At the recent eleventh InterAmerican Conference on Physics Education in Guayaquil, Ecuador, Gordon Aubrecht, OSU Physics-Marion, was reelected Executive Secretary of the  InterAmerican Council on Physics Education. Council has representatives from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia (representative not present at the current meeting) Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, the United States, Uruguay, and Venezuela. 

The InterAmerican Council on Physics Education is the guiding body that organizes conferences of physics educators to discuss techniques and ideas to improve physics teaching in the western hemisphere. These include dissemination of results and developments to lead to improvement of physics teaching at different levels of education in the countries of the region, and better preparation of physics’ teachers in the region. 

Presentation topic categories included  IT and Multi-Media Use in Physics Education; Teaching Physics Concepts; Learning Physics Concepts;  Laboratory Activities in Physics Education; Primary School Physics; Secondary School Physics; University Physics; Initial Physics Teacher Education; Physics Teacher Professional Development; the Physics Curriculum;  Motivational Strategies and Metacognition;  History of Physics; and  Physics Teaching and Learning in Informal Settings. 

The convening of these conferences was originally an initiative of and under auspices of Centro Latino-Americano de Física (CLAF) and the Organization of American States (OAS). The first Conference was held in Brazil in 1963. This conference marked the 50th anniversary of the InterAmerican Conferences. The photo shows the Council at the 50th anniversary cake-cutting ceremony.