Physics – Physics Education
Scientific paper
2004-04-13
Physics
Physics Education
Based on a talk by R.L. in EISTA 2003; contains 8 figures in eps format; to appear in the Journal of Systemics, Cybernetics an
Scientific paper
Over the past year and a half we have developed an innovative approach to the teaching of `Physical Science', a general education course typically found in the curricula of nearly every college and university. The new approach uses popular movies to illustrate the principles of physical science, analyzing individual scenes against the background of the fundamental physical laws. The impact of being able to understand why, in reality, the scene could or could not have occurred as depicted in the film, what the director got right and what he got wrong, has excited student interest enormously in a course that, when taught in the traditional mode, is usually considered to be `too hard and boring'. The performance of students on exams reflected the increased attention to and retention of basic physical concepts, a result that was a primary goal of the `Physics in Films' approach. Following the first offering of the revitalization of the Physical Science course, in which action and sci-fi films were the primary source of the scene clips used in class, the instructors have demonstrated the versatility of the approach by building variations of the course around other genres, as well --`Physics in Films: Superheroes' and `Physics in Films: Pseudoscience'. A parallel approach to the general education course in astronomy is currently being discussed; many others are in our thoughts.
Efthimiou Costas J.
Llewellyn Ralph
No associations
LandOfFree
Physics in Films: A New Approach to Teaching Science does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Physics in Films: A New Approach to Teaching Science, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Physics in Films: A New Approach to Teaching Science will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-247511