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TRANSCRIPT
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Sugar-Coated Physics
Kate Bradshaw
September 2004
Submitted as partial fulfilment of the requirements for an MSc in
Science Communication at Imperial College of Science,
Technology and Medicine
SUGAR-COATED PHYSICS KATE BRADSHAW
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Contents
CHAPTER 1 – APPROACHING A-LEVEL PHYSICS 4
1.1 Why A-level Physics? 4
1.2 Curriculum 2000 5
1.3 Why SHAP? 6
1.4 Methods 7
1.5 Limitations 10
CHAPTER 2 – WHY SUGAR-COAT PHYSICS? 14
2.1 Is sugar-coating necessary? 14
2.2 The power of statistics 15
2.3 Why get A-level numbers up? 18
2.4 Vested interests 20
2.5 What does A-level physics need to be? 21
CHAPTER 3 – CONTEXT FIRST 23
3.1 Shaping SHAP 23
3.2 Real- life relevance 25
3.3 Active learning 26
3.4 Adjusting to AS after GCSE 28
3.5 Spiralling at speed 30
3.6 Remember the physics 32
3.7 Something for everyone 33
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CHAPTER 4 – SWEETNESS AND LIGHT: THE FEMALE PERSPECTIVE 37
4.1 Girls and physics 37
4.2 Sweetness… 38
4.3 …and light 41
4.4 In search of role models 43
CHAPTER 5 – ATTRACTING A NEW TYPE OF STUDENT 46
5.1 Infectious enthusiasm 46
5.2 A new type of student 52
5.3 New skills, new assessment 54
5.4 Repackaging 55
CHAPTER 6 – A-LEVEL PHYSICS RE-BRANDED 56
6.1 What is physics? 56
6.2 Destroying the elite? 57
6.3 Realism 58
6.4 Tomlinson and the future of A-level physics 62
BIBLIOGRAPHY 64
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 76
APPENDICES I
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CHAPTER 1 – APPROACHING A-LEVEL PHYSICS
1.1 Why A-level Physics?
Apparently A-levels are getting easier1. We are told this every year2, but it still confuses
me3. For me, A-levels were the hardest academic task I’ve ever had to do. The transition
from GCSE to A-level felt like a massive jump. With a funny yet inept physics teacher,
I had to rely on the dry, difficult textbooks to get through the course. Despite, or maybe
because, of this hard work, I pursued Physics on to degree level and have never
regretted it. But now, a decade on from when I began my A-levels, I wanted to see how
the subject had changed. How did pupils of today find the experience? How was it now
taught? Was it really easier? Apparently numbers are dropping4,5, and apparently more
female physicists are needed6,7. I wanted to investigate these claims and strip away the
hype to find the real story of A-level physics in the 21st century.
1 John Clare, Education Editor, “A-levels have become easier, schools minister admits”, The Telegraph, 18 August 2004, at http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/08/18/nexam18.xml 2 Every year someone complains about the state of education, in particular A-levels. This stance can even trace back to 1900 BC: Joanne Lawson, “Sowing the seeds of discontent”, EducationGuardian.co.uk , 19 August 2004, at http://education.guardian.co.uk/alevels2004/story/0,14505,1285768,00.html 3 Others challenge this claim too: Anthony Hilton, “Essays from past prove standards have never been higher”, Evening Standard , 19 August 2004, pp. 16-17. 4 Nicholas Pyke and Linda Blackburne, “A-level with 2,000 desserters”, Times Education Supplement, 10 January 1997, at http://www.tes.co.uk/search/search_display.asp?section=Archive&sub_section=News+% 26+opinion&id=56625&Type=0 5 Lucy Ward, “Media studies up, sciences down”, The Guardian, 19 August 2004, at http://education.guardian.co.uk/alevels2004/story/0,14505,1285925,00.html 6 PhysicsWeb, “Physics needs women”, PhysicsWeb, March 2002, at http://physicsweb.org/article/world/15/3/1 7 Institute of Physics, “Press Release: The number of girls taking AS and A level physics continues to fall”, Institute of Physics, 14 August 2003, at http://physics.iop.org/IOP/Press/PR6103.html
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1.2 Curriculum 2000
A-levels had changed somewhat in the last few years8. Education reviews in the late
1990s had prompted the government to change the A-level education scheme. In
September 2000, the scheme known as National Provisional Legacy changed to
Curriculum 20009. Before this change, there had been AS (Advanced Supplementary)
courses, which contained half the content of an A-level and were assessed at A-level
standard. Though their aim had been to broaden the 16-19 curriculum, they had not
been a great success10. The Curriculum 2000 scheme11,12 split A- levels in two: AS (now
standing for Advanced Subsidiary) and A2. The AS courses, examined at the end of
Year 12 (lower sixth), would reasonably reflect what the students had learnt in one year,
thereby demoting an AS to “a qualification intermediate between A-level and GCSE”13.
It was hoped that this new format would ease the transition between GCSE and A-level,
the transition that I had struggled with when younger. Curriculum 2000 recommends
that students take four AS subjects, and then continue three of them to A2, in a
continued aim to broaden the 16-19 curriculum.
Under the Curriculum 2000 scheme, the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority
(QCA)14 regulate the content and assessment of each subject. For physics A-level, QCA
8 My thanks go to Steve Jones of CfBT (Centre for British Teachers http://www.cfbt.com) for his invaluable crash course in science education. 9 Elizabeth Swinbank, “Changes in A-level Physics: some background”, Institute of Physics, at http://www.iop.org/EJ/abstract/0031-9120/36/4/601#abs_toc_12 10 Ibid. 11 Teachernet, “Curriculum 2000 and support for Curriculum Managers”, Teachernet, website accessed 14 August 2004, date written not given, at http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/supplyteachers/detail.cfm?&vid=5&cid=18&sid=119&ssid=5010701&opt=0 12 Curriculum 2000, “Curriculum 2000: Implementation Progress Report”, Curriculum 2000 , July 2000, at http://lsc.wwt.co.uk/documents/othercouncilpublications/other_pdf/curr2k.pdf 13 Elizabeth Swinbank, “Changes in A-level Physics: some background”. 14 Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA), “Physics”, at http://www.qca.org.uk/ages14-19/subjects/physics.html
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define a 60% “core” of content that must be included. Exam boards then work within
these restrictions to create syllabuses. In England there are three exam boards: OCR15,
AQA16 and Edexcel17, in Wales there is WJEC18 and in Northern Ireland there is
CCEA19. The Welsh and Northern Irish exam boards each offer one physics A-level
syllabus, but the English exam boards each offer two syllabuses. Things were beginning
to get complex.
1.3 Why SHAP?
I decided to focus on the English exam boards and looked at the six syllabuses in more
detail. It was then that two in particular stood out. One was from OCR, set up by the
Institute of Physics20 and entitled “Advancing Physics”21. The other was from Edexcel
and set up by the University of York Science Education Group 22, entitled “Salters
Horners Advanced Physics (SHAP)”23. Both of these courses were attempting to
modernise physics by introducing innovative methods and concepts. But of the two of
them, the SHAP course looked the most intriguing. It seemed to turn everything on its
head. Pupils were first introduced to a practical application or context, such as bungy
jumping, and then told about the underlying physics concepts. Topics ranged from sport
15 Oxford Cambridge and RSA Examinations (OCR), “AS/A Level GCE and Subject Family: Sciences”, at
http://www.ocr.org.uk/OCR/WebSite/docroot/qualifications/qualificationFinder.do?qualificationTypeOID=1954&subjectFamilyOID=1998&x=54&y=44 16 Assessment and Qualifications Alliance (AQA), “Physics A”, at http://www.aqa.org.uk/qual/gceasa/phyA.html and “Physics B” at http://www.aqa.org.uk/qual/gceasa/phyB.html 17 Edexcel, “Physics”, at http://www.edexcel.org.uk/qualifications/QualificationSubject.aspx?id=48952 18 Welsh Joint Education Committee (WJEC), “General Certificate of Education – Physics”, at http://www.wjec.co.uk/physics.html 19 Council for the Curriculum Examinations and Assessment (CCEA), at http://www.ccea.org.uk/ 20 Institute of Physics (IOP), at http://www.iop.org/ 21 For more information on this course visit http://advancingphysics.iop.org/products/index.html 22 University of York Science Education Group (UYSEG), at http://www.uyseg.org/home_menu.htm 23 Salters Horners Advanced Physics (SHAP), at http://www.york.ac.uk/org/seg/salters/physics/ and at http://www.horners.org.uk/pages/Education/shap.html
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to archaeology, medicine to music24. But the topic that stood out to me the most was
“Good Enough to Eat”25. Here was a whole topic on food, in particular sweets –
stretching bootlaces to test elasticity, testing hardness using mints, refracting light
through sugar solutions, examining viscosity with honey and syrup – it looked fantastic.
