The Physics Classroom Revisited: Have We Learned Our Lesson?

NOV 01, 1985

The new high‐school courses introduced in the 1950s and 1960s made physics more interesting but also tougher and more abstract; a new program at Rutgers may provide an alternative approach, appealing to a broader spectrum of students.

DOI: 10.1063/1.880992

George Pallrand

Peter Lindenfeld

Science is regarded as a difficult subject by students, and most graduate from high school with only a very limited knowledge about it. The study of science in secondary schools can be compared to a pyramid with physics at the apex. It is nice to be on top. Unfortunately, though, there are not many there to keep each other company.

References

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2. G. Holton, PHYSICS TODAY, March 1967, p. 31.
3. National Academy of Sciences, “Science and Mathematics in the Schools,” undated report.
4. AIP Manpower Statistics Division, “1983–84 Survey of Physics and Astronomy Bachelor’s Degree Recipients,” March 1985.
5. Educational Testing Service, Princeton, N.J., private communication.
6. J. E. Williams, F. E. Trinklein, H. C. Metcalfe, Modern Physics, Holt, Rinehardt and Winston, New York (1980).
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8. A. Arons, PHYSICS TODAY, June 1960, p. 20.
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11. “The teaching of physics in schools,” PHYSICS TODAY, January 1961, p. 30.
12. R. N. Shepard, American Psychologist, February 1978, p. 125.
13. PHYSICS TODAY, October 1966, p. 9.
14. See J. S. Rigden, Am. J. Phys. 52, 683 (1984).https://doi.org/AJPIAS

More about the Authors

George Pallrand. Rutgers University.

Peter Lindenfeld. Rutgers University.