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.     

上海交通大學物理实验教学中心

简介1900年交通大学在中院辟格致室。1903年迁物理仪器于上院,称物理室。1906年物年扩大规模,改称物理试验室,是交通大学最早创建的实验室之一。1997年普通物理实验室和近代物理实验室两实验室合并,成立了物理实验教学中心。是上海交通大学基础实验教学基地之一。中心于2005年成为第一批国家级实验教学示范中心。     

A University for Nigeria,West Africa

The Purposes of Higher Education by a Huston Smith, Harper &; Brothers. New York. 1955. $3.50.

Administering Community Education by Ernest O. Melby, Prentice Hall, Inc. 314 pp., $6.00.

Education at Amherst: The New Program by Gail Kennedy (ed.) Harper and Brothers, 330 pp. $4.00.

Guidance Policy and Practice (Revised Edition) by Robert Hendry Mathewson. Harper and Brothers. 401 pp. $4.50.

Principles of Elementary Education (Revised Edition) by Henry J. Otto, Hazel Floyd, and Margaret Rouse. Rinehart and Company. 455 pp. $5.00.

Principles of Secondary Education (Third Edition) by Rudyard K. Bent and Henry H. Kronenberg. McGraw-Hill Book Company. 542 pp. $5.50.

School Superintendent in Action in Five Cities by Frank E. Spaulding. Richard R. Smith Publisher, Inc., (Rindge, New Hampshire.) 693 pp. $6.50.

Special Education for the Exceptional edited by Merele E. Frampton and Elena D. Gall, Vols. I, II, III. Porter Sargent, Publisher, II Beacon Street, Boston 8, Massachusetts. Vol. I, 453 pp. $5.50; Vol. II, 677 pp. $5.50; Vol. III, 700 pp. $5.50.

Supervising Instruction in Secondary Schools by Robert C. Hammock and Ralph S. Owings. McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc. 316 pp. $4.75.

Philosophies of Education in Cultural Perspective by Theodore Brameld. The Dryden Press, Inc. 414 pp., $4.50.

This World of Ours by Abram Glaser. Philosophical Library, 492 pp. $5.00.

Counseling Psychology (New Second Edition) by Milton E. Hahn and Malcolm S. MacLean, McGraw-Hill Book Co., 302 pp., $4.75.

Educational Psychology by Garrison, Karl C., and Gray, J. Stanley. Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc., 505 pp., $5.00.

Human Development and Learning by Lester D. Crow and Alice Crow. American Book Company. 578 pp. $5.50.

Making the Most of Marriage by Paul H. Landis. Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc. 532 pp. $5.50.

1,000,000 Delinquents by Benjamin Fine. The World Publishing Company. 377 pp. $4.00.     

非洲虚拟大学的建设与发展及当前面临的挑战

非洲虚拟大学将全球优质教育资源引入到非洲大陆,为提升非洲高等教育的质量做出了卓越贡献。但西方国家对虚拟大学的知识与资金垄断加剧了南北之间高等教育发展的不平衡,高昂的学费扩大了社会的贫富差距,课程与教学的弊端导致学生辍学率居高不下,与传统大学的同质化则减损了运作效率,这些是非洲虚拟大学当前面临的重大挑战。     

浅谈现代物理与物理观念的革新

对现代物理中相对论所革新的物理基本概念－－时空观、质能观和宇宙观做了简明的概述，说明更新物理观念的创新意识及其对发展创新思维方法的促进作用。     

中山大学实验教学示范中心建设探索

面对社会高速发展对新一代人才的需求,在分析实验教学存在的若干问题基础上,抓住建设国家级物理实验教学示范中心的契机,通过改善实验教学环境、更新教学内容、改革教学方法、建设教学师资队伍、优化教学资源配置等对策,使中心建设取得较明显的成效。     

Her physics,his physics: Gender issues in Israeli advanced placement physics classes

Gender gaps in physics in favour of boys are more prominent in Israel than in other countries. The main research question is to find out what gender issues are at play in Israeli advanced placement physics classes. Matriculation exam scores from approximately 400 high schools were analysed across 12 years. In addition, semi-constructed interviews were conducted with 50 advanced placement physics students (25 girls and 25 boys). In terms of participation, it was found that the ratio of girls to boys has been unchanged from 1988 to 2000 and is roughly 1:3. In terms of performance, it was found that the final matriculation scores of boys and girls are similar. However, breaking up the final scores into its two components - teachers' given grades and matriculation test scores - showed that boy's test scores are usually higher than girls' test scores, while girls' teachers' given grades are usually higher than boys'. Results from semi-constructed interviews pointed to two factors that are especially unfavourable to many girls: excessive competitiveness and lack of teaching for understanding. Girls' yearning for deep understanding is seen as a form of questing for connected knowledge. It is suggested that instructional methods that foster students' understanding while decreasing competitiveness in physics classes might contribute to girls' participation and performance in advanced physics classes while also supporting the learning of many boys.     

The Debate on University Transformation in South Africa: the case of the University of the Western Cape

This paper examines issues in the transformation of the university system in a democratic South Africa utilising the University of the Western Cape as a case study. In particular, it questions how the University's 1982 Mission Statement, which defined its oppositional role in the apartheid period, might be revised to shape the universities radical traditions to the tasks of the contribution of a new social order.     