The textbooks were colourful and easy to read, and the contexts were grounded in
reality so seemed relevant. But the more I found out about the course, the more
questions I had. It sounded great in theory, but what was it like in practise? How were
the students responding to it? Was this re-packaging interesting, different and exciting,
or muddling, misleading and unnecessary? Why was the physics being “sugar-coated”?
What had caused such a course to emerge? What effects was it having on the pupils, the
teachers, the numbers and the grades? I felt the best way to get answers was to visit
schools and interview teachers and pupils directly.
1.4 Methods
In addition to interviewing teachers and pupils, I wanted to interview the course director
and co-creator: Elizabeth Swinbank. I wanted to get her thoughts on the course and
compare them to those within schools, to examine how the course was filtering down
through the academics and educators to the students themselves.
I was conscious of the argument that teaching has a greater effect on the students’
experiences than a syllabus26, and felt that this factor may cloud my research into the
24 For a summary of SHAP’s content, see Appendix 7. 25 Elizabeth Swinbank, “Good enough to eat”, Physics Education , January 2004, Vol. 39, No. 1, pp. 52-57. 26 My thanks to Nick Fay for helpful discussions concerning teaching, and see also: Pauline Mills, “Never mind content, look at how physics is taught”, Times Education Supplement, 20 June 1997, at
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SHAP course itself. I felt it was therefore important to choose two schools that were
using SHAP, to compare results. I also wanted to contrast a mixed school with a single-
sex school, to explore the notion that girls have more confidence and perform better in
science when in a single-sex environment 27,28,29. I chose two schools, both
comprehensives in similar middle class areas: an all-girls school and a mixed “specialist
science” school30. Both were under pressure to get high grades in science. The all-girls
school consistently scored above the national average in A-level league tables, and the
mixed school, though lower in the tables, now needed to improve its science results to
retain its specialist science status.
I informed the schools that my study would be anonymous and that I wished to
interview both teachers and pupils. I chose to conduct one-to-one, semi-structured,
recorded interviews. I wanted these qualitative interviews to be away from teachers and
pupils, so that even though they were being recorded, interviewees could still feel
relaxed enough to be as honest as possible.
Concerning pupils, I decided to restrict my study to interviewing Year 12s. They would
be coming to the end of their AS course. They would have clearer memories of their
GCSE Science and be able to draw better comparisons than the Year 13s. I planned to
http://www.tes.co.uk/search/search_display.asp?section=Archive&sub_section=Friday&id=55830&Type=0 27 Eileen Gillibrand, Peter Robinson, Richard Brawn and Albert Osborn, “Girls’ participation in physics in single sex classes in mixed schools in relation to confidence and achievement”, International Journal of Science Education, 1999, Vol. 21, No. 4, pp. 349-362. 28 M.B. Ormerod, “Factors differentially affecting the science subject preferences, choices and attitudes of girls and boys”, The Missing Half: Girls and Science Education, Alison Kelly (ed.), (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1981), p. 101. 29 Alison Kelly, “Why girls don’t do science”, Science for Girls? , Alison Kelly (ed.), (Milton Keynes; Philadelphia: Open University Press, 1987), p. 15. 30 For more information on specialist science schools see: Department of Education and Skills, “The Standards Site: Specialist Schools” at http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/specialistschools/
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interview them in July, after their AS exams, so that although they didn’t yet know their
results, they could still look back over the year and contemplate continuing physics to
A2 or dropping it. Without two years to fully consolidate their learning, I felt that I
would get a broader range of responses.
Ten years ago, I had been one of five studying A-level physics at an all-girls school. So
when the all-girls school I planned to visit told me 24 girls were studying AS physics, I
was shocked. For the first time in the school’s history, they had two sets for A-level
physics. The mixed school had one set of 13 pupils. Due to large numbers and time
constraints, I was not able to interview every pupil. Instead I interviewed as many as
possible 31 and prepared a questionnaire for every pupil, including those interviewed, to
complete32. Concerning teachers, I interviewed two per school33. At the all-girls school,
several pupils were absent, so only 17 were available to complete questionnaires. The
breakdown of interviews and questionnaire responses are shown in the table below. For
anonymity, the interviewees were coded with numbers at the all-girls school and letters
at the mixed school.
Table 1.1 Breakdown of interviews and questionnaires, including codes and gender
All-girls set 1 All-girls set 2 Mixed Total Teachers interviewed
T1 (male) T2 (female) TA, TB (males) 4 (1 female, 3 males)
Pupils interviewed
P1, P2, P3 (females)
P4, P5, P6, P7, P8 (females)
PA, PC (females), PB, PD (males)
12 (10 females, 2 males)
Pupil questionnaires completed
8 females 9 females 13 (3 females, 10 males)
30 (20 females, 10 males)
31 For a list of the questions I structured pupil interviews around, please see Appendix 2. 32 To view this questionnaire, please see Appendix 1. 33 For a list of the questions that structured the teacher interviews, please see Appendix 3.
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With more responses from females than males it seemed unavoidable to discuss gender
issues to some degree. I shall address these issues in Chapter 4.
At each school I chose to interview an experienced teacher who had helped choose the
course, and a more junior teacher who had inherited the course, in the hope of getting a
range of responses. The varying levels of experience and exposure to the SHAP course
are shown in the following table:
Table 1.2 Breakdown of interviewed teachers’ experience
Teacher Years teaching
Years at school
Experience of Salters Horners Advanced Physics
T1 8 2/3 New to SHAP. Joined the school in January 2004 so only 2 terms experience of the course.
T2 20 9 Current Head of Science. Nominated the school to be a pilot school for the SHAP course in 1998.
TA 38 12 Former Deputy Head, retired but back temporarily due to staffing difficulties. As previous Head of Science his views had been sought when the school chose SHAP.
TB 10 3 Inherited SHAP course, which had been running for a year before he joined the school.
In addition to the two schools, I prepared a list of questions for Elizabeth Swinbank 34,
the SHAP course director, who kindly found time to answer these via email.
1.5 Limitations
By choosing to conduct qualitative, semi-structured interviews, I naturally encountered
the limitations associated with this method. Qualitative analysis does not allow for
extrapolation, the quotes themselves will not allow me to draw generalised conclusions.
34 See Appendix 4 for the list of questions.
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Thus my analysis will also draw on quantitative statistics and explore other research and
articles to address the wider context of A-levels and get beyond the purely anecdotal.
But despite its limitations, the qualitative approach can be beneficial. It gives greater
depth, providing a range rather than a frequency of responses. It explores what people
think as well as why they think it35. By having only a loose structure to my interviews, I
was able to expand on aspects and explore avenues in the conversation. In fact these
deviations were often much more revealing, when the pupils and teachers relaxed and
chatted freely rather than feeling restrained by a rigid question-answer format. By
creating as relaxed an atmosphere as possible, I was able to get what appeared to be
honest responses.
In fact honesty is another factor to consider. The one-to-one interview is quite an
artificial environment. Nervousness and eagerness to please36 may conflict with what
the pupils really think 37. Thankfully the maturity of the Year 12 pupils worked in my
favour. The majority were confident and headstrong, and happy to have the chance to
express their thoughts about the course, away from the ears of teachers and fellow
pupils.
