Zum Problem der Hochschulreform in Spanien: Einige Ausgewählte Daten

Over the past ten years there has been a sweeping reform of the courses taught and qualifications awarded by Spanish universities. For that reason, an investigation was launched in 1996–97 at the University of Santiago de Compostela (in Northwest Spain) into the teaching, research and management entailed in four new degree courses: physics (years one to four), agricultural engineering (first and second years), agricultural food-processing technology (years one to three) and pharmacy. This article reports on students' opinions of the reforms in these courses, revealing dissatisfaction with facilities for practical course work, lack of connection with prospective employment, and a call for more information about courses.     

Romanian University Physics Teaching and Research (1860–1940)

The evolution of physics teaching and research in the two most important Romanian intellectual centers Bucharest and Jassy is discussed. Three stages of historical development are reported: 1860–1890: teaching process is predominant; period of first laboratories setting-up; sporadic researches in Physics Departments of Universities; 1890–1940: appearance of small dedicated research centers around Universities (Meteorological, Seismological, Electrotechnical Institutes); after the World War II: founding of contemporary Physics Institutes, e.g. Institute of Atomic Physics, Bucharest. The recognition role played by the Romanian Academy (Scientifical Sessions and Journals) is mentioned. Short biographies of the most important professors-physicists from 1860 to 1940 are presented. Celebrations, in 1996, of one century from the first atomic physics experiment in Romania (a X-ray radiography by D. Hurmuzescu) and of the 100th birthday of H. Hulubei, the founder of modern Romanian Physics are discussed.     

Physics Teaching in the Search for Its Self

The crisis in physics education necessitates searching for new relevant meanings of physics knowledge. This paper advocates regarding physics as the dialogue among discipline-cultures, rather than as a cluster of disciplines to be an appropriate subject of science education. In a discipline-culture one can distinguish elements of knowledge as belonging to either (1) central principles and paradigms – nucleus, (2) normal disciplinary area – body of knowledge or (3) rival knowledge of the subject – periphery. It appears that Physics cannot be represented as a simple dynamic wholeness, that is, cannot be arranged in a single tripartite (triadic) structure (this result presents a deconstruction), but incorporates several discipline-cultures. Bound together by family similarity, they maintain a conceptual discourse. Teaching physics as a culture is performed in polyphonic space of different worldviews; in other words, it is performed in a Kontrapunkt. Implications of the tripartite code are suggested with regard to representation of scientific revolutions, individual conceptual change, physics curricula and the typology of students learning science.     

Students over thirty: Need their classes be different?

In a study at a commuter, upper-division, state university, researchers interviewed 199 randomly selected undergraduates concerning their perceptions of their classroom experiences. The students were divided into four age groups—20–29, 30–37, 38–45, and 46–55—with males and females in each group. Results showed that neither age nor sex could be used to predict student satisfaction or dissatisfaction with their adacemic experience and instruction. If these results are not idiosyncratic, it may be concluded that colleges seeking to recruit mature students for credit-bearing courses need not provide special courses or faculty for them; rather, mature students can be integrated into regular courses.The authors are indebted to Ms. Pamela Seay for her excellent interviewing, and to UTD students for their willingness to be interviewed.     

Historical Surprises1

The capsule histories of physics that students learn in their physics courses stem basically, I believe, from a linear view of history – that physicists in making fundamental discoveries follow a Royal Road to them, as Hermann von Helmholtz put it in 1892. The actual routes they follow, however, are generally nonlinear, and when historians display these routes to students, they express surprise. Such historical surprises could constitute one or more units of instruction in physics-education or other courses. As illustrations, I discuss historical surprises that I have uncovered in my own researches on Isaac Newton’s work on diffraction, Robert A. Millikan’s photoelectric-effect experiments, Arthur H. Compton’s X-ray scattering experiments, James Chadwick’s discovery of the neutron, George Gamow’s creation of the liquid-drop model of the nucleus, and Lise Meitner’s and Otto Robert Frisch’s interpretation of nuclear fission. Teachers and students can discover many more historical surprises as provocative as these by exploring the historical literature.     

