Browsing Through the Journals
Thomas D. Rossing
![journals.gif (3564 bytes)](images/journals.gif)
In a guest comment entitled Format and content in introductory
physics in the January issue of American Journal of Physics,
Peter Lindenfeld reminds us that physics is a subject of insights
and ideas. He suggests that we may be spending too much time trying
to improve the mathematical facility of our students. Which aspects
of physics do we think is most important: Physics is beautiful? Physics
is useful? Physics is fundamental to chemistry, biology, and engineering?
Physics teaches problem solving? Physics is an essential component
of the knowledge of an effective citizen? Lets do our best,
he challenges us, to see that students remember the wonder, the connections,
the excitement of discovery, and the poetry of the universe.
An article Does Class Size Matter in the November
issue of Scientific American discusses the results of several
recent efforts to reduce class size in elementary schools. Although
fewer students in a classroom seems to translate into less noise
and disruptive behavior, most of the studies examining whether smaller
classes really do improve academic performance have been inconclusive,
the authors conclude. This includes a large project in California
in which more than $5 billion has already been invested. On the other
hand, Wisconsins project SAGE and Tennessees project
STAR appear to demonstrate performance benefit, especially for minority
pupils. A scientific paper by the same authors is in Psychological
Science in the Public Interest 2(2), 1-30 (May 2001).
During much of the 1970s, more than one in three physics
students at two of Chinas top universities was a woman. Today
the number has plummeted to fewer than one in 10. This is prompting
concern among many academics, according to an article in the 11 January
issue of Science. Its a backward movement that
must be checked, commented Wu Lingan, a senior physicist
with the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Wu is helping to plan international
conference on women in physics next March in Paris.
How do we know if we are doing a good job in physics
teaching? is the title of a paper in the January issue of American
Journal of Physics that is based on a talk by Robert Ehrlich
upon receiving the 2001 AAPT Award for Excellence in Undergraduate
Teaching. The author believes that we need to consider what effect
we are having on our students, both in terms of their understanding
of the subject and their attitudes toward it. Two examples of unfavorable
student attitudes are that physics is primarily about memorizing
and using formulas and that physics is unrelated to experiences
outside the classroom. Physics teachers who try to assess their
own competence face the same problem as professionals in any field:
Incompetent people generally are quite unaware of the depths of their
incompetence, whereas highly competent people are highly critical
of their own performance and are continually seeking ways to improve.
According to a note in the January 11 issue of Science, a
new $160 million NSF program to improve math and science education
in the nations elementary and secondary schools will build
on the latest buzzword in science education: partnerships. The intended
partnerships are between university scientists and local school districts.
According to Judith Ramaley, who heads the NSF education directorate, Its
going to take years and years, and there are no magic bullets. Goals
of the new program are to reduce the number of teachers teaching
out of field (without the appropriate degree), increase the availability
of material that engages students, and raise the number of students
taking courses that prepare them for college.
Stanford economist Paul Romer argues that U.S. universities
deliberately underproduce science and engineering graduates because
they are so expensive to train, according to a note in the 21 December
issue of Science. The solution is to pay universities to turn
out more scientists and engineers. Romer asserts that Most
schools will do the right thing if you make it worth their while. His
ideas have already formed the basis for new legislation, the Technology
Talent Bill (S. 1549 and H.R. 3130) that would create a competitive
grants program at NSF for universities that promise to boost the
number of undergraduates majoring in science, mathematics, and engineering.
Congress gave the NSF $5 million to start a pilot project to test
the thesis even before it took up the authorizing legislation. Romers
argument rests on two assumptions that many educators question: There
is a large reservoir of qualified students interested in majoring
in science and engineering, and U.S. universities have excess capacity
to handle such an influx.
The largest environmental problem reported in a 1995 survey
of U.S. schools by the General Accounting Office was acoustics
for noise control, according to an editorial in the January
21 issue of Sound & Communications. Fortunately something
is being done about it. A draft standard for classroom acoustics
has been submitted for review to the American National Standards
Institute (ANSI). The standard establishes minimum requirements for
sound isolation and provides limits for reverberation and noise in
the classroom.
A new general education curriculum for undergraduates at
the University of Arizona eliminates the laboratory science requirement,
according to an article in the December/January issue of Journal
of College Science Teaching. Instead, faculty are now required
to provide students with hands-on, inquiry-based experiences directly
in the classroom. To assist faculty with the new course design, an
undergraduate peer teaching program was introduced. Peer teachers,
called preceptors, lead group discussions and provide
fellow students assistance with writing and problem solving.
Science teacher Gail Green has an unusual problem that most
teachers would be happy to have, according to a story in the January
16 Chicago Tribune, The 7th and 8th grade girls in her after-school
math and science club are complaining that theyre not getting
enough math problems. Green leads a Girls in Engineering and Math
(GEMS) group each week. The club is just for girls because girls
tend to do better when they are with all girls. Club activities
include listening to guest speakers, solving problems, group projects,
and an occasional field trip.
Thomas D. Rossing is Professor of Physics at Northern Illinois
University, DeKalb, IL. He has been an editor of the Forum Newsletter
for six years.