Teaching Of Physics

Ch # 1

What Is Physics?

Physics is an important and basic part of physical sciences. It is an experimental science. According to one definition,

“Physics deals with the study of matter and energy and the relationship between them. It involves investigating such things as laws of motion, structure of space & time, nature and type of forces and so on.”

Aims & Objectives of Teaching Physics

Aims:1) Provide opportunities for scientific study and creativity within a global context that

will stimulate and challenge students.2) Provide a body of knowledge, method and techniques that characterize science and

technology.3) Enable students to apply and use a body of knowledge, methods and techniques that

characterize science and technology.4) Develop an ability to analyse evaluate and synthesize scientific information.5) Develop and apply in the students information and communication technology skills

in the study of science.

Objectives:1) Demonstrate an understanding of physics.2) Apply and use physical principles and models.3) Construct research questions and analyse and evaluate methods and results.4) Demonstrate the personal skills of cooperation, preservance and responsibility.5) Demonstrate that they can manipulate apparatus and perform experiments safely.

Role of Instructional Medium and Material in Teaching of Physics

Physics is a science subject that student often find very difficult and this is why student always have low achievement in the subject. Many researchers have equally supported the view that students performed poorly in physics. One major reason for this poor performance might not be separated from the abstract nature of the course. The teaching of physics in schools has not been encouraging due to this abstract nature of the subject that is why the use of instructional materials is needed to facilitate students’ learning of physics. Mastery of physics concepts cannot be fully achieved without the use of instructional materials. Another problem confronting teaching and learning of physics is the unavailability of these instructional materials in schools; therefore there is the need for improvisation. Instructional materials helps teacher to meet individual differences of the learners in the class by using aids that appeal to different senses. Instructional materials are used to supplement verbal explanation of concepts or any description so that the lesson could be real to the students. These instructional materials are categorized into audio visual, audio and visual. These are materials that when teacher used them can appeal to student both sight and hearing. These can be electronically operated materials like Television, Radio, Film, Slide motion; Computer and non electronic ones such as Chalk board, Charts, Burners, Models and many more. The absence of these materials in teaching of physics could make the class very uninteresting to student and discourage learning thereby lead to low or poor achievement. Instructional materials are very important because what students hear can easily be forgotten but what they see cannot be easily forgotten and last longer in their memory.

The primary purpose of instructional materials is to make learning more effective and also facilitate it. Instructional media or materials can be used by lecturers to overcome noise factors, such as misconception, referent confusion and daydreaming. In this age of Information and Communication Technology [ICT] teachers must be able to use available local resources to produce instructional and learning materials in schools. Improvisation of instructional materials makes the learners exposed to creativity, innovation and curiosity, all of which are fundamental to teaching and learning of science.

Role of instructional Medium and Material in Teaching of Physics

It is a widely held view that the scientific development of any nation is enhanced by the quality of physics education in its schools. At the secondary level, the physics curriculum clearly spells out the objectives, instructional medium and material as well as the methods/strategies for effective teaching and learning of physics. To ensure effective teaching and learning of physics, in our secondary schools, therefore, appropriate and sufficient instructional media and materials are required for the implementation of physics education curriculum.

It is only by so doing that the recipients of physics instructions will be sufficiently groomed and equipped with the knowledge, skills, attitudes and competencies. Instructional materials are described as information carriers designed specially to fulfill objectives in teaching learning situation. The indispensability of instructional materials for teaching physics cannot be overemphasized. One can infer from the foregoing that an important aspect in the delivery ofPhysics education is instructional media and materials employed in transmitting knowledge.

Physics LaboratoryScience is different than other subjects. It is not just the subject of science that is different; the entire process of doing science is different. The means by which knowledge is acquired is different in science than it is in history or mathematics or poetry or ... . Science is different because the answers to scientific questions are not found in a textbook The basis of what scientists believe is the result of the careful collection and analysis of laboratory evidence. In any physics class, the differentness of science will be most evident when it comes time for lab.

In physics class, lab is central. Integral.Sacred. More than a mere place in the back of the classroom, the laboratory is the place where physics students do physics. It is in the laboratory that physics students learn to practice the activities of scientists - asking questions, performing procedures, collecting data, analyzing data, answering questions, and thinking of new questions to explore. The lab ideas and associated pages in The Laboratory section of this web site are designed to help teachers improve their lab programs by adopting labs with a purpose.

The traditional lab comes with a lengthy procedure which dominates the landscape - both the landscape of the distributed paper as well as the landscape of the student mind. The Laboratory attempts to change all this by presenting students with a Purpose, and primarily a Purpose. In the pages at The Laboratory, you will find labs with a purpose.

The Laboratory is designed to help teachers use this section of the website (or at least parts of it) effectively in their classroom. Teachers will find prescribed methods of use, a short philosophical background, extensive teacher guides for every lab, grading rubrics, auxiliary items which can be provided to assist students in the completing of their lab work, and information about using lab notebooks. And to make it as easy as possible to use the labs in the classroom, much of the information is provided to teachers as PDF and Microsoft Word downloads. Once downloaded, the information can be edited, altered, augmented and customized to reflect the teacher's personal style and the unique needs of the students in their classrooms.

Teaching Aids

Teaching aids are classified, for convenience of study, into the following categories:

(i) Audio aids, (ii) Visual aids, (iii) Audio-Visual aids. Examples of various types of aids generally used to make class room teaching more effective are given below:

Chalk –Board: The chalk-board is one of the most valuable devices for making the teaching concrete and understandable. These are the cheapest and easily means. These are considered to be an inseparable part of the classroom because of their utility in teaching. The teacher can make use of black-board or chalk-board to draw maps, figures, outlines or to write the summary of the lesson. Even in this modern era of television and computers, it remains as the most trusted and powerful companion of a teacher.

Computer: One of the most important contributions of modern technology in the field of individualized instruction is the introduction of computers in the teaching –learning process. As teachers, we should know the role of computers in the teaching learning process. A computer can record, analyse and react to students’ responses. It can store and manipulate information on language learning on an extensive scale. It can make a number of planning decisions also.

Overhead Projector: The Overhead projector has opened a new dimension in communication. It represents a lot of improvement over magic, lantern, slide and film projectors. The name ‘Overhead projector’ comes from the fact that the projected image is behind and over the head of the speaker/teacher. In overhead projection, a transparent visual is placed on a horizontal stage on top of light source. The light passes through the transparency and then is reflected at 90ᵒ angle on the screen at eh back of the speaker.

Multimedia Digitized audio and video segments can be mixed with text and graphics to become components of multimedia. They reside in a teaching framework such as a Power Point presentation, webpage or Portable Document File PDF format. Multimedia in these forms can then be viewed on line, downloaded off the web, or accessed from a CD-Rom.

Digital audio provides you audio access which you may not be able to visit physically. To produce audio one needs a software program, microphone and a computer with a sound card.

Digital video provides visual access to information that may not be available to students due to travel costs.

There are a number of different models of learning styles. One of the most popular identifies visual, auditory and kinesthetic as the three ways in which people take in information. Most students about 65% prefer use of images to stimulate their interest in a subject.