From F = ma to Flying Squirrels: Curricular Change in an Introductory Physics Course

We present outcomes from curricular changes made to an introductory calculus-based physics course whose audience is primarily life sciences majors, the majority of whom plan to pursue postbaccalaureate studies in medical and scientific fields. During the 2011–2012 academic year, we implemented a Physics of the Life Sciences curriculum centered on a draft textbook that takes a novel approach to teaching physics to life sciences majors. In addition, substantial revisions were made to the homework and hands-on components of the course to emphasize the relationship between physics and the life sciences and to help the students learn to apply physical intuition to life sciences–oriented problems. Student learning and attitudinal outcomes were assessed both quantitatively, using standard physics education research instruments, and qualitatively, using student surveys and a series of postsemester interviews. Students experienced high conceptual learning gains, comparable to other active learning–based physics courses. Qualitatively, a substantial fraction of interviewed students reported an increased interest in physics relative to the beginning of the semester. Furthermore, more than half of students self-reported that they could now relate physics topics to their majors and future careers, with interviewed subjects demonstrating a high level of ability to come up with examples of how physics affects living organisms and how it helped them to better understand content presented in courses in their major.     

Gender segregation in higher educational attainment in Australia 1978–94

In this paper the extent and change of the gender segregation ofcourse completions across fields of study in higher education over theperiod 1978–94 in Australia is measured. It is argued that similarforms of measurement are appropriate in documenting changing patterns ofattainment in higher education by gender, as those which are used formeasuring occupational gender segregation. The issues relating to themeasurement of gender segregation are briefly explored. Over the period1978–86, women and men exhibited a more integrated distribution ofcourse completions, as measured by the Karmel and Maclachlan index of(occupational) segregation. Although women continued to raise their share ofcompletions over the period 1987–94, there was little change in theextent of gender segregation in aggregate, and segregation increased inMasters and Bachelors courses. Reference is also made to the impact ofchanges in the Higher Education Contributory Scheme in 1996 on the gendercomposition of undergraduate course completions. Policies designed toattract women into atypical Higher Education courses are explored.     

Philosophy and Quantum Mechanics in Science Teaching

Research in physics has its impact on world view; physics influences the image of nature. On the other hand philosophy thinks about nature and the role of man. The insight that philosophy might indicate the frontiers of human possibilities of thought makes it highly desirable to teach these aspects in physics education. One of the most exciting examples is quantum theory which v. Weizsäcker called a fundamental philosophical advance. I give some hints to implementing philosophical aspects into a course on quantum theory. For this purpose I designed a dialogue between three philosophers – from the Antique, the Enlightenment and a quantum philosopher – discussing results of quantum theory on the background of important philosophical terms. Especially the views of Aristotle are reviewed. This idea has been carried out in a supplementary course on quantum theory for interested teacher students and for in-service training of teachers.     

Firm-related training tracks: a random effects ordered probit model

A random effects ordered response model of training is estimated to analyze the existence of training tracks and time varying coefficients in training frequency. Two waves of a Dutch panel survey of workers are used covering the period 1992–1996. The amount of training received by workers increased during the period 1994–1996 compared to 1992–1994. Evidence is found for the existence of training tracks in the amount of training courses taken. It is further found that the effects of individual characteristics such as education, age and gender on training should be treated as individual varying coefficients.     

Students' Understandings of Gravity in an Orbiting Space-Ship

We report on an investigation of students' ideas about gravity after a semester of instruction in physics at university. There are two aspects to the study which was concerned with students' answers to a carefully designed qualitative examination question on gravity. The first aspect is a classification of the answers and a comparative study of the ways the problem was tackled by two large groups of students who had different backgrounds in physics and were exposed to different teaching styles. The second aspect is to investigate how students link concepts to solve the problem. We used a phenomenographic analysis of student responses to extract patterns of reasoning and alternative conceptions behind the solutions. We found no differences between the classes of answers given by students in the two courses. Our analysis also identifies a hierarchy in the complexity of the hypothetical reasoning pathways, which we interpret as reflecting the ways in which students may link concepts and resolve conflicts as they solve the problem. The hypothetical reasoning pathways may help educators to develop instructional material or lecture room dialogue in order to tease out key issues. An unexpected finding is that there is a discrepancy between our conclusion that the two groups of answers are similar and the distribution of marks awarded by the examiner – which implies that the quality of the answers is different for the two groups.     

