Transcript Titel - Physics education

Report Thematic Group 5
PHYSICS TEACHER TRAINING
HIGH SCHOOL - UNIVERSITY TRAINING GAP IN PHYSICS
PHYSICS TEACHER TRAINING
HIGH SCHOOL - UNIVERSITY TRAINING GAP IN PHYSICS
GARETH JONES (COACH)
DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS
IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON
LONDON (UK)
[email protected]
M. C. CARMO
PHYSICS DEPARTMENT
UNIVERSITY OF AVEIRO
AVEIRO (PT)
[email protected]
HAY GEURTS
FACULTY OF SCIENCE
RADBOUD UNIVERSITY NIJMEGEN
(NL)
[email protected]
MARIA EBEL
TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY WIEN
PHYSICS DEPARTMENT
WIEN (AT)
[email protected]
OVIDIU CALTUN
DEPARTMENT OF SOLID STATE AND THEORETICAL PHYSICS
ALEXANDRU IOAN CUZA UNIVERSITY
IASI (RO)
[email protected]
OUTLINE
 INTRODUCTION/ METHODOLOGY
 OVERVIEW OF LAST YEAR’S QUESTIONAIRES
 HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER TRAINING QUESTIONAIRE
 HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER INTERVIEWS
 CONCLUSIONS
INTRODUCTION
Changes in school education have been occurring in recent decades: in
curricula, in students’ attitude, in school organization, in assessment;
Students entering the university do not have enough preparation in physics
and mathematics and the gap is growing between the two educational
systems;
Teacher quality influences students’ choice on what they wish to study..
In many countries there is – or will be - a shortage of qualified physics
teachers in high schools;
If at University level, we do not understand what is happening at schools we
will not be able to overcome the gap..
MAIN OBJECTIVE OF WG 5
The main theme of this WG is the interface between high schools and
university physics departments.
All partners (students, high school teachers, university departments) are
involved in this interface.
METHODOLOGY
 Surveying the views of University Physics Departments (STEPS
Questionnaire 2006)
 Surveying the views of university physics students (STEPS Questionnaire
2006)
 Surveying the differences in high school teacher training in different
countries (STEPS Questionnaire 2007)
 Personal contact with physics teachers in high schools
OVERVIEW OF LAST YEAR’S QUESTIONAIRES
1. HIGHLIGHTS FROM 2006 STEPS SURVEY AMONG UNIVERSITY
PHYSICS DEPARTMENTS
 There is a general opinion among university staff that the scientific level of
incoming students is becoming lower (84% of replies);
 This has been a continuous process over the last few decades;
 The main point of concern is the very uneven level of incoming students
 The general scientific level of the incoming students is considered poor;
 The evolution is particularly negative for mathematics and physics;
 Improvements have been observed only for computer skills;
2. HIGHLIGHTS FROM 2006 STEPS SURVEY ON
STUDENT’S VIEWS
The majority of our students feel a gap between high school and
University.
When asked about their main difficulties in the first year they mention
several reasons:
 Low level in mathematics. No previous development of skills in problem
solving;
 Difficulties with basic concepts;
 Steeper learning curve in University then in high school
 Much more lectures compared to high school;
 Much more effort needed due to the large amount of information to be
processed;
.
HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS’ TRAINING SURVEY
(STEPS 2007)
STRUCTURE OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE
Three groups of questions:
 CHANGES IN NATIONAL REGULATIONS?
 THE GENERAL PATTERN OF DEGREES IN TEACHING
 WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR TEACHER TRAINING?
72 valid replies from 161 partners in STEPS network
WHAT HAS CHANGED IN TEACHER EDUCATION?
Q1: Are there any national/regional
regulations for the Curricula for Physics
Teacher Training in the pre university cycle
in high school (e.g. 16 -18 years)?
9%
16%
YES
Fig 1: National/regional
regulations for the
Curricula for Physics
Teacher Training
NO
NA
75%
Q2: Has the legislation changed due
to the Bologna Process?
9%
YES
NO
37%
54%
NA
Fig 2: Changes due to the
Bologna Process
Q 3: Is there a requirem ent for
training to teach m ore than one
subject?
7%
20%
YES
NO
73%
NA
Fig 3: Requirement for training in more than one subject.
Q 6: Do physics teachers usually teach a
second subject?
11%
4% 4%
YES
NO
sometimes
81%
NA
Fig 4:Teaching in more than one subject
 Most physics teachers teach more then one subject and physics is
also taught by other subject teachers.
There are many subject combinations possible (different even at
country level), due to physics teacher shortage
Q.6: Do physics teachers usually teach a second subject?
If so, what are the most common subjects?
Fig 4 b: Most common
combinations of teaching
subjects
Code Colour:
CHEMISTRY
MATHEMATICS
MATHS/IT/CHEM
COMBINED SCIENCES
NO INFORMATION
TEACHER TRAINING:
 It is necessary to ensure that future teachers have the appropriate subject
knowledge
 In many countries teachers normally teach two or more subjects (and
physics is taught by teachers of other subject areas)
 Appropriate knowledge of pedagogical issues associated with the
sciences taught .