35 Jonathan Osborne and Sue Collins, “Pupils’ and parents’ views of the school science curriculum”, School Science Review, September 2000, Vol. 82, No. 298, p. 24. 36 Nick Russell, “Unit 8: The basis of public knowledge. Children learning and children learning science”, MSc Science Communication, Core Module 2: Spreading the word. The history of communication in science and society, (London: Imperial College, unpublished, 2003), p. 17. 37 This can be inferred from the SHAP assessment carried out by the University of York, in which students were unwilling to select a least interesting context. While they may not have had a least interesting choice, the fact that it was a UYSEG course being assessed by UYSEG researchers may have influenced responses. For the study itself see: Bob Campbell, Sylvia Hogarth and Fred Lubben, “Students’ ideas about interesting contexts in SHAP books I and II – An Interim Research Report”, Department of Education Studies, University of York, December 1999. Available from Bob Campbell, [email protected]
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Another issue is that the pupils “haven’t experienced the other version … you can’t do a
control on one child”38. I won’t be able compare and contrast SHAP with other current
syllabuses, but I will be able to explore the nature of SHAP in depth. What I can
compare are pupil responses to SHAP AS after studying the more traditional GCSE
layout. The pupils are “uniquely qualified” 39 to comment on the transition between the
two levels. I can also, to some extent, compare my perceptions of this new course, in
light of the interviews, with my memories of the traditional A-level course that I
studied, thereby touching on how A-level physics has changed over time.
Concerning my methods, as well as the interviews, there were questionnaires.
Unfortunately questionnaire responses generally “mask many underlying reasons”40.
Students are often “much more willing to discuss their reactions than put them on
paper”41. It did transpire that the data obtained from the questionnaires was nowhere
near as revealing as the interview transcripts.
Another problem was that once the questionnaires had been collected and the interviews
transcribed, I was left with a wealth of data. In order to write anything meaningful, I
have had to focus on what I felt were the most revealing issues. This has meant that not
everything is mentioned42. For example there is no room to discuss pupil and teacher
responses to the textbook, and the variety of AS subjects that pupils are combining with
38 Quote from teacher T2. 39 Jeremy Higham, “GCE A Levels in the school curriculum”, Post-14 Research Group, School of Education, University of Leeds, 1997, at http://www.leeds.ac.uk/educol/documents/00002217.htm 40 Neil Havard, “Student attitudes to studying A-level sciences”, Public Understanding of Science , 1996, Vol. 5, p. 328. 41 Fred Lubben, Bob Campbell and Betty Dlamini, “Contextualizing science teaching in Swaziland: some student reactions”, International Journal of Science Education, 1996, Vol. 18, No. 3, p. 313. 42 If you wish to find out more about the omitted research data, please contact me by either emailing [email protected] or phoning 07957 185 360.
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physics. There is also no room to explore the influential factors that helped students
choose AS physics. Though, as others have found, the most popular reasons were
interest and career prospects43,44. Stripping away the data was unfortunately inevitable.
The issues that I will focus on will be the responses to the context- led approach, gender
themes and the underlying reasons behind the rise in numbers and grades that both
schools are so proud of. By focussing on these themes, I hope to explore the nature of
this course and its place in the wider context of A-level physics.
43 Neil Havard, “Student attitudes to studying A-level sciences”, p. 325. 44 J. Solbes and A. Vilches, “STS Interactions in the Teaching of Physics and Chemistry”, Science Education, July 1997, Vol. 81, No. 4, pp. 379-380.
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CHAPTER 2 – WHY SUGAR-COAT PHYSICS?
2.1 Is sugar-coating necessary?
“When I was growing up … it never occurred to me that science was some kind
of ‘bitter pill’ that needed sugar-coating. No, for me, science – in particular,
physics, since my Dad was a physicist – was already filled with alluring
romance and enticing mystery.”45
Hofstadter was lucky, his father provided an enthusiastic role-model showing the young
boy a wonderful, captivating view of physics. However, enthusiastic role-models are
declining. The media currently portrays physics education in a state of crisis, where a
vicious circle46 has emerged of “reluctant students and inexpert tutors”47. Fewer physics
graduates are choosing to become teachers48,49,50 and physics is increasingly being
taught by non-specialists51,52. Teacher vacancies remain high and students choosing A-
45 Douglas R. Hofstadter, “Popular Culture and the Threat to Rational Inquiry”, Science, 24 July 1998, Vol. 281, No. 5376, pp. 512-513, available at http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/281/5376/512 46 Alison Kelly, “Retrieving the missing half”, The Missing Half: Girls and Science Education , Alison Kelly (ed.), (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1981), p. 286. 47 Tim Radford, “Royal Society warns on science education”, The Guardian, 18 Dec 2003, at http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1109360,00.html 48 PhysicsWeb, “The classroom needs you”, PhysicsWeb, October 1999, at http://physicsweb.org/article/world/12/10/1 49 PhysicsWeb, “How good is physics in the UK?”, PhysicsWeb, June 2000, at http://physicsweb.org/article/world/13/6/1/1 50 BBC.co.uk, “Science lessons ‘tedious and dull’”, BBC.co.uk , 11 July 2002, at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/2120424.stm. This article claims there is a problem recruiting teachers, but a reader’s email then disputes this. 51 Julia King, “Young physicists being turned off”, The Guardian, 18 December 2003, at http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1109171,00.html 52 Brian E. Woolnough, “Why students choose physics , or reject it”, Physics Education , 1994, Vol. 29, p. 369.
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level physics are declining 53. The cries emerging appear to say that if physics didn’t
need sweetening before, it does now.
2.2 The power of statistics
I wanted to see whether A-level physics really was in a state of crisis, by examining the
actual statistics and seeing how the numbers had changed over the years. The graph
below shows the total number and gender breakdown of candidates that have taken A-
level physics over the last 20 years54.
Graph 2.1 Total number and gender breakdown of A-level physics examination entries (1985-2004)
0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
30000
35000
40000
45000
50000
1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
Year
Nu
mb
er o
f ca
nd
idat
es
FemaleMale
Total
The first striking thing about this graph is that the total and the male lines fluctuate
almost identically. Though female numbers have declined to some degree, they remain a
53 Royal Society, “Media Release: Urgent Action needed to tackle crisis in science education. Statement by Sir Alistair MacFarlane, Chair of the Royal Society Education Committee”, Royal Society, 17 December 2003, at http://www.royalsoc.ac.uk/templates/press/releasedetails.cfm?file=495.txt 54 For the tabulated figures and source information, see Appendix 5.
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constant proportion of the total candidates, as the following graph of percentages
shows55:
Graph 2.2 Percentages of male and female students taking A-level physics examinations (1985-2004)
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
Yea
r
Percentage of total A-level physics candidates
% Female
% Male
Fluctuating between 21% and 24% over 20 years, the percentage of females taking
physics has remained almost static. This indicates that schemes to encourage girls into
the field have proved ineffective and require rethinking56.
Examining graphs 2.1 and 2.2 raise a number of issues. Yes numbers have fallen, but as
graph 2.1 shows, from the mid-90s onwards the fall began to slow, and in 2002 numbers
even went up57. A straightforward explanation for the decline in numbers throughout the
1990s, is likely to be a combination of AS levels being introduced, thereby broadening
the choices open the students58, and the introduction of courses such as business studies
55 For the tabulated figures and source information, see Appendix 5. 56 A point noted in Institute of Physics, “8.7 Physics Statistics 1: GCSE and A-level”, Institute of Physics, Oct 1999, at http://policy.iop.org/Policy/8.7.doc 57 Institute of Physics, “Institute of Physics response to A Level results”, Institute of Physics, August 2003, at http://www.iop.org/news/605 58 Neil Havard, “Student attitudes to studying A-level sciences”, p. 322.
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and psychology at this level, creating new and appealing routes for analytical minds59.
