Browsing Through the Journals
Thomas D. Rossing
- Women hold a disproportionately small share of senior faculty positions
in Japan's universities. According to a story in the 20 April issue
of Science, 35 Japanese women scientists met to draw up a
list of obstacles they face in obtaining grants and to plan a lobbying
effort to create a better working environment. At present, most grants
for new investigators are restricted to scientists of age 37 or younger.
With more women wanting to resume their research careers after starting
a family, a ceiling based on years in the field rather than age would
be more equitable, the participants argued. An even greater problem
is the rise in the number of part-time and nonpermanent university
faculty and staff positions, a trend fueled by the sagging economy.
Although the squeeze on tenured positions applies to both men and
women, men are more likely to be appointed to permanent posts when
they are offered.
- The changes facing university physics departments in the UK were
the subject of two days of discussion at the Institute of Physics
annual congress, according to the May 2001 issue of Physics World. Two
of the major subjects discussed were the decline in the mathematical
capability of students starting physics degrees and how the four-year
Mphys and Msci physics degrees would fit into the Quality Assurance
Agency's new qualifications framework. Under this framework there
will be five levels of university qualifications from 2003: higher
education certificates; ordinary degrees; honours degrees and graduate
certificates and diplomas; masters degrees and postgraduate certificates
and diplomas; and doctoral degrees.
- John Hubisz reports on a study of middle school physical science
texts in the May issue of The Physics Teacher. The study,
supported by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, aimed to determine
whether there might be a link between the quality of textbooks used
in middle school (grades 6, 7, and 8) and the students' poor performance
on TIMSS tests. A previous study had looked at high school physics
texts (see Phys. Teach. 37, 283-308, 1999).
The reviewers found a very large number of errors, many
irrelevant photographs, complicated illustrations, experiments
that could not possibly work, and diagrams and drawings that
represent impossible situations. They noted that a lot of
the material had little to do with science. Unlike college-level
textbooks, and some high school texts, middle school textbooks
are seldom written by a single author or even a team of authors.
Rather, they are produced by committees, and it is very difficult
to find anyone with the authority to make corrections. While
none of the books reached a level that could be called "scientifically
accurate," the reviewers noted that most of the books were
beautifully done with plenty of color diagrams and photographs.
Hubisz , who is president of AAPT, feels that physics teachers
have to become more active in schools. If good materials
are going to be used, they must be brought to the attention
of teachers and administrators. The full report can be downloaded
at http://psrc-online.org/curriculum/book.html
- There has never been a better time for physicists to set up their
own firms, according to the April 2001 issue of Physics World,
devoted to physicists in business. The opportunities in lasers and
optics are enormous, and so-called photonic band-gap materials could
be the next big thing. Without a doubt, the biggest spinoff from
physics has been the World Wide Web, which was developed at CERN.
Nanotechnology is beginning to develop. The special issue includes
advice for would-be entrepreneurs. Rule number one: recruit experienced
managers who can help you to grow the business. Founding entrepreneurs
often become chief technical officers, leaving the day-to-day running
of the firm to specialists, even if it means sharing the business.
It?s better to own 10% of a large company than 100% of a small one
is one person's advice.
- India's physics community is spearheading a campaign to prevent
the introduction of astrology into the country's universities, according
to a story in the July issue of Physics World. Astronomers
and physicists have been joined by other scientists in asking the
Indian University Grants Commission to reconsider its decision taken
earlier this year to introduce optional science courses in "Vedic
astrology." So far their objections have had little effect. The Grants
Commission has invited universities to set up departments of Vedic
astrology that would offer bachelors, masters, and doctoral study
programs, and has offered grants to set up an observatory, a library,
and a "horoscope bank." Each department can also recruit a professor,
a reader, and two lecturers of astrology. "It would be okay to introduce
astrology as a subject in ancient Indian studies of anthropology
or philosophy," according to Ganesan Srinivasan, president of the
Astronomical Society of India, but what the Indian scientists are
protesting is the projection of astrology as an applied science.
- "Should I pay attention to the output from physics education R&D?" is
the title of a guest comment by Donald Holcomb (based on his talk
given at the Centennial Meeting of APS in Atlanta) in the April issue
of American Journal of Physics. In Holcomb's view, the most
useful result from physics education R&D has come from organized
and carefully documented listening to students through interviews
and questionnaires. Such interviews tend to show that mathematical
derivations in the classroom, use of computer programs in real time
in the laboratory, and asynchronization of classroom and lab work
are typically ineffective. In assessing the usefulness of a particular
project in physics education R&D, a good question to ask is whether
the researchers have selected an important question to study. The
author urges nonpractitioners of physics education research to beware
of the often unrecognized barrier to productive change: "I learned
physics in a certain way, so I'll teach it the way I learned it.
If today's students work hard, they can learn it in the same way
I did!"
- Noting a shift away from the study of physics in schools, the Scottish
branch of the Institute of Physics has taken steps to strengthen
physics teaching in Scotland, according to a note in the July issue
of Physics World. One project is producing a video and possibly
a CD-ROM or Web-based materials aimed at pupils aged 13-14 before
they choose their subjects for Standard Grade. Physics education
is generally healthy because all physics teachers hold a physics
qualification. However the profession is aging, and there could soon
be a shortage of young physics teachers, the Scottish branch wishes
to help prevent.
- The world's first degree course in science and science fiction
at the University of Glamorgan is described by course tutor Mark
Brake in the January issue of Physics World. Science fiction
exists not just as a rich genre of film and text but also as a living
cultural phenomenon that influences the way we see the world, Brake
explains. The science fiction element of the course focuses on the
relationship between science, culture, and society. The course aims
to produce graduates "who not only have a dynamic and pluralistic
understanding of the nature and evolution of science but can also
critically develop and communicate ideas about science and its cultural
context."
- A laboratory-based nonlinear dynamics course with an interdisciplinary
content for science and engineering students is described in the
May issue of American Journal of Physics. The course, taught
jointly by the physics and mathematics departments at California
Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, includes 7 weeks
of prescribed experiments plus a 3-week project. The prerequisite
is one year of calculus plus a junior-level course in the student's
major.
- Currently, 28 percent of our nation's high school students take
at least one course in physics, Frederick Stein, APS director of
education and outreach, reminds us in a guest editorial "Modeling
Effective Teacher Preparation" in the May issue of Journal of
College Science Teaching. Although this is a significant improvement
over the last decade, many courses do not develop good conceptual
understanding. The ongoing and overwhelming need for inservice teacher
enhancement programs in physics points to the failure of programs
in our colleges and universities to prepare students adequately for
teaching. PhysTEC, the Physics Teacher Preparation Coalition, was
set up as a partnership of APS, AAPT, and AID to augment the role
of physics departments to better prepare future teachers. PhysTEC
inverts the strategy of university-based projects involving all science
departments to that of a nationally recognized coalition with a single
discipline aimed at a large number of colleges and universities linked
through professional societies.
- For centuries telling stories has been a valuable way of imparting
a message, and it is possible to communicate physics through story,
an article in the January issue of Physics Education reminds
us. This approach may be more useful for children who are concrete
thinkers than formal methods of teaching physics. Back in the 1940s,
George Gamow created the mild-mannered bank clerk Mr. Tompkins to
tell stories about relativity, quantum physics, and a variety of
physical phenomena.
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