Context Dependence of Students’ Views about the Role of Equations in Understanding Biology

Students’ epistemological views about biology—their ideas about what “counts” as learning and understanding biology—play a role in how they approach their courses and respond to reforms. As introductory biology courses incorporate more physics and quantitative reasoning, student attitudes about the role of equations in biology become especially relevant. However, as documented in research in physics education, students’ epistemologies are not always stable and fixed entities; they can be dynamic and context-dependent. In this paper, we examine an interview with an introductory student in which she discusses the use of equations in her reformed biology course. In one part of the interview, she expresses what sounds like an entrenched negative stance toward the role equations can play in understanding biology. However, later in the interview, when discussing a different biology topic, she takes a more positive stance toward the value of equations. These results highlight how a given student can have diverse ways of thinking about the value of bringing physics and math into biology. By highlighting how attitudes can shift in response to different tasks, instructional environments, and contextual cues, we emphasize the need to attend to these factors, rather than treating students’ beliefs as fixed and stable.     

Employment Outcomes of Science Graduates in Australia: Implications for Choice and Diversity in the Curriculum

In this paper, we compare employment outcomes of science graduates in Australia with information about survey respondents' courses of study to determine the nature and extent of employment-curriculum match (or mismatch). Outcomes of student preferences are also explored to see which course structures – specifically generalist or specialist – are more successful than others. Six different measures of employment-curriculum matching are used to argue that mismatching is likely to be minimal. The paper suggests implications for the structure of undergraduate science degrees.     

An Investigation of Tertiary-level Learning in Some Practical Physics Courses

Experimental physics is seen as an essential part of tertiary physics education. Students are supposed to develop practical skills and advance from closed ‘cookbook’ experiments to open experiment and design experiment procedures independently. As a consequence tertiary practical physics courses increase in the level of challenge throughout an undergraduate degree program. The research reported here consists of an investigation of two solely laboratory-based experimental physics courses: a second-year course Experimental Physics and Instrumentation, and a third-year course Advanced Experimental Physics, offered at a New Zealand tertiary institution. The research suggests that although the structure, content, and teaching methods in the two courses vary; there is little difference in students' learning strategies employed in the two courses. It appears bridging experiments may be necessary to help students shift from a highly directive pedagogy at the lower levels of the undergraduate practical physics program, to a more open inquiry approach. Richard K. Coll: Author for correspondence.     

Newtonian in mind but Aristotelian at heart

This article discusses some core features of Aristotelian physics, and looks at their transformation by first Galileo, and then Newton. It shows how the Aristotelian view was rooted in commonsense, and indicates why this is the reason that such understandings prove so resistant to physics instruction. Some suggestions are made for guiding effective pedagogy.Morecover, mechanics is to physics what the skeleton is to the human figure — at first glance it may appear stiff, cold, and somewhat ghastly, but even after a brief study of its functions one experiences with mounting excitement the discovery of an astonishingly beautiful design, of a structure that is ingentiously complex, yet so simple as to be almost inevitable. (Gerald Holton, Introduction to Concepts and Theories ln Science)Mechanics is one of the branches of physics in which the number of principles is at once very few and very rich in useful consequences. On the other hand, there are few sciences which have required so much thought — the conquest of a few axioms has taken more than 2000 years. (Rene Dugas, A History of Mechanics)Although it is unsafe to read logical necessity into particular historical developments, the special position occupied by mechanics amongst the other branches of physics and natural science must be emphasised, for it was this special position that made it the starting point of modern science. (S. Sambursky, The Physical World of the Greeks)There is, in nature, perhaps nothing older than motion, concerning which the books written by philosophers are neither few nor small; nevertheless I have discovered by experiment some properties of it which are worth knowing and which have not hitherto been either observed or demonstrated. (Galileo Galilei, Dialogues Concerning Two New Sciences)Of the intellectual hurdles which the human mind has confronted and has overcome in the last fifteen hundred years, the one which seems to me to have been the most amazing in character and the most stupendous in the scope of its consequences is the one relating to the problem of motion. (Herbert Butterfield, The Origins of Modern Science: 1300–1800)In the Beginning was Mechanics. (Max von Laue, History of Physics)I offer this work as the mathematical principles of philosophy, for the whole burden of philosophy seems to consist in this — from the phenomena of motions to investigate the forces of nature, and then from these forces to demonstrate the other phenomena. (Isaac Newton, Preface to the Principia)     

