History of Physics in Science Teacher Training in Oldenburg

For several years Oldenburg University inGermany has offered a study program in History ofPhysics for physics teacher students. Some courses ofthe ordinary physics curriculum were modified with anemphasis on history and philosophy of science, andsome lectures focussed on historical subjects werenewly created. Moreover the candidates for final examscan choose a historical topic – usually centered on anexperiment – as the subject of their exam paper. Inthe following article the courses are shortlydescribed, some examples of the students' achievementsare presented, and the educational relevance ispointed out. Finally the experiences of the project sofar are described and assessed.     

Problems with German Science Education

The main problems of science (especiallyphysics) teaching in Germany are students' lack ofinterest and motivation in the subject, their poorunderstanding of scientific concepts, ideas, methods,and results, and their lack of comprehension of thesocial, political, and epistemological role ofscience. These circumstances result in a growing`scientific illiteracy' of the population and adecline in democratic quality concerning decisionmaking processes about scientific and technologicalprojects. One means of improving this situation liesin the use of history and philosophy of science inscience teaching. School science curricula undtextbooks neglect almost completely the importance ofhistory and philosophy of science. In this paper, themain empirical results concerning motivation andknowledge are given. Some examples from sciencecurricula and textbooks are presented, and some of thefew reform projects in Germany are listed. As aconsequence a compensatory program is proposed inorder to create the prerequisites for raising scienceeducation in Germany to an international standard.     

Comparing residence hall and independent living settings

The social environments of residence halls and independent off-campus living settings (such as apartments and houses) were compared. The off-campus settings had as much emphasis on cohesion and emotional support, and had more emphasis on independence, academic achievement, and the enhancement of intellectual and cultural pursuits. Despite these differences, students who stayed in residence halls throughout their four years of college, as compared to those who moved into independent housing, had higher educational aspirations and performed better academically, although they were somewhat more conservative and traditional (higher religious concern, more participation in campus activities, less alcohol consumption and impulse expression). Additional analyses indicated that college living settings influence differential student change and that some of their effects occur because students tend to select and create settings which help them to maintain their preferred personal characteristics.