Now, with increased choice, only the more able students are picking the subject, as this
enlightening quote shows:
“Despite the diminishing number of physics entries, the total getting grades A-C
has remained surprisingly constant at around 20,000 … the number of lower
grades has dropped.”60
Indeed with falling numbers and a constant amount getting A-C, the percentages end up
increasing by default (the joy of statistics!), as illustrated by the following graph61:
Graph 2.3 Percentages achieving each grade in A-level physics (1992-2001)
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
A B C D E N U
Grade
Per
cen
tag
e ac
hie
vin
g e
ach
gra
de
1992
19931994
1995
19961997
19981999
20002001
This suggests that physics exams aren’t getting easier or being dumbed down, the
weaker students are simply seeking alternative subjects. With increased choice and an
education system obsessed with assessment, perhaps weaker pupils are being
discouraged from a notoriously difficult subject like physics, for the sake of the league
tables. They themselves know that they need good grades if they want to go to 59 Jeremy Higham, “GCE A Levels in the school curriculum”. 60 Nicholas Pyke and Linda Blackburne, “A-level with 2,000 desserters”. 61 For the tabulated figures and source information, see Appendix 6.
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university, so why not choose subjects they know they’ll do well in? 62,63 In my thirty
questionnaire responses, when asked if they planned to continue to A2, four said no and
nine said they didn’t know. Every reason without exception was due to the grade they
thought they would get.
Numbers aside, grades percentages could also be increasing as educational research
feeds back into schools, and teaching and assessment methods improve. In any case the
“crisis in science education”64 appears to contain an element of hype:
“How many physicists do we need? … [In] the UK … the number of new
physics graduates every year has remained fairly constant at around 2,500 for
more than a decade. This is a perfectly satisfactory state of affairs, even if the
number of students going to university has more than doubled in this period.”65
2.3 Why get A-level numbers up?
So what is at the core of this hype? Why should more students study physics? Three
main arguments continuously emerge:
“One response is that science and technology are becoming ever more important
in the world, which means that it is essential for all citizens to be able to make
informed decisions. The hard-headed business answer is that modern economics
will only be successful if they have workforces with strong science and
62 Vivienne Parry, “Don’t mention the S-word”, The Guardian, 2 September 2004, at http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/lastword/story/0,,1294932,00.html 63 Kate Hilpern, “Life, the universe and everything”, The Independent, Physicist, a special supplement produced in association with Institute of Physics, 9 October 2003, p. 3. 64 Royal Society, “Media Release: Urgent Action needed to tackle crisis in science education. Statement by Sir Alistair MacFarlane, Chair of the Royal Society Education Committee”. 65 PhysicsWeb, “The classroom needs you”.
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technology skills. The physics community, in turn, will argue that we teach
physics to train the next generation of physicists.”66
The first argument states that if we are enlightened citizens, we’ll be more likely to
engage with scientific issues67. As a result we’ll understand and trust scientists, and the
scientific community can avoid scandals such as MMR/Autism links and GM food
backlashes. The second argument is that to thrive in a modern global economy, the UK
needs to be outstanding in science and technology68 and remain at the cutting edge 69.
The third argument is to train the next generation of physicists. Though it is also
acknowledged how much the UK benefits from overseas scientists “bringing their skills
and knowledge to the UK”70.
“GCSE is about science for all, a threshold of scientific literacy; A-levels … are
a high- level selection device which has enabled us to identify students who
could be educated to degree standards.”71
In my opinion, there are flaws to all three of these arguments. However, I will reserve
my main criticisms until chapter 6, as these arguments helped to highlight the need for
revamping A-levels and therefore, to some extent, paved the way to the SHAP course.
66 Peter Rodgers, “New dimensions in education”, Physicsweb, January 2004, at http://www.physicsweb.org/article/world/17/1/1 67 Royal Society, “Media Release: Urgent Action needed to tackle crisis in science education. Statement by Sir Alistair MacFarlane, Chair of the Royal Society Education Committee”, Royal Society, 17 December 2003, at http://www.royalsoc.ac.uk/templates/press/releasedetails.cfm?file=495.txt 68 Tim Radford, “Royal Society warns on science education”, The Guardian, 18 Dec 2003, at http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1109360,00.html 69 Royal Society, “Media Release: Government must reverse “disturbing” A-level science trends”, Royal Society, 17 May 2004, at http://www.royalsoc.ac.uk/templates/press/releasedetails.cfm?file=533.txt 70 Ibid. 71 TES editorial, “Science time bomb ticks on”, Times Education Supplement, 3 January 1997, at http://www.tes.co.uk/search/search_display.asp?section=Archive&sub_section=News+%26+opinion&id=40316&Type=0
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2.4 Vested interests
Despite reserving criticisms, I will highlight one aspect. The arguing parties all seem to
have vested interests. It can be argued that they create hype to help publicise their own
issues. Woven into these articles and press releases, supposedly about A-level
education, are tangential elements of self-promotion72,73 and funding74,75.
It transpires that school education is a political minefield, with many stakeholders:
“students, teachers, parents, school trustees, the scientific community, industry …
[government], and many other groups and institutions”76. Each group has its own
values, and some groups have greater power and influence. In fact, it was the influence
of positivists that resulted in a scientific curriculum far removed from reality77. To the
positivists, science was neutral, pure and uncontroversial, with either right or wrong
answers – it was decontextualised. This approach brought school science in line with
academic, university science. This suited the scientific community, who had “worked
hard to promote an image of science that maximizes resources while minimising
accountability”78. However, keeping the scientists happy had a detrimental effect on
pupils’ enjoyment 79,80,81. So by the late 1990s, it seemed time for the power to shift.
72 Royal Society, “Media Release: Government must reverse “disturbing” A-level science trends”. 73 Julia King [chief executive of the Institute of Physics], “Young physicists being turned off”. 74 Warnings coincide with funding announcement: Tim Radford, “Royal Society warns on science education”. 75 Speech sponsored by “Save British Science” attacks government funding: TES editorial, “Science time bomb ticks on”. 76 P. James Gaskell, “Authentic science and school science”, International Journal of Science Education, 1992, Vol. 14, No. 3, p. 267. Article refers to the situation in Canadian schools, hence the square bracket addition. But the point made is a universal one; there are always a number of stakeholders to consider. 77 Ibid. pp. 268-269. 78 Ibid. 79 Alison Kelly, “Why girls don’t do science”, pp. 12 and 16. 80 Neil Havard, “Student attitudes to studying A-level sciences”, p. 326. 81 Jonathan Osborne and Sue Collins, “Pupils’ and parents’ views of the school science curriculum”, pp. 25 and 29.
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2.5 What does A-level physics need to be?
To avoid further declines in A-level physics, it was felt that physics needed updating to
be more “student focussed”82. Many felt that to capitalise on the breadth of the
Curriculum 2000 scheme, physics needs to appear modern83,84, relevant and
appealing85,86,87,88. It had to avoid becoming the “‘new Latin’, in danger of disappearing
altogether”89. Latin failed to draw on its relevance to language, grammar, botany etc,
and failed to attract both teachers and pupils. In a new competitive climate, up against
more glamorous subject choices such as media studies90 and psychology91, physics
needs to emphasis its relevance and improve its marketing92,93. It needs to capture
imagination and recreate enthusiasm94, perhaps even rebrand itself:
“Science must be rebranded. From now on, physics is to be known as Extreme
Science (strapline: Are you hard enough?).”95
But marketing gimmicks aside, serious thought has gone into improving academic
science. In 1997 and 1998, several meetings were held to review and reconsider the
aims and content of the science curriculum. The outcome of these meetings was a report 82 Bob Campbell, Sylvia Hogarth and Fred Lubben, “Contextualising the Physics Curriculum: Learners’ Perceptions of Interest and Helpfulness”, p. 6. A paper presented at the BERA Annual Conference, Cardiff, September 2000. Available from Bob Campbell, [email protected] 83 Jonathan Osborne and Sue Collins, “Pupils’ and parents’ views of the school science curriculum”, p. 29. 84 BBC.co.uk, “Science lessons ‘tedious and dull’”. 85 Peter Rodgers, “New dimensions in education”. 86 Polly Curtis, “Science in schools fails to inspire”, EducationGuardian.co.uk , 11 July 2002, at http://education.guardian.co.uk/schools/story/0,5500,753392,00.html 87 Royal Society, “Media Release: Government must reverse “disturbing” A-level science trends”. 88 Jeremy Higham, “GCE A Levels in the school curriculum”. 89 Lucy Ward, “Media studies up, sciences down”. 90 Ibid. 91 Psychology had the highest increase in entries in 2004, with 4,984 extra students. Physics dropped 1,885 students, according to: Evening Standard, “A-level Results”, Evening Standard , 19 August 2004, p. 17. 92 Jeremy Higham, “GCE A Levels in the school curriculum”. 93 Neil Havard, “Student attitudes to studying A-level sciences”, p. 322. 94 BBC.co.uk, “Science lessons ‘tedious and dull’”. 95 Vivienne Parry, “Don’t mention the S-word”.