On the history of national physics in physics teaching

At this time big and important transformations of the social system are taking place in my country. In consequence of this process, practically all concepts, notions, traditions and criteria are changing. So Slovak society is in need of new ideas. Undoubtedly, history may become a source of such ideas. One can expect this for the history of physics in Slovakia too.     

探析物理学中的近似法

近似法是指在分析、处理和研究某些物理现象和问题时,忽略研究对象和问题的次要因素,突出其主要矛盾和本质特征,科学、合理地对所研究的问题进行近似处理的方法。文章研究了物理学中近似法的几种类型,并列举了近似法的应用实例。     

Choosing a University: Important Attributes Used by Access Students in South Africa

Universities in South Africa are operating in an increasingly competitive environment with each institution aiming to attract the best students and meet their enrolment targets. The Department of Education’s (DoE’s) strategy to address the inadequacies of the past and the shortage of skills in maths and science in South Africa has also affected how universities operate. In responding to the DoE’s strategy to address past inadequacies many universities offer access programmes to students from previously disadvantaged schools. This paper highlights the factors or attributes that are important, specifically to access students, in their selection of which university to attend for their tertiary studies and makes recommendations in terms of a marketing strategy for universities targeting this group whose background and needs are different to students who come from more advantaged schools. Marketing implications for access programmes are provided.     

南非斯坦陵布什大学汉语推广概况

南非斯坦陵布什大学的汉语教学始于2000年,是目前为止南非唯一所进行正规中文面授教学的高等院校,中文部设在该校的文学院现代外语系。根据中南双方签署的双边教育合作协议,中国国家汉办于2005年首次向该校派遣汉语教师。南非与中国相距遥远,建交时间短,中国语言文化对于大多数南非人来说比较陌生,所以汉语推广在南非还存在若干的问题需要各方不断努力。     

开放教育《大学物理》课程教学模式

教学模式是为实现一定的教学目标,将教学诸要素以特定的方式组合而成具有相对稳定的有机结构和可操作性程序的教学活动模型。笔者从开放教育《大学物理》的教学实践和理论研究中探索出基于现代远程教育环境下的课程“导学 自学 助学”教学模式。     

Six Factors of Course and Teaching Evaluation in a Bilingual University in Central Africa

The purpose of this study was to identify the factors which students consider important in the evaluation of courses and teaching in a bilingual university setting, where teachers teach in either English or French and students receive lectures in the language of the teachers, independent of whether they (students) are anglophones or francophones. The sample consisted of 247 anglophones and 380 francophones registered in the first year in various courses at the Faculty of Arts Letters and Social Sciences (FALSS) of the University of Yaounde I in Cameroon. A principal component factor analytic technique was used, factors rotated to a simple structure and minimum eigen-value of 1.0 set as a criterion for cut-off. Six factors accounting for 75.3% of the common and specific variance were identified. Results of earlier studies reviewed showed that rapport with students, evaluation of assignments and feedback, availability of help, and course organisation are commonly found. The 'workload' and 'language or communications' factors found in this study are explained in terms of the bilingual context in which teaching and learning takes place in FALSS and the heterogeneous socio-cultural background of both the students and their teachers.     

新课程标准下新教材的初探

文章主要通过对高中物理新教材(司南版)和旧版教材的对比,从设计、内容、评价、课程目标等多个方 面进行比较和讨论,以期体会新教材所渗透的崭新的现代教育理念。在文章的最后,也提出了自己的一些困惑,希望能 与大家共同探讨。     

南非大学:推进非洲大陆的开放与远程学习

南非大学在推动非洲远程与开放学习方面具有重要的战略作用,虽然在非洲,增加高等教育的机会仍然是一个潜在的迫切需要,但南非大学和非洲远程教育理事会（ACDE）决心不能以牺牲开放与远程学习所培养学生的能力、课件内容、教学和学习、学生支持等的质量为代价。为了实现这一目标,南非大学已经参与了一系列合作、质量保证,以及大学层面和非洲层面的数据分析。在大学层面,南非大学旨在通过合作伙伴关系、制定一套前沿的质量规则、周密的数据聚合,促使制定能在国家政策环境下成长和发展的最佳的、适当的决策,从而提高南非大学的影响力及其对开放与远程学习的贡献。在非洲层面,南非大学积极参与了一系列创新举措,本文将深入探讨这些创新举措,从而洞察非洲大陆开放远程学习的现状,以及南非大学在其中所起的作用。     

Interaction of intuitive physics with computer-simulated physics

How do children solve force and motion problems in computer simulations without explicit knowledge of the underlying physics? This question was addressed by saving the keystroke input of 19 sixth-grade children in computer memory as each interacted with a simulated, frictionless object using Logo turtle-graphics. The keystroke sequences were first used to determine subject performance on the gamelike features of the simulation. A second analysis used the Newtonian structure of the program to investigate alternative methods for controlling turtle velocity. Five boys and five girls were interviewed during the simulation concerning the perceived relationship between keyboard input and turtle behavior. Subjects who could clearly state some keyboard effects did not score high on either computer analysis, yet achieved the most general solutions of the computer problem. They did so by exploring turtle behavior under a greater variety of conditions than the subjects who achieved partial solutions. For the successful subjects, the turtle was related by analogy to useful information from existing conceptions of motion.