New trends in physics teaching, v.4; The ... - unesdoc - Unesco

Introduction
Although school curricula are overloaded with subjects, and subjects with material content, there
is a growing realization that science teachers in general and physics teachers in particular cannot
continue to ignore the relationship between their science and the society in which they are
working.
The first two papers in this section outline two of the earliest successful attempts to formalize
this important trend. The major problem for those who may wish to emulate these pioneer
programmes is the discovery of a niche within the school programme into which the work may
be fitted. In these two cases, that problem was solved very ingeniously and, although the courses
can directly affect relatively few students, the effect of teaching them certainly changes the
teacher’s approach to the rest of his teaching. These courses are proving to be powerful catalysts
for change.
One hears so much about alternatives to high technology and much that is of a somewhat
vague nature, that we asked an engineer working in the field to write a paper which would be
both realistic and practical and which would provide suitable background material for a teacher
who wished to know more. This then is the theme of the third paper in this section.
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