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entitled “Beyond 2000: Science Education for the future”96. The authors felt that school
science had become removed from contemporary science97. At school, science was
“value-free, objective and detached – a succession of ‘facts’ to be learnt”98 with no
coherence or context. To make the subject more relevant it should incorporate aspects of
technology99,100 such as “how televisions, microwave cookers, radio, digital
communications and other domestic technology ‘work’”101. Science should emphasise
practical work and case studies102, and utilise a wide range of teaching methods103 and
assessment strategies104. It proposed that innovative approaches should be piloted in
schools to test effectiveness105.
This report focussed on pre-16 education, yet it emerged before the introduction of
Curriculum 2000, with its accompanying broader outlook to A-levels. As a result, many
of the aims of the report became relevant at the post-16 stage. In fact, as the Beyond
2000 report was emerging, one pilot A-level course was already incorporating many of
these desired changes: Salters Horners Advanced Physics.
96 Robin Millar and Jonathan Osborne (eds), Beyond 2000: Science education for the future, (London: King’s College, 1998), see also: Robin Millar, Jonathan Osborne and Mick Nott, “Science Education for the future”, School Science Review, December 1998, Vol. 80, No. 291, pp. 19-24. 97 A point also noted in Kathyrn Mayoh and Stephen Knutton, “Using out-of-school experience in science lessons: reality or rhetoric?”, International Journal of Science Education, 1997, Vol. 19, No. 7, pp. 849-867 and Fernando Cajas, “Using out-of-school experiences in science lessons: an impossible task”, International Journal of Science Education , 1998, Vol. 20, No. 5, pp. 623-625. Both papers stress that traditional science teaching draws little on everyday experiences and would benefit more by doing so. 98 Robin Millar and Jonathan Osborne (eds), Beyond 2000: Science education for the future, p. 4. 99 Ibid pp. 18-19. 100 Jan H. Raat and Marc de Vries, “Technology in education: Research and development in the project ‘Physics and Technology’”, International Journal of Science Education, 1987, Vol. 9, No. 2, pp. 159-168. 101 Robin Millar, Jonathan Osborne and Mick Nott, “Science Education for the future”, p. 23. 102 Robin Millar and Jonathan Osborne (eds), Beyond 2000: Science education for the future, p. 20. 103 Ibid pp. 23-24. 104 Ibid. pp. 25-29. 105 Ibid pp. 30-31.
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CHAPTER 3 – CONTEXT FIRST
3.1 Shaping SHAP
The context- led Salters Horners Advanced Physics (SHAP) course has Chemistry to
thank for its existence. Some years earlier, the University of York Science Education
Group (UYSEG) established Salters Horners Chemistry, and it was a great success106.
ES: “We … wanted to … counter young people's perceptions that physics is
dull, difficult and doesn’t lead to worthwhile careers. … [Salters
Horners] Chemistry … was evidence that … [a context- led] approach
helped to engage students’ interest, and inspired the development of
some novel and effective activities.”
In traditional physics courses, concepts were taught as discrete units, such as waves,
electricity, forces etc. SHAP’s context- led approach interweaves the concepts,
addressing them as and when they apply to a particular context. For example, a CD
player107 introduces SHAP students to storage and retrieval systems, optical scanning,
binary numbers, wave superposition, refraction, lenses, lasers, spectra, wave-particle
duality and electronic signal detection108. Other contexts may then revisit these physics
concepts by applying them to different scenarios e.g. refraction is also used to test sugar
106 TA emphasised that Chemistry’s success influenced them to change to SHAP. I shall discuss this further in Chapter 5. 107 “Unit 1: Physics at Work, Rest and Play – The Sound of Music: 2 the compact disc player”, Salters Horners Advanced Physics AS Level Student Book , (Oxford: Heinemann Educational Publishers and York: University of York Science Education Group, 2000), pp. 148-169. 108 Advocates of this technology-based approach are Jonathan Osborne and Sue Collins, “Pupils’ and parents’ views of the school science curriculum”, p. 30.
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concentration109, and explain contact lenses110 and underwater vision111. This revisiting
approach reinforces concepts and is known as “spiral learning”112. Because of the spiral
structure, UYSEG decided that all the SHAP units would be compulsory rather than a
core plus options 113.
Elizabeth Swinbank and SHAP co-creator Chris Butlin, researched more contexts than
they needed. They then narrowed them down by assessing whether the contexts were
interesting to both themselves and students. They asked whether there was a “clear
connection with physics at an appropriate level? Is there a strong physics ‘story’”114?
ES: “Overall, we wanted a good variety of contexts e.g. we wanted some to
relate to personal interests (e.g. sport), some ‘unexpected’ (e.g. food),
some ‘cultural’ (e.g. archaeology) some ‘engineering’ (e.g. rail transport)
some ‘frontier physics’ (e.g. particle physics)”
QCA stipulated a 60% ‘core’ of syllabus content. This imposed restrictions on the order
of the material. However UYSEG had “freedom of choice”115 over the remaining 40%,
so restrictions were not too severe. By September 1998 the course was ready to be
piloted and responses from pilot schools were extremely encouraging116,117. Indeed at
the all-girls school, teacher T2 had chosen to pilot the course and had nothing but
109 “Unit 2: Physics for Life – Good Enough to Eat: 4 Sweetness and light”, Salters Horners Advanced Physics AS Level Student Book , pp. 257-259. 110 “Unit 2: Physics for Life – Spare Part Surgery: 3 A sight better”, Salters Horners Advanced Physics AS Level Student Book , p. 300. 111 Ibid. p. 313. 112 I shall address this learning method in more detail later in this chapter. 113 For a summary of the SHAP specification, units and physics covered, see Appendix 7. 114 Quote from Elizabeth Swinbank interview (conducted over email) 115 Elizabeth Swinbank, “Changes in A-level Physics: some background”. 116 Kerry Parker, Elizabeth Swinbank and Bernard Taylor, “Piloting Salters Horners Advancing Physics”, Physics Education, May 2000, Vol. 35, No. 3, pp. 209-212. 117 Elizabeth Swinbank, “Results from the SHAP pilot: successful and girl-friendly”, Institute of Physics, at http://www.iop.org/EJ/abstract/0031-9120/36/4/601#abs_toc_12
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enthusiasm for all aspects of SHAP. From September 2000, Edexcel has run the course
officially and each year the numbers of candidates have increased118.
3.2 Real-life relevance
Studies have shown that students find the context- led approach incredibly
engaging119,120. By applying physics to different contexts, they see the everyday
relevance of the subject:
TA: “I think the students find it motivating … it encourages them to look for
Physics in real things.”
PA: “We actually get to understand how Physics is related with real life,
which is the interesting part … now you know what the value of Physics
is in some ways.”
Research indicates that pupils, in particular girls121,122,123, are easily bored124 by abstract,
theoretical science that appears unrelated to their lives125,126. Yet their interest and
enjoyment increases if real- life applications are used127,128,129,130.
118 See chapter 5 graph 5.1 and Appendix 8. 119 Judith M Ramsden, “If it’s enjoyable, is it science?”, School Science Review, June 1992, Vol. 73, No. 265, pp. 65-71. 120 Fred Lubben, Bob Campbell and Betty Dlamini, “Contextualizing science teaching in Swaziland: some student reactions”, pp. 314 and 319. 121 Alison Kelly, “Why girls don’t do science”, pp. 12 and 16. 122 Beverley Bell, “The role of schools in providing a background knowledge of science”, Communicating Science to the Public, (Sussex: Ciba Foundation, 1987), p. 52. 123 Brian E. Woolnough, “Why students choose physics, or reject it”, p. 368. 124 Neil Havard, “Student attitudes to studying A-level sciences”, p. 326. 125 Jonathan Osborne and Sue Collins, “Pupils’ and parents’ views of the school science curriculum”, pp. 25 and 29. 126 J. Solbes and A. Vilches, “STS Interactions in the Teaching of Physics and Chemistry”, p. 379. 127 Ibid. p. 384. 128 Barbara Smail, “Encouraging girls to give physics a second chance”, Science for Girls? , Alison Kelly (ed.), (Milton Keynes; Philadelphia: Open University Press, 1987), p. 117. 129 M.B. Ormerod, “Factors differentially affecting the science subject preferences, choices and attitudes of girls and boys”, p. 111. 130 Bob Campbell, Sylvia Hogarth and Fred Lubben, “Contextualising the Physics Curriculum: Learners’ Perceptions of Interest and Helpfulness”, p. 1.
