered some sponsorship which enabled us to keep the finances of the conference under control, and to keep the participation fees at an acceptable height. Budapest, 20. April 2021. Beata Jarosievitz and Csaba Sükösd editors Contacts: Prof. Beata Jarosievitz, Dennis Gabor College Budapest e-mail: jarosievitz@gmail.com Prof. Csaba Sükösd, Budapest Univ. of Technology and Economics e-mail: sukosd@reak.bme.hu