Brasil Final Report - Department of Physics - The Ohio State University

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national curriculum. The current effort to implement national standards in secondary schools that
fall far short of a curriculum has provoked major controversy. Thus reform of the physics
curriculum must be done by persuasion and examples of success.
In the United States, the majority of students who graduate with bachelors degrees in
physics find employment in industry where they are often called engineers or software specialists.
Another large group of graduates pursue advanced studies in other fields such as computer science,
medicine or even law. A mere handful enter secondary teaching and the remainder, about 30%,
pursue graduate studies in physics. Of those, half enter industry after receiving a Ph.D. Roughly
15% of undergraduate physics majors enter college and university teaching. Because they employ
physics graduates, industries strongly influence physics education in the United States, and this
influence is growing.
In contrast, physics graduates from universities in South and Central American countries
generally pursue careers in academia, either in colleges and universities or in secondary schools.
The stress on skills needed for jobs in industry has not permeated physics departments to the extent
it has in the United States. Departments in South and Central American universities graduate many
more majors than those in the United States, where departments graduate an average of 5 majors
each year. Even Ph.D. granting departments average 10 majors each year.
Yes, physics teachers in different countries face different environments. We must use
different tactics to solve our common problems. Nevertheless, the fundamental solution to the
problems facing physics education seems to transcend national boundaries. Clearly we all need to
encourage better learning by physics students at all levels. Physics departments must pay attention
not only to instruction in physics courses for majors and non-majors but also to the entire education
of physics majors. We will need to develop flexible tracks within the physics major to meet the
needs of students with different ambitions.
This conference has convinced me that we have much to learn from one another. I have
collected a number of new ideas, and I expect that I am not alone. We need to support IACPE as a
conduit for this valuable communication. If we learn from and support one another's efforts, we can
achieve our mutual goal of providing excellent physics education for all students.