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“Students are most interested in contexts that deal with things they are curious
about, that offer explanations and that deal with contemporary experiences and
modern technology.”131
It therefore seems beneficial to pupils, especially girls132, to be given “background
information about the possible uses and applications of science principles”133. This shift
in relevance is important, as it means school science should now have “relevance to
everyday life, as opposed to relevance to further education, the world of work or ‘being
a scientist’”134.
3.3 Active learning
But contexts alone are not the only motivating factors for students. The SHAP course
contains a wide range of learning activities: group discussions, problem-solving,
computer modelling, creative writing, to name just a few. The sheer variety of leaning
methods also increases pupils’ interest135.
SHAP has put more emphasis onto the practical side of physics, making lessons more
enjoyable 136 and more meaningful137. Abstract theories can sometimes be hard to
131 Ibid. p. 4. 132 Barbara Smail, “Organizing the curriculum to fit girls’ interests”, Science for Girls? , Alison Kelly (ed.), (Milton Keynes; Philadelphia: Open University Press, 1987), p. 88. 133 Ibid. 134 Bob Campbell, Fred Lubben and Zelda Dlamini, “Learning science through contexts: helping pupils make sense of everyday situations”, International Journal of Science Education, 2000, Vol. 22, No. 3, p. 240. 135 Judith M Ramsden, “If it’s enjoyable, is it science?”, p. 71. 136 Ibid. p. 69. 137 Alison Kelly, “Retrieving the missing half”, p. 280.
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visualize138, so SHAP uses practical activities to help students gain a greater
understanding of the underlying ideas.
PA: “I think just reading the theory isn’t good enough, you need to do the
practicals to be able to fully understand it.”
Educational research has shown that traditional, teacher-centred139, passive learning
activities140, such as copying notes from the board, “are of little educational value. …
Such work offers pupils little control over their own learning, and ultimately leads to
boredom, disenchantment and alienation.”141 By developing a range of learning
methods, not only are class activities more varied, but pupils begin to take a more
“active role in their learning experiences” 142. Their contributions are taken more
seriously and they feel more in control143.
TA: “[The course resources have] put the responsib ility more on to them for
their learning, rather than me on my teaching, and that’s a good thing,
especially in preparation for them going to university or off to work.”
P6: “It’s a lot more interactive. We do more, not just the experiments but just
the way it’s taught we do it more than write it. … It’s a much better way
to learn, it’s a lot more interesting than last year.”
138 Valerie Jamieson, “Learning lessons from the classroom”, PhysicsWeb, March 2002, at http://physicsweb.org/article/world/15/3/9/1 139 Fred Lubben, Bob Campbell and Betty Dlamini, “Contextualizing science teaching in Swaziland: some student reactions”, International Journal of Science Education , 1996, Vol. 18, No. 3, p. 319. 140 Kendall Powell, “Spare me the lecture”, Nature, 18 September 2003, Vol. 425, pp. 234-236. 141 Jonathan Osborne and Sue Collins, “Pupils’ and parents’ views of the school science curriculum”, p. 26. 142 Judith M Ramsden, “If it’s enjoyable, is it science?”, p. 65. 143 Fred Lubben, Bob Campbell and Betty Dlamini, “Contextualizing science teaching in Swaziland: some student reactions”, pp. 314-315.
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Despite shifting away from a traditional teacher-centred144 approach, teachers145,146,147
and their methods148 are still extremely important. Any changes in teaching styles rely
on “the attitude and approach of the individual teacher or department more than with the
subject or syllabus”149. Even with a course as intrinsically interesting as SHAP, the
teacher needs to inject enthusiasm and excitement. “If they just read the lessons from a
textbook then you are not going to like it.”150 I will address the link between classroom
practise and the way SHAP is viewed151 in more detail in Chapter 5.
3.4 Adjusting to AS after GCSE
For my interviewees, active learning seems to be a feature of A-levels rather than
GCSEs. When reflecting on GCSEs, the majority of both pupils and teachers, used the
word “spoon-fed” to describe the learning experience. I wanted to explore this by
briefly looking at GCSEs and their history. They first began in 1986. By 1989, the
National Curriculum had been introduced. This made Science, along with Mathematics
and English, a ‘core’ subject for ages 5 to 16152. Though some schools retained physics,
chemistry and biology as separate GCSEs, more and more schools began to adopt the
Dual Science GCSE. In this double-award, the difficulty of Physics was reduced to
144 Hunt and Russell (eds), Nuffield Science in Practice. GNVQ Science: Your questions answered, (London: Heinemann, 1994), p. 91. 145 Jonathan Osborne and Sue Collins, “Pupils’ and parents’ views of the school science curriculum” , p. 28. 146 Pauline Mills, “Never mind content, look at how physics is taught”. 147 Brian E. Woolnough, “Why students choose physics, or reject it”, p. 370. 148 J. Solbes and A. Vilches, “STS Interactions in the Teaching of Physics and Chemistry”, p. 384. 149 Jeremy Higham, “GCE A Levels in the school curriculum”. 150 Valerie Jamieson, “Learning lessons from the classroom”. 151 Researchers note that the relationship between teaching and students’ perceptions of the SHAP course needs further investigation: Fred Lubben and Bob Campbell, “Learners’ views of context -led physics curriculum materials”, p. 9. A paper presented for the ESERA Conference, Thessaloniki, August 2001. This paper reports Work in Progress. Not to be quoted without permission from Fred Lubben, [email protected] 152 Robin Millar and Jonathan Osborne (eds), Beyond 2000: Science education for the future, p. 2.
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bring it into line with the other subjects153. Condensing three subjects into two GCSEs
meant simplifying and spoon-feeding concepts. However, this general, science-for-all
approach widened the gap between GCSE and A-level, and while more able students
coped154,155, many found the transition a “big jump in difficulty”156.
TB: “We spoon-feed them at GCSE … then all of a sudden you’ve got to
think and plan and decide and do things, and it’s not all there on a plate
and they’re lost … and you think “well how the hell can you teach a kid
these ideas when they’ve not actually thought about anything”, they’ve
managed to get As and Bs, but you can do that without having to really
think. So it is tough, and they do find it tough.”
Curriculum 2000 has attempted to close this gap, by using AS to ease students into this
new stage of learning. However, the SHAP course not only requires an increased depth
of knowledge, it requires a new style of learning. The more traditional thematic order of
physics concepts at GCSE has been replaced with a context- led approach. Many of the
pupils commented on their difficulties adapting to harder work and a new approach.
P8: “Well it’s much harder, I think cos we did Salters Horners course, which
was applied so it was kind of completely different, I don’t know whether
it’s just cos it was that course rather than because it was A-level. I think
generally it was just because it’s A-level, it’s just much harder, but
because it was the other course it was very strange!”
153 M.B. Ormerod, “Factors differentially affecting the science subject preferences, choices and attitudes of girls and boys”, p. 111. 154 E Macfarlane, “Double award GCSE balanced science: its contribution to A-level success”, Physics Education, 1993, Vol. 28, pp. 362-365. 155 John Sears, “GCSE balanced science: A-level uptake and student attitudes”, Physics Education , 1993, Vol. 28, pp. 366-370. 156 Jeremy Higham, “GCE A Levels in the school curriculum”.
