In response to insufficient participation and female underrepresentation in physics education, this article uses questionnaire data from Norwegian physics students in upper secondary (N = 585) and first-year tertiary (N = 278) education to characterize the "physics choosers." An expectancy-value perspective is adopted to describe the motivations and expectations behind the respondents' physics choice. Three choice profiles were identified among secondary students. The intrinsic and extrinsic profile, broadly motivated by interest-enjoyment, expectation of success, and utility for university admission; the extrinsic profile emphasizing mainly utility; and the intrinsic profile emphasizing mainly interest-enjoyment. Females were underrepresented in the intrinsic profile. Many secondary students did not know what kind of job they wanted, but those who did, aspired to go into medicine (particularly females) or engineering (particularly males). Tertiary students were motivated by a passion for physics and high expectation of enjoyment, and many of them planned to go into research. Tertiary students were more likely than secondary students to value idealistic purposes in a future career. The results imply that participation in physics may be improved by targeting students with a broader motivation than interest alone, through inclusive classroom practices, support of students' self-concepts, and examples of physics applications and physics-
There is international concern about young people's participation in science. This study investigated the relevant importance of various issues in 1628 Norwegian upper secondary students' choices of postcompulsory subject combinations: natural science and mathematics (henceforth Science) or languages, social science and economics (henceforth HumSoc). Questionnaire items based on the Eccles et al. model of achievement‐related choices were grouped into six constructs by factor analysis: expectation of success, interest‐enjoyment value, self‐realization value, fit to personal beliefs value, utility value for university admission, and relative cost. Interest‐enjoyment and fit to personal beliefs were somewhat less important to Science students than to HumSoc students, especially to girls taking Science. Utility value for university admission was much more important to Science than to HumSoc students, and more important to Science girls than to Science boys. Costs in terms of time and effort were much more important to HumSoc than to Science students. The findings indicate that students choose Science both for identity reasons, such as interests, self‐realization and fit to personal beliefs, and for strategic utility reasons. Some of the students, especially the girls, appear to have placed more weight on utility than on their interests. Implications for participation in postcompulsory science are discussed. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Sci Ed 96:1–20, 2012
In this article, we discuss how quantum physics and relativity can be taught in upper secondary school, in ways that promote conceptual understanding and philosophical reflections. We present the ReleQuant project, in which web-based teaching modules have been developed. The modules address competence aims in the Norwegian national curriculum for physics (final year of upper secondary education), which is unique in that it includes general relativity, entangled photons and the epistemological consequences of modern physics. These topics, with their high demands on students' understanding of abstract and counter-intuitive concepts and principles, are challenging for teachers to teach and for students to learn. However, they also provide opportunities to present modern physics in innovative ways that students may find motivating and relevant both in terms of modern technological applications and in terms of contributions to students' intellectual development. Beginning with these challenges and opportunities, we briefly present previous research and theoretical perspectives with relevance to student learning and motivation in modern physics. Based on this, we outline the ReleQuant teaching approach, where students use written and oral language and a collaborative exploration of animations and simulations as part of their learning process. Finally, we present some of the first experiences from classroom tests of the quantum physics modules.
Quantum physics challenges our views of the physical world and describes phenomena that cannot be directly observed. The use of language is hence essential in the teaching of quantum physics.With a sociocultural view of learning, we investigate characteristics of preuniversity students' small-group discussions and their potential for enhancing understanding of quantum physics. The empirical data are 96 small-group discussions about two fundamental dilemmas: whether light can be both waves and particles, and whether the cat in Schrödinger's thought experiment can be considered to be both dead and alive. The discussions were analyzed by means of a framework of four categories, grouped as productive and nonproductive for learning, where "productive" means that students build constructively on each other's utterances and take the peers' ideas into account. Results show that a total of 70% of the discussions were productive, indicating that small-group discussions have a potential for enhancing understanding in quantum physics. This potential is constituted by leading students to (i) articulate conceptual difficulties, (ii) deepen their understanding through exchange of views, and (iii) formulate new questions. The paper concludes with a discussion on how the learning potential of small-group discussions may be realized by combining dialogic and authoritative approaches.
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