It assumes considerable dedication if a secondary school student chooses to spend another week studying at the end of the school year instead of taking a well-deserved break. As many as 21 students did exactly this when they signed up for ELI ALPS’ summer camp. Our aim is clear: to show our students our world-class institution, and to introduce ourselves to them. We want to promote physics to young people interested in the field through exciting examples and to give the opportunity to talented students to explore areas that are not covered by the standard school curriculum. We argue in favour of physics, with the unspoken aim to make it an attractive option when it comes to choosing a career.
“I like being in an environment where I can be around people with a similar mindset and hunger for knowledge. The quantity and quality of the lectures provided a lasting experience. This week I felt like I was in a university course,” Levente, a student from József Attila Grammar School in Makó said.
Levente is lucky for being able to attend a physics club at his school, but he feels that his opportunities are limited. Even if the school had offered an elective course in higher physics, it would only be two lessons a week, which he feels is not enough to pass the matriculation (A-level) exam. Fortunately, he spends quite a lot of time in Szeged, where he could attend KísérletEst, an event packed with experiments performed live, he could participate in an astrophysics course, a preparatory course – run by the Grammar School affiliated with the University of Szeged – for the higher-level matura exam, as well as the course titled A Taste of Theoretical Physics. These opportunities have provided him with experience and knowledge, helping to sustain his interest in physics.
What was the highlight of this week? Levente was fascinated by all the professional sessions, but he found the presentation about the 2018 and 2023 Nobel Laureates, as well as Dr. Róbert Trényi’s lecture titled “Quantum and Love” and Dr. Szabolcs Hack’s talk titled “Quantum Physics I-II” the most intriguing, because this field is difficult to grasp for secondary school students. He said that the talks were not at all daunting; what’s more, the speakers spoke in a thought-provoking way. Although he had been here before, this year he particularly enjoyed the visit to the Institute of Physics at the University of Szeged on the last day, and the chance to see the university’s laser laboratories.
Another participant, Dániel, came from Svetozar Marković Grammar School in Subotica (Szabadka) hoping to expand his knowledge and network of contacts. (One in three of the campers attend schools outside Csongrád-Csanád county.) What attracted this young man from Vojvodina to Szeged was physics in general. He had not learned about optics before, but he feels that the camp gave him the basics he needed to understand the lectures, and he was pleased to find that his knowledge broadened in other subjects too.
“I went into my first physics lesson with loads of questions in mind, partly due to the high-level visuals and interesting style of educational videos I had seen before, and partly due to the fact that in lower primary (years 1 to 4), science was taught in an entertaining way to make us forget that we were learning. Consequently, a good teaching model should rely on and exploit the power of children’s curiosity, rather than smother it with rote learning and boring knowledge transfer,” Dániel said when asked how he would make secondary school students like physics.
According to Vera Horváth, the mastermind behind the topics and programmes of the camp, the leaders of the sessions – 21 researchers from ELI ALPS and the University of Szeged – have really taken the extra mile. They illustrated the information they wished to convey with a youthful impetus, a modern approach and contemporary examples. As she put it, it was a pleasure to see that after a tiring academic year the students listened and asked questions during the lectures that ran from 9:00 am to 5:30 pm. The conversations revealed that the participants were attracted both by our institution and by the opportunity to listen to and ask questions from experienced experts in one of the most important subjects for them: physics. Some students cannot learn physics at their school – no elective course is offered in higher physics – while others complained that the curriculum is not tailored to those fascinated by the subject, but is reduced to a level that can be completed by disinterested students. Thus, the gifted are not challenged and do not develop at the pace they should. According to Vera Horváth, students were the most active during the lab tours and the optical measurements. The organizers managed to keep their attention focused and their imagination engaged, which was evidenced by the fact that during the breaks the students spent practically no time hunching over their mobile phones The rather asked questions, talked to one another and tried out the equipment in our visitor centre.
During the outing on Wednesday afternoon, the campers walked along the Rotary trail on the bank of the Tisza River, where discussions focused on biology, ecology and nature conservation. This few-hour-long activity was helpful in showing the participants that the world of science beyond physics is equally captivating.
Scoring at least 80% at the test taken at the end of the camp makes students eligible for 25 extra admission points to certain courses at the University of Szeged. Seven of the twenty-one campers met this requirement. The highest score was achieved by a year ten girl.