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3.5 Spiralling at speed
Having contexts first and then learning the physics behind them requires a spiral-
learning approach. Topics are revisited several times to reinforce understanding, in
theory. In practise, some interviewees157 were encountering problems with this
approach:
P8: “Instead of doing say a topic on waves and a topic on electricity, you do
a topic on archaeology and where electricity happens to fall in there you
do a little bit and you never really do any of the concepts in depth …
everything was just really vague”
In other studies, teachers claim that pupils fail to see the importance of repetition to help
consolidate learning. 158 Yet T1 was also experiencing problems with this approach:
T1 “The trouble is, because of this idea of revisiting topics, you skim. You
briefly touch things as a wave to it as you pass it down the corridor, and
then hope that they can fix on it for later, and if they pass it enough times
they might remember what it was. … I know they’re visiting it
elsewhere, but because I’m not teaching them it, I’m not sure they’ve
covered it … they’re doing it in another module somewhere with another
teacher.”
Though how much of his concerns are due to the course and how much to do with
adjusting to the new school and a new team-teaching scenario is tricky to ascertain.
157 This response was also made in the questionnaires: two girls from set 1 and four girls from set 2 of the all-girls school found the application-led approach difficult, preferring a more traditional order of topics. However, questionnaires were filled out in class time, so conferring may have occurred and influenced the frequency of responses. 158 Jonathan Osborne and Sue Collins, “Pupils’ and parents’ views of the school science curriculum”, p. 27.
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Another problem of the spiral- learning approach is the sheer amount of information that
needs to be covered in the time allowed, resulting from a “content-dominated and
overloaded curriculum”159. In a climate where performance tables are so highly
regarded, there is pressure on teachers to rush through the syllabus, focussing on only
the essentials to get the grades160.
TB: “There’s no way I can teach it in that time, so I cherry-pick. I think
“right, how can I best meet the specification needs”, “How can I get the
kids through the exam” really, that’s what it boils down to.”
This lack of time was a recurring theme in the interviews. Both pupils and teachers
struggle to cover the wealth of information in an academic year:
P3: “AS has been so crammed, rush, rush, rush, I mean we didn’t even finish
one of the units, we had to learn it ourselves on study leave”
PA: “I do definitely think we’re rushing though parts of it, at the end
especially. … sometimes it does get a bit difficult to cope with like
rushing and half not understanding you know.”
T1: “The course is very, very tight … I think there’s too much information
that goes too quickly. And I think they could quite easily stay on a few
core areas … you’re not quite sure, can I spend an extra week on this, no
I can’t, I need to get on to this, and it’s, it’s difficult.”
TB: “It is really a course where you’re always rushing, you can’t do anything
well, I feel, you can’t really go into things, in the AS, particularly,
because there’s just so much to cover in such a short period of time.”
159 Ibid. p. 26. 160 Ibid. p. 26.
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An additional problem to rushing is a lack of time for reflection. Pupils need time and
space to absorb what they have learnt 161,162,163.
T1 “Salters Horners is throwing practicals at them left, right and centre. … I
don’t think there is time to reflect, but that could be because we’re so
rushed for time.”
3.6 Remember the physics
Increased practicals and less time for reflection can mean the associated understanding
may be lost. In such a situation, practicals are viewed as merely irrelevant fun. Studies
indicate that more enjoyable lessons do not always “correlate with a corresponding
increased interest in science”164.
P1: “I think a lot of [practicals] are a bit irrelevant … Especially in the Eat
topic we did lots of testing of sweets and stuff and I think it was just an
excuse to eat some food. I really do! It was just to make it fun, you
know, it was fun, but I just thought if I had have missed this lesson I
wouldn’t have had any catching up to do.”
PD: “There’s the fun lessons of course where we did stupid things, like mix
corn starch and water, and play with it.”
It’s always a problem that incorporating contexts may do nothing more than distract the
pupils, “drawing interest away from the physics”165. Some pupils can become context-
161 Ibid. p. 25. 162 Fred Lubben, Bob Campbell and Betty Dlamini, “Contextualizing science teaching in Swaziland: some student reactions”, p. 317. 163 Nick Russell, “Unit 8: The basis of public knowledge. Children learning and children learning science”, p. 18. 164 Judith M Ramsden, “If it’s enjoyable, is it science?”, p. 69. 165 Fred Lubben and Bob Campbell, “Learners’ views of context -led physics curriculum materials”, p. 7.
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focussed, “concerned only with aspects of the context and never with the subject
content”166:
TA: “They get so worried trying to understand the actual story if you like
about the Channel Tunnel and the rain getting in and this that and the
other, that they miss out on the sheer hard work of under-, of how to use
resistors … the course isn’t to learn about the Channel Tunnel, it’s to
learn electronics, electrical circuits of signalling and so on.”
However, studies indicate that as SHAP students gain more experience during A2, the
vast majority do recognise that contexts provide a bridge to the physics concepts they
need to learn167. What emerges by the end of Year 13 is that students have found the
contexts “both interesting and helpful to learning”168.
3.7 Something for everyone
When I first learnt how the course was structured, I wondered whether the contexts
were good choices. They had appealed to the course creators169, they had been
piloted170 and studies had assessed students’ responses to them171,172,173. At AS they had
studied six topics: Higher, Faster, Stronger; Technology in Space; The Sound of Music;
Digging Up the Past; Good Enough to Eat and Spare Part Surgery174. In my interviews I
166 Ibid. p. 6. 167 Ibid. p. 7. 168 Bob Campbell, Sylvia Hogarth and Fred Lubben, “Contextualising the Physics Curriculum: Learners’ Perceptions of Interest and Helpfulness”, p. 8. 169 As mentioned by Elizabeth Swinbank in her interview, conducted via email. 170 Kerry Parker, Elizabeth Swinbank and Bernard Taylor, “Piloting Salters Horners Advancing Physics”, pp. 209-212. 171 Fred Lubben and Bob Campbell, “Learners’ views of context -led physics curriculum materials”. 172 Bob Campbell, Sylvia Hogarth and Fred Lubben, “Contextualising the Physics Curriculu m: Learners’ Perceptions of Interest and Helpfulness”. 173 Bob Campbell, Sylvia Hogarth and Fred Lubben, “Students’ ideas about interesting contexts in SHAP books I and II – An Interim Research Report”. 174 See Appendix 7 for an overview of each module and the physics it covers.
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discovered that pupils and teachers were quite happy with the choice, mainly because of
the variety involved.
P3: “I think because we did six obviously it covers everybody’s different sort
of interests”
PA: “I think everyone has topics which they like more than others”
PB: “I enjoyed them all”
T2: “They do respond very well to the different units … there’s a lot in there
for everybody. … and if they don’t like a topic, it’ll only happen for a
month or so and they’ll be on to a different one won’t they! And they’re
always doing two at once, cos we teach two modules in parallel so it’s
not as if all their Physics is in that one module.”
ES: “usually one person’s pet hate is someone else’s favourite unit.”
Studies have shown that contexts appeal to students for a variety of different reasons:
“due to either an everyday, a career- information, a hobby- interest, a contentious, a
problem solving, or a practical-centred characteristic.”175
What appealed to many students, and also to the teachers, was the unexpected nature of
some of the contexts.
TA: “I think they’ve chosen a pretty good range of topics … the students …
don’t always expect to find Physics in sweet-making or archaeology.”
Students were given contexts they hadn’t really thought about, yet still found
interesting. Finding out new information excites them and spurs them on to learn more.
175 Bob Campbell, Sylvia Hogarth and Fred Lubben, “Students’ ideas about interesting contexts in SHAP books I and II – An Interim Research Report”, p. 2.
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P5: “AS Physics was explaining the Physics behind loads of different things
like musical instruments, which I’ve never actually thought about before,
but it’s quite interesting to learn about.”
PD: “Right now we’re learning about magnets and I wanna learn, cos I saw a
poster up on the wall about why magnets are magnets cos of the way like
the electrons spin or something, and I wanna learn about that, but we
haven’t got there yet, but I think we’re gonna do that this year.”
It was interesting to see their responses when asked what they would have liked to have
learnt but didn’t. Many mentioned topics that were due to come up in A2, implying that
“if they got the grades” (a major concern to them all) they were planning to continuing
the subject. But in addition, a number of responses mentioned that they didn’t miss what
they didn’t yet know.
