Learning and Understanding: Improving Advanced Study of Mathematics and Science in U.S. High Schools Report of the Content Panel for Physics (2002) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
4. Teaching and Learing in Advanced Physics Programs
4. Teaching and Learing in Advanced Physics Programs
Pages 47-62
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 47... ...
Based on this examination, we offer several recommendations for improving the overall quality of advanced high school physics instruction. THE TEACHERS OF AP AND IB PHYSICS In the opinion of the panel, the most important factors in determining the quality of advanced physics instruction in high school are the talent and preparation of the teacher.l7 To achieve widespread high-quality advanced physics instruction, it is necessary to provide for both recruitment of highly qualified college students into the teaching profession and strong, substan~7The importance of the teacher is supported by objective evidence.
|
From page 48... ...
It is difficult to see how enough well-qualified college students can be attracted to the teaching of advanced physics courses when a similar amount of training would allow them to earn much higher salaries in other positions. Low salaries not only make it difficult to attract people to the teaching profession but also lead to a general lack of respect for teachers.
|
From page 49... ...
The panel urges the cooperation of the entire physics community in the recruitment and training of physics teachers who meet those standards. In particular, we join the American Institute of Physics, the American Physical Society, the American Association of Physics Teachers, and other physics organizations in calling on college physics and engineering faculty to take an active role in the training of teachers for advanced high school physics programs.~9 The panel concurs with the opinion of Robert Watson, director of the Division of Undergraduate Education at the National Science Foundation, that if science departments in colleges and universities were more hospitable to students who wanted to become teachers, not only would those students be better prepared to go into teaching but a much stronger cadre of students would be attracted to teaching (NRC, 1997a, p.
|
From page 50... ...
Preparation Needed to Teach Advanced Physics Courses Effectively There is no doubt that to teach advanced physics effectively a strong background in physics content is absolutely essential. Teachers who do not understand the subject themselves cannot possibly develop deep conceptual understanding of physical principles in their students.
|
From page 51... ...
Students need to understand not only the concepts of physics but also the nature of knowledge and learning (Halloun, 1998; Hammer, 1995; Hewson, 1985; McDermott, 1991; Redish, Steinberg, and Saul, 1998; Reif and Larkin, 1991; White end Frederiksen, 19981. Many students arrive et physics courses, including advanced courses, expecting to learn by memorizing formulas disconnected from each other, as well as from the students' experiences of the physical world.
|
From page 52... ...
Drawing out, evaluating, and working to improve student understandings is a highly individualized process that is nearly impossible to perform adequately in oversized classes. These admonitions from education research are not controversial, but their generality may allow multiple, superficial, and possibly conflicting in20For an extended discussion and example of diagnosis in a high school physics class, see Hammer (1997)
|
From page 53... ...
The panel's second concern is that the emphasis in advanced courses on solving typical textbook problems as opposed to conceptual discussion and debate tends to encourage rather than challenge student perceptions that physics knowledge comprises disconnected factual units rather than a principled system of ideas. Although skill in problem solving is an important objective of any advanced physics program, conceptual understanding must be the objective of highest priority.
|
From page 54... ...
To be clear, the panel is not endorsing TIMSS as the way to measure success in physics education; rather, we believe the lower scores of American students are a good reason to explore what can be learned from the methods of physics instruction used in other TIMSS countries. Perhaps the most obvious difference between physics instruction in the United States and other countries is the number of secondary school years devoted to physics study.
|
From page 55... ...
A second significant area of difference between physics instruction in the United States and other TIMSS countries lies in the recruiting, training, professional development, and status of physics teachers. The salary situation for American secondary school physics teachers is particularly troubling (as noted earlier)
|
From page 56... ...
THE STllDENTS OF AP AND IB PHYSICS This section examines how the nature of the student body affects educational outcomes in advanced physics instruction. The students who take AP and IB physics courses come from a wide variety of academic, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds.
|
From page 57... ...
The panel recommends discretion in the assignment of students to advanced courses,22 so that the teacher is able to maintain the integrity of the course as an advanced treatment of the concepts being covered. For example, in solving projectile motion problems, a comprehensive treatment is commonly not accessible to some fraction of the class simply because they do not know how to solve quadratic equations.
|
From page 58... ...
To be successful, an advanced physics program must adapt itself to the particular high school environment and find a way to use whatever time students can devote to the program to best educational advantage. Competing activities that place demands on the time of advanced physics students include part-time employment; athletics; community service; music and drama; college visits; television and movies; computer activities, including Web surfing; family vacations; and social events.
|
From page 59... ...
24This evidence is not specific to advanced high school physics courses. However, it is reasonable to expect that results from introductory college-level courses should generally apply.
|
From page 60... ...
Designed primarily for use in introductory college courses to supplement conventional curricula, these tutorials would be appropriate and valuable for use in advanced secondary courses. The most complete set of such materials is that of the University of Washington Physics Education Group (McDermott, Shaffer, and Somers, 1994; Shaffer and McDermott, 1992; and Wosilait, Heron, Shaffer, and McDermott, 1999)
|
From page 61... ...
The focus is on developing conceptual models of electrical effects, particularly in circuits.26 · C3P: Comprehensive Conceptual Curriculum for Physics is a high school curriculum that draws on materials from a variety of sources, including videos, inquiry methods, and laboratory experiments.27 · Although not traditionally part of advanced physics courses in high schools, quantum physics may well be used as an optional or enrichment topic. A set of materials called Visual Quantum Mechanics has been developed by Dean Zollman and colleagues in the Kansas State physics education research group.
|
From page 62... ...
. 29Further information can be found at the American Association of Physics Teachers Web site by going to http://www.aapt.org [4/17/2002]
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.