In today's New York Times Natalie Angier has a nice story about increased interest in physics:
Many people wring their hands over the state of science education and point to the appalling performance of America's students in international science and math competitions. Yet some of the direst noises about our nation's scientific prospects may be premature. Far from rejecting challenging science courses, students seem to be embracing them.
This year, for example, the American Institute of Physics said that the percentage of high school students taking physics courses was at an all-time high, and that the number of bachelor's degrees awarded in the subject had climbed by 31 percent since 2000. Moreover, there are a growing number of "magnet" or "gifted and talented" programs in secondary schools that emphasize science and math. While quality varies widely, and some observers worry that the tiny, competitive programs consume an outsized portion of a school's budget, a visit to Ms. Cascio's class and her students, who are not only gifted, talented and magnetic but hardworking, too, is almost enough to make you wish you were back in high school.
The piece is built around a profile of Ms. Cascio's ninth-grade physical science class, which sounds like a first-rate inquiry-based physics class. She's doing stuff with her kids that's basically equivalent to what we do with our intro classes.
So, everything is rosy, right? Well, not so fast...
For one thing, I think it's a mistake to assume that increased enrollments in high school physics classes indicate an increased interest in science in general. Or an increased interest in physics, for that matter.
I suspect that a large portion of the recent increases in physics enrollment can be attributed to the well-documents intensification of the college application process. Physics is an elective course for most states, so students don't formally have to take it. But as college admissions has become more competetive-- and, more importantly, parents and guidance counselors have become more crazy about the process-- it's become more and more important for students who want to get into good schools to demonstrate a willingness to take tough classes. Students who never would've ruined their senior year with a physics class ten years ago are taking physics now, because they think they need to in order to get into the best colleges.
And then there's the usual demographic problem of the Times. Ms. Cascio's class sounds fantastic, and if it was really representative of the state of physics education nationwide, I'd happily believe in a resurgance of interest in the physical sciences.
Unfortunately, Ms. Cascio's fantastic physics class is being taught in a math and science magnet school, in Loudon County, Virginia. Which might almost be a representative sample of the people that the Times pitches their lifestyle articles at, but with a median income of close to $100,000, it can't really be held up as an example of what's going on in the nation at large.
It's a nice profile piece, and the class really does sound terrific. If you're teaching high school physics, or trying to get a young person interested in the physical sciences, you could do a lot worse than to copy what's described in the article. I wouldn't attempt to generalize too far from this description, though.
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Woot! Fairfax County beats Loudon County for highest median income! (At least according to the Wikipedia article.)
As the product of the Fairfax County public schools, I would say that generalizing from what's going on at a magnet school in Loudon Co. isn't going to give you an accurate picture of physics education in the US. That doesn't mean that that kind of class couldn't happen at any school, it's just not typical.
I will also say, having just this past summer taught a physics class for 11th graders in a Summer Gifted Program... the class was completely full, but it nad nothing to do with their "interest" in physics... it had to do with their parents making them take the class to get a jump on AP physics so they can ace the AP/SAT2 exams next year.
Physics Today 60(10) 32 (2007)
American physics instruction vastly exceeds domestic markets for its product. US citizens increasingly lack intelligence (~130 IQ) and skills necessary to become physicists. Mediocrity is a vice of the doomed.
Uncle Al: Boo hoo. I work in IT supporting engineers. I have an IQ last measured at 167. I'd rather BE an engineer, but I can't just drop everything at the moment and enroll in college; I'm the sole support of an extended family. If physicists want me, they can come find me. I'm busy.
The problem with American education is that everyone wants their little Jane or Danny to grow up to be a professional. Most of the jobs out there don't require a lot of math or physics knowledge. Why force citizens who have little or no aptitude for the subject learn mathematics when they will have little or no use for it?
It's not like high school students don't have anything else to do with their time, nor that we have nothing else that would make them better citizens by knowing.
They should have an understanding of our banking system, how our military is organized, and the forms you have to fill out to start a business. Practical life skills should include things like how a car engine works and how to hammer a nail (align your thumb with the hammer). How to sew on a button and how to swing a sledge hammer. How to turn a tree into paper and how to dig for gold. How the environmental laws work and how to file for a building permit. How to raise a child. How to learn a trade.
But mathematics? I love mathematics, but it is quite useless for 95% of the population, and about half the population has great difficulty learning it.
I don't know your age Carl but most young people who are going to be professionals will probably not have to hammer a nail or swing a sledge hammer. But they will have to figure out about their cell phones and their DVD players or their wireless network at home. I think it is important to learn the skills you lay out but there is so much more that is Physics related that they will encounter and a knowledge of the workings is valuable.
My dad was a math and science teacher for 37 years and he would say to students when they complained that they would never need the math that the study of math opens new pathways of thinking about problems. I have students of his today who learned a great deal from his classes who appreciate that message.
My bias is that I am a High School Physics teacher. I start my year with a DVD of Dave Matthews playing as they walk in and we discuss the branches of physics as seen in the experience of the DVD. It grabs their attention and they stick around because they see it relates to their lives. Yes Chad, many students are in the course because of the college admissions process but what they learn will serve them well for their entire life. It also relates to their life in countless ways. As more students take physics and more challenging science and math courses the level of the society is moved up a notch. This is all the better. It may not be where we want to be but every little bit helps.
Yes Chad, many students are in the course because of the college admissions process but what they learn will serve them well for their entire life. It also relates to their life in countless ways. As more students take physics and more challenging science and math courses the level of the society is moved up a notch. This is all the better. It may not be where we want to be but every little bit helps.
Oh, I agree. You're preaching to the choir, here, and a hearty "Amen!" for your troubles.
I'm just saying that it would be a mistake at this point to interpret the increase in high-school enrollments (or the 31% increase in college degrees since 2000, since 2000 was pretty much rock bottom) as indicative of a real increase in interest in physics. I'd love to see such an increase, and with good teaching, some of the students taking physics because they think they have to may gain an interest in it, but right now, I think other explanations are more likely to account for the enrollment patterns.
The Loudon County Academy of Science isn't your typical magnet school either. Its director, George Wolfe, is a staunch advocate of inquiry-based learning and one of the reasons the school's been successful is that there's also a strong emphasis on teaching the teachers as well.