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Teaching physics in the elementary grades

OCT 01, 1964
Robert Karplus founded the Science Curriculum Improvement Study, an experimental program designed to improve elementary school science education. Its headquarters are at the University of California in Berkeley, where Dr. Karplus is a professor of physics. The program encourages pupils to interpret their own observations under guidance.
Robert Karplus

During the last ten years, physicists have become increasingly concerned with various aspects of pre‐collegiate education. Of greatest interest has been the high‐school physics course, which presents a student with his first opportunity to concentrate on coming to grips with our discipline. It has become clear, however, that large elements of the school population never enroll in high‐school physics, and that even many of those who do cannot really take advantage of all the opportunities afforded by a modern course like that prepared by the Physical Science Study Committee. Accordingly, there is a growing involvement of physicists with attempts at educational innovation in the elementary and junior high schools.

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More about the authors

Robert Karplus, University of California, Berkeley.

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This Content Appeared In
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Volume 17, Number 10

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