Physics – Physics Education
Scientific paper
Jan 1997
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1997phyed..32....1k&link_type=abstract
Physics Education, Volume 32, Issue 1, pp. 1 (1997).
Physics
Physics Education
Scientific paper
The October total lunar eclipse offered me no more company than two foxes out on a night excursion across Caterham Common. It was 4am, however, so company was an optimistic hope. The deep pink/red umbral phase was indeed breathtaking, as indeed was teaching physics the following day after only 90 minutes sleep.
Two weeks later it was altogether a different story. I lost count of the people who kept me company on Waterloo Bridge for the duration of the partial solar eclipse. With telescope and safe projection all set up I met Americans on holiday, families out for the day, Greek students from King's College and a host of casual passers-by. It was a happy and interactive event. I had quite a crowd at one point and the broad pavement was blocked. There was much talk of Cornwall 1999 and the 'big one'.
I have shared these scenes with you because for me they encapture the emerging renaissance of astronomy within the public domain. Was it a coincidence that the same month saw an entire night devoted to Star Trek on the TV, not to mention National Astronomy week. Translated into the curriculum, this movement has given birth to Earth and Beyond at Key Stages 1 to 4, to a revitalized GCSE astronomy course and to cosmology and astrophysics modules at A-level.
This special issue provides readers with some engaging reading to support their interest in space and physics. From the personal account of three professionals who reflect on life after astrophysics to the latest curriculum package to emerge from the Trump team I hope you will find material here to enrich your own perspectives and your teaching. This is the third astronomy-related special that I have been associated with and there will no doubt be more.
As 1999 approaches and we in the UK gear ourselves for those few minutes of totality, an equally significant event will be underway in schools and colleges. The post-Dearing physics syllabuses will be in operation, eclipsing the current, outdated, uninspiring, subject-centred menu and offering a new updated, attractive, student-centred approach to teaching and learning physics. The approach will be one where teaching is supported by innovative teaching materials, enabling students to work in groups, to role-play, to research and problem-solve, to design using mathematical models, to learn about physics beyond their classrooms, to develop key skills and to speak about physics with an enthusiasm and sparkle. Yes, I too can dream, but if you don't aim for the stars, as the saying goes, you will not even reach the top of the mountain.
The inclusion of topics like astrophysics, cosmology and particle physics in syllabus structures is to be applauded for offering young people a broader vision of physics. However, they are all developments which attempt to influence the content of a physics syllabus. The debate has been whether or not to include the fourth-power law in an astrophysics unit or whether refractive index has a place in Medical Physics to explain optical fibre technology. What has been missing as far as I can see has been a parallel movement in developing the way Physics has been taught, can be taught and can be studied. The time for funding new initiatives which will develop the methodology of teaching and learning physics is now. It is over 20 years since I used the teacher's pages of the old Nuffleld Advanced books to give me ideas on how to teach the course as a probationer (NQT). I still find myself referring to them on occasion. In the intervening years we have learnt much about how young people learn science and how older people teach science.
So here is a message to the physics education community. By all means fund projects to introduce some modern physics into the curriculum but hear this plea for parallel developments in new ways to teach the new, and the old, physics - ways that will cater for broad ability ranges and for the diverse career interests of students and will allow teachers to adjust their focus away from the content and towards the learners. Physics education in schools is not just about physics but about education.
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