The All-Russian Congress of Physics Teachers was officially opened today on the Federal Territory of Sirius. Rector of the National Research Nuclear University MEPhI Vladimir Shevchenko made a report at the plenary session of the Congress.
The main topic of the rector's speech was a story about MEPhI and the role of our university in modernizing school education.
Speaking about the "code" of MEPhI, Vladimir Shevchenko stressed that the university focuses on scientists who were able to combine fundamental science with solving applied problems, such as Lev Landau, Sergey Korolev, but above all Igor Kurchatov.
"We really appreciate those applicants who want to break something, want to understand, where the wiring leads, which are connected to some buttons. In the history of interaction with artificial intelligence, this value of understanding is a very important element. We continue to teach our children to count in columns, although we use calculators and smartphones ourselves. We do this so that children can do calculations with their hands and understand where the numbers that appear on the calculator come from," said Volodymyr Shevchenko.
In his speech, the Rector of MEPhI paid special attention to concerns that artificial intelligence could replace humans. Physics is not in danger of this, because the physical world is infinitely more complex than any formal system describing it.
Speaking about the role of MEPhI in the modernization of secondary schools, Vladimir Shevchenko spoke about the pre-universities at MEPhI, in particular, about the recently opened Lyceum of Nuclear Technologies in Dimitrovgrad.
A significant part of the plenary report was devoted to educational events organized by MEPhI for schoolchildren. These include summer Olympic schools at the Volga recreation center, events for schoolchildren at MEPhI branches, and the L.S. Pontryagin Intellectual Marathon for children with disabilities.
An important project of MEPhI is the creation of a Cadet Nuclear education cluster designed for students of cadet classes who want to pursue their careers in the scientific and technical field, in particular at enterprises of the military-industrial complex.
Together with colleagues from Tatarstan, the STEM TAT festival is being held at Innopolis University, aimed simultaneously at schoolchildren and physics teachers.
In addition, MEPhI participates in the implementation of the Rosatom Teachers Corporate Academy program.
The flagship project of MEPhI, designed for school teachers, is the All-Russian Olympiad for Physics Teachers "League of the Best" - we note that there were many participants in the Sirius hall. The rector said that this year the number of applications for the Olympiad exceeded 2,600, which is two and a half times more than a year earlier.
MEPhI, together with Rosatom and the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, is also involved in the development of new school physics textbooks.
In addition, in September, MEPhI will launch a new competition for schoolchildren and their mentors, "The Train of Thought," whose motto is Lev Landau's statement that a new method in physics can be more important. than a new discovery. In these new type of competitions, it will not be the correct decision that will be evaluated, but the method of solution and the course of reasoning, while participants in the competitions will be able to use the Internet and any reference materials. The tasks proposed for the tournament will not have the only correct solution. The rector ended his speech with a retelling of the fascinating task of choosing the optimal point for striking on an ancient Teutonic sword.