The Historical-Philosophical Dimension in Physics Teaching: Danish Experiences

Physics education in Danish secondary schools underwent a major reform in 1988–90: The earlier science-centred physics curriculum gave way to a presentation of physics as a human activity. In the upper secondary school, one way of obtaining this aim was to introduce elements of the history and philosophy of science in the curriculum. The (hi)story of the work with the reform is told with special emphasis on the introduction and implementation of the historical-philosophical dimension.     

The effect of external representation on constructing computer models of complex phenomena

Computer modeling – creating executable modelsof science domains – has been recognized as animportant teaching method. Still not much isknown about the factors making modelingenvironments effective in use. We investigatethe effect of different externalrepresentations on the construction of computermodels. Representations can significantlyinfluence the processes of modeling. In orderto find the specific benefits of two differentrepresentations, we compare dyads working on acollaborative modeling task using a text-basedmodel representation, in which correctequations are required to make the model run,with others using a graphical representation,in which the model is built by qualitativelylinking variables. The learners, secondaryschool students and modeling novices, workedwith the representations on a task in thedomain of physics. Results indicate that thetwo representations induce differentbehaviours, which are appropriate for differentphases of the modeling process.     

Professors' and students' conceptualizations of the learning task in introductory physics courses

What are students expected to learn in physics courses? Eight expert physics teachers and researchers, two from the University of Western Ontario in Canada, Cambridge University in the United Kingdom, Stanford University in the United States of America, and Monash University in Australia, described their perceptions of learning in their courses. Students from the courses were then interviewed for their perceptions of learning in physics courses. In their courses, professors focused on the development of intellectual skills, assuming that students had a specific physics vocabulary. Students, however, were aware of their own limitations and suggested that professors should take nothing for granted. Students considered that to be a good teacher, a professor should know the perspective of the students and should start at the students' level. The results suggested that the intellectual challenge of learning physics merits early explanation.     

深入研究基础教育现状在改革中加强物理学专业建设

我国现行的物理教师教育课程存在着基础课程相对薄弱、教育类课程比例偏低、实践课程明显不足、学科课程有待精化等问题.为了调整和优化我国物理教师教育课程,着力汲取并借鉴国内外认知科学、教育科学和教育技术研究的新思想、新方法与新成果,本文根据我国的具体情况,分析了物理教师教育存在的主要问题,提出了物理教师教育课程体系改革的初步设想.     

Classroom discussion and individual problem-solving in the teaching of history: Do different instructional approaches affect interest in different ways?

In this study, 100 Italian eighth graders were divided into two groups to compare the effects of two instructional interventions – the first based on problem-solving through discussion, the second on individual problem-solving – on students' learning of two historical topics (World War I and the economic boom), interest and self-perception of competence in history. The intervention based on discussion produced greater situational interest and understanding of the historical inquiry. The topic of World War I turned out to be an effective source of situational interest. Structural equation models showed that situational interest elicited by the use of discussion and by World War I impacted both on students' individual interest and on self-perception of competence in history.     

Gender differences in introductory undergraduate physics performance: University physics versus college physics in the USA

Efforts to ameliorate gender disparity in pursuit of science careers in the USA have focused on equalizing girls' participation in pre-college science courses and out-of-school activities. Our examination of nearly 1500 US college students at 16 universities found that gender and preparation both have an impact on success in introductory college physics courses. In terminal, algebra-based physics females perform better than their male classmates. However, in calculus based introductory college physics courses, which are prerequisite to advanced study in many fields, women do significantly worse than their male counterparts with the same background. For both genders, taking a high school course that limits coverage and concentrates more time in in-depth study is associated with better performance in college physics. We conclude that efforts to ensure the success of women entering the physical sciences should concentrate on increasing the depth and reducing the vast coverage of most high school physics courses as well as addressing the apparent bias in college courses that mark the first step in careers within scientific research and engineering.