HOW IS THIS ACHIEVED IN PRACTICE?
(Q 4: What is the content of the teacher training curricula in terms of credits?)
IS THERE A GENERAL PATTERN OF DEGREES IN TEACHING?
Q 4: Most common situations encountered:
 A 300 ECTS degree
 A one year master on top of relevant bachelor (normally followed
by a year of probation in high school)
 A two year (120 ECTS) master
Many variations in structure even in the same country!
Ex: A 300 ECTS degree in Physics and Chemistry
teaching
Physics
20
Maths
90
80
30
50
18
12
Didactics
Pedagogy/School
organization
Vocacional training
at school
Other 2nd subject
(Chemistry)
optional
Fig 5: Example taken from 2007 STEPS questionnaire: a
teaching degree structured in 300 ECTS
Ex: A 300 ECTS degree in Physics and
Mathematics teaching
Physics
22
15
Maths
105
38
Didactics
Pedagogy/School
organization
40
Vocacional training at school
80
Other subjects
Fig 6: Example taken from 2007 STEPS questionnaire: a
teaching degree structured in 300 ECTS
EX: One year (60 ECTS) master
12; 20%
Didactics
16; 27%
Pedagogy/School
organization
Vocacional training at
school
18; 30%
14; 23%
Other subjects
Fig 7: Example taken from 2007 STEPS questionnaire:
one year master in education on top of appropriate
bachelor
Ex: A 120 ECTS degree in Physics and
Mathem atics teaching
10; 8%
20; 17%
10; 8%
Physics
Maths
Didactics
40; 33%
40; 34%
Pedagogy/School
organization
Vocacional training
at school
Fig 8: Example taken from 2007 STEPS questionnaire; a
120 ECTS master in education
WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR TEACHER TRAINING?
Q 7: Which kind of institution is responsible for
Teacher Training?
6%3% 3%
university
other
Special Institutes
88%
NA
Fig 9 : The University is mostly responsible for Teacher Training
TEACHER APOINTMENT
Q10. How are teachers appointed?
Fig 10: Responsibility in
teacher appointment
(STEPS Questionnaire)
Colour code
NATIONAL/REGIONAL
LISTS
HEADMASTER
DECISION
A few countries have also an entrance examination
HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER INTERVIEWS
SCHOOLS VISITED:
AUSTRIA (2); NETHERLANDS (2); PORTUGAL (2); ROMANIA (3) ; U.K (1)
STRUCTURE OF INTERVIEW
 Characterization of school
 Pattern of teaching - hours per week, exercise classes, experimental,
demonstrations (Physics and Mathematics)
 Evolution of student numbers over years
 Staff
 Open questions (Main problems, opinion on curricula, gap between
university and high school)
IT IS HARD TO BE A PHYSICS TEACHER !
Highlights from interviews
 ‘Frequent changes in curricula, drawbacks with textbooks, not enough
practical work, lack of didactical tools, lack of comunication between
schools and university’
 Too much time spent to turn working horses into racing horses and
too less time spent to make racing horses race better
 Physics is a hard subject for students and for teachers. It needs a
continued effort, motivation and enthusiasm.
 The lack of specialized teachers in the area determines the limited
number of students in secondary physics. The students do not
choose physics or have little motivation for it.
 Not enough time (in the timetable) devoted to Physics. Syllabus does
not give the right coverage of physics topics and physics syllabus is
too little mathematically based;
 Too little laboratory classes/ lab spaces where pupils can work
independently on their practical assignments;
CONCLUSIONS
The teacher’s are better prepared to deal with many pedagogical problems
than they used to be but the challenges they face in the classrooms are
bigger than ever.
Several examples of good practices and suggestions to improve the
present situation have been identified:
AT THE UNIVERSITY LEVEL TO BRIDGE THE KNOWLEDGE GAP :
We quote the most common measures cited:
1. Pre-entrance refresher courses in physics and mathematics to level
up students; restructure of university curricula; extra courses;
2. Spend more time with basic concepts and allow for a more gradual
learning or lower the 1st year work load; small group teaching; more
student guidance (extra tutorials, extra homework, extra question
time, more discussion time; more evaluation, more planning of
experiments); e-learning in maths; Extra time for problem solving;
AT THE INTERFACE UNIVERSITY-HIGH SCHOOLTEACHERS:
Many high school physics teachers claim that there is not enough
communication between the two educational systems;
The continuous training of physics teachers needs to be addressed in the
context of new Bologna legislation and LLL. These should take into
account that many teachers teaching physics do not have a physics
background and the main difficulties faced by first year students;
Special attention should be given to training modules in: experimental
physics; lecture demonstrations; problem solving and modelling; project
guided oriented curricula.