A Framework For Understanding Physics Instruction In Secondary and College Courses

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

12-1-2010

School

Education

Abstract

The continued downward spiral of enrolment in physical sciences in the USA and Europe has science educators concerned on both sides of the Atlantic. Physics has been particularly hard-hit, with the percentage of students choosing to major in the subject at the lowest level in decades. University physics has a reputation as a difficult, abstract subject with little application to the real world and introductory physics has little impact on students' conception of the discipline. Understanding how students experience their initial exposure to physics instruction could help physics educators to make the kind of targeted curriculum changes that will bring students back to physics without compromising intellectual rigor. This study makes use of qualitative methods of interview, observation and document analysis to explore how secondary and university students experienced introductory physics laboratory instruction in the Western United States. A framework relating the academic programme, the instructors, students and their laboratory groups is proposed as a way to make sense of these complex interactions. © 2010 Taylor & Francis.

Publication Title

Research Papers in Education

Volume

25

Issue

2

First Page

177

Last Page

200

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