PhD

Project Scope

I hope to earn a PhD studying curriculum change. I want physics educators to consider allowing our curriculum to evolve and to diversify with time, but I want to know how it has done so before.

The work will draw on my experience as a physics teacher; my studies of the history of physics and the history of science; the sociology of science; and others' research into curriculum-change.

The work would study and result in active changes to the standard physics curriculum, either at the high school level or at the introductory college level.

Abstract

Physics is one of the least attractive of the high school standard courses. Given the choice of what to study, students self-segregate by socio-economic status (SES) and gender, with low-SES and females selecting out of physics or being selected out of physics.

Physics curriculum may be the most un-changed curriculum since the modern high school system of credits was established by the Carnegie Commission around 1912. In other words, physics, of all standard high school subjects, may have changed the least in the past 100 years. An example of change would be the study of nuclear physics, because such study would be unrecognizable to someone schooled before the discovery of the neutron, fusion, etc. Subtler changes would be in the presentation of kinematics and dynamics, in the stress on vectors, momentum, and simple motion problems.

The movement towards standardization of state-mandated curricula have forced a certain amount of monoculture in course content, especially for those only taking one year of physics in high school. Unlike in other countries, American students usually only take one year of physics in high school, so standardization has an important impact on their experience. On the other hand, there are competing sets of standards applicable to most schools: Two of the biggest are statewide curricula, for example "Regents Physics" in New York State, and Advanced Placement curriculum, driven by the AP tests.

Diversity in the content may better serve a large country like the U.S. Diversity should also allow physics in total to attract a wider group of students.

Therefore, I propose trying to diversify the scope and sequence of physics courses. Not every school should include all the diversity, but the curriculum should look more diverse between schools. However, we should avoid reproducing the socio-economic divisions that can be perpetuated by only providing low-paid vocational education to one SES group and elite education to another.

Methods

I will use several methods:

1. Trace the path of the content of physics courses.
   1. Review physics textbooks from the past 200 years.
   2. Timeline the introduction or demise of fields of study.
   3. Interview educators, ask how they choose what to teach.
   4. Use critical historical methods to find how content choices have been made.
2. Examine the impact of the current canon on students and society.
   1. Examine student affective variables before, during, and after exposure to the physics canon.
   2. Relate students' outcomes to variables in the curriculum itself.
3. Identify curriculum change.
   1. Measure diversity of curriculum.
   2. Identify links between curriculum branches and populations, purposes.
   3. Identify people involved in curriculum change.
      1. Determine their power and effectiveness.
      2. Determine their limitations.
4. Create change
   1. Itemize change vectors (both what would be changed and what would the change be?).
   2. Determine what changes would be socially acceptable/unacceptable.
   3. Determine what changes would be manageable.
   4. Pick a target group.
   5. Document achieved changes.
   6. Predict effects, partly based on previous work.

Inquiries

Historical inquiries

• How much have physicists, or even the general public, been able to steer the course of physical science using the schools? How much of the change in natural philosophy over time is attributable to the rendered curriculum, and how much of that change can be attributed to foresight of those in power?
• Opposite to the previous question, how much has the canonization of the curriculum prevented progress in physical understanding?

Concepts

• Social relevance

Courses

STS 3301 I enrolled extramurally, but I see this as research for the PhD.

Collaboration

• Cornell Physics Department
  • Don Holcomb?
• Cornell Physics Teacher in Residence
• Cornell Outreach (CNS, CIPT,...)
• Cornell Education Department
• Area high schools
  • Lehman Alternative Community School?
  • Ithaca High School?
  • New Roots Charter School?
  • Lansing High School?
  • Dryden High School?
  • etc.?
• Other physics teachers
• University physics professors
• Michigan State
  • Wolfgang Bauer?

References

Bibliography