PD: “I learnt most of the things I liked to learn about, the only thing is that, I
don’t know what’s out there, so I don’t know what I’m missing out on,
… every time they teach us something it’s something new that I didn’t
actually knew existed before they taught it to me.”
It was heart-warming to see the enthusiasm for learning that many of these pupils
seemed to have. They had a thirst to discover more about the unknown176.
The variety of topics within the SHAP AS course means that examples have been used
which appeal to both girls and boys177. It has taken on board that “pupils do not come
176 Jonathan Osborne and Sue Collins, “Pupils’ and parents’ views of the school science curriculum”, p. 27. 177 Alison Kelly, “Retrieving the missing half”, pp. 280-281.
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fresh to science but have differing degrees of relevant experience”178. In studies about
what appeals to the different genders, boys enjoy learning about forces, cars and flight,
girls are keener on light and electricity, and both boys and girls enjoy learning about
space179. Because of the number of females that I had interviewed, I felt it was
important to consider how those interviewees had felt about the different aspects of their
AS. It was time to consider the female perspective.
178 Ibid. p. 277. 179 Jonathan Osborne and Sue Collins, “Pupils’ and parents’ views of the school science curriculum”, p. 27.
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CHAPTER 4 – SWEETNESS AND LIGHT:
THE FEMALE PERSPECTIVE
4.1 Girls and physics
Why do we need more women in science? Back in Chapter 2, graph 2.2 showed that
over the last twenty years, the percentage of girls choosing physics A-level has
remained static. During this time, many initiatives have emerged attempting to get more
girls into physics180, but why? The feminists argue that encouraging girls into science
would increase their choices and employment opportunities. It would also aid girls as
members of a technological society181, matching the scientific-citizen argument from
chapter 2. In addition, the scientific community argues that it needs to attract the best
brains, and cannot afford to neglect 50% of the population in its quest for
intelligence182,183. But despite these arguments, percentages are static. However, over
the last twenty years, the numbers of girls has not always fallen184. To me, the most
striking feature about graph 2.1 in chapter 2 is not the declines, but the huge difference
between the numbers of girls and boys choosing physics. Perhaps a different angle
might be to ask why so many boys choose physics.
180 Projects include Women In Science and Technology (WISE) and the Athena Project, at http://www.etechb.co.uk/athena, as mentioned in: Royal Society, “Media Release: Royal Society Athena Awards recognise gender and equality work”, Royal Society, 18 March 2004, at http://www.royalsoc.ac.uk/templates/press/releasedetails.cfm?file=514.txt 181 Alison Kelly, “Introduction”, Science for Girls? , Alison Kelly (ed.), (Milton Keynes; Philadelphia: Open University Press, 1987), pp. 7-8. 182 PhysicsWeb, “Physics needs women”. 183 Institute of Physics, “Press Release: The number of girls taking AS and A level physics continues to fall”. 184 See graph 2.1 in Chapter 2, and Appendix 5.
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One explanation is that physics has been taught using masculine185 experiences,
interests and concerns. The result is that girls feel that their world is far removed from
the world of science186. They are however interested in areas of science that affect them
personally187. If science could build upon girls’ existing interests, it may have greater
appeal188.
4.2 Sweetness…
It appeared to me that the SHAP course had met this demand. It was a course built on
such a variety of interests that the stereotypical boy and girl, and everything in between,
would find something of interest.
TA: “The pupils find it pretty motivating … the girls as well, more so perhaps
than they did in the past, cos the older traditional courses could be pretty
dry, and you had to be an enthusiast to keep on with it, whereas these
courses are often quite intrinsically interesting.”
What came across in the interviews at the all-girls school was the success on one
particular topic: “Good Enough to Eat”189. Elizabeth Swinbank claims that she often
incorporates the “simple and memorable demonstrations”190 into her talks at SHAP
teacher conferences. Teacher T2 commented on how much the girls enjoyed “playing
with the sweets”191. But what was striking was the number of students at that school
who mentioned the Eat module. With the exception of P7, who was more interested in 185 Helen Haste, “Nestle Social Research Programme. Science in My Future: a study of values and beliefs in relation to science and technology amongst 11-21 year olds”, at http://www.spreckley.co.uk/nestle/science-in-my-future-full.pdf, p. 3. 186 Beverley Bell, “The role of schools in providing a background knowledge of science”, p. 52. 187 Helen Haste, “Nestle Social Research Programme. Science in My Future: a study of values and beliefs in relation to science and technology amongst 11-21 year olds”, p. 23. 188 Alison Kelly, “Retrieving the missing half”, p. 281. 189 Elizabeth Swinbank, “Good enough to eat”, pp. 52-57. 190 Quoted from Elizabeth Swinbank interview, conducted via email. 191 Quoted fro m T2 interview.
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the CD player, and P1, who dismissed the Eat practicals as irrelevant fun, every other
interviewed student at the all-girls school sang the praises of the Eat topic. As well as
the sheer enjoyment of playing with the sweets, they could easily recall the underlying
physics concepts. They were using the contexts as bridges to the physics, a trait which
studies show girls are better at than boys 192.
P2: “It’s just different! You wouldn’t expect going to Physics that you’d start
eating liquorice and checking out its tensile strength!”
P3: “You actually got to test stuff … cos we were doing actual practicals,
you sort of stick more in your head. Like with sugar laces … you add
weights and things to do the force and extension graph … and Hooke’s
law.”
P5: “We got given all these different sweets to test hardness and toughness
and, well not durability, all of those different chemical and physical
properties. I enjoyed that.”
P8: “We did a lot of testing … of chocolate and things … there’s the Brinell
hardness test … and viscosity … with honey and syrup … bone
replacement using Crunchie bars … we got to eat the leftovers …
stretching strawberry and cola laces so yeah the practicals were, involved
lots of eating!”
Sweets were clearly a topic close to the girls’ hearts, but as well as that, these responses
highlight the number of experiments they had performed in this unit. When other
modules were mentioned, a few of the interviewees lamented that there had not been
more experiments, as they would have found the units more exciting. This indicates that
the enthusiasm is not just for the subject matter, but also for the novelty and the active
192 Fred Lubben and Bob Campbell, “Learners’ views of context -led physics curriculum materials”, p. 9.
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approach to learning. Indeed practical sessions are important aspects in changing girls’
attitudes to physics.193
Another interesting factor is that not one student at the mixed school mentioned this
topic, either on the questionnaires or the interviews. This indicates how the course is
being moulded by different schools. Responses from both schools seemed equally
enthusiastic about SHAP, but time constraints and teacher preferences meant that their
experiences of studying the same units are different. Teachers pick and choose from a
wealth of resources, so a degree of flexibility can emerge in what, on first sight, looks a
fairly rigid course that sticks closely to the textbook. The all-girls school clearly picked
a great many experiments from the Eat unit, undoubtedly for a whole number of
reasons: resources, enjoyment, novelty, ease etc.
Since this distinction between the two schools has emerged, it is worth addressing the
studies that claim “girls in single-sex schools are more likely to choose physics or
physical science and mathematics than their co-educated sisters”194. Some girls reject
the idea that boys and teachers deter them from studying science195. But to some extent
an all-girls school could challenge the suggested masculine image of science196, by
gearing lessons more to the interests of the pupils. However, comparing single and
mixed sex schools is just as difficult as comparing SHAP with other current syllabuses
– you can’t do a control on one child. I can’t predict whether if I had gone to a mixed
school I would still have gone on to study physics. A mixed environment may be
193 Barbara Smail, “Encouraging girls to give physics a second chance”, p. 117. 194 M.B. Ormerod, “Factors differentially affecting the science subject preferences, choices and attitudes of girls and boys”, p. 101. 195 Neil Havard, “Student attitudes to studying A-level sciences”, p. 326. 196 Alison Kelly, “Why girls don’t do science”, p. 15.
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incredibly motivating for the more competitive female physics student: “It makes me
feel like an individual … We’re a lot more competitive with the boys in all our classes
… There are so many of them that we feel we have something to prove.”197
Studies into the effects of single-sex classes in mixed schools 198 concern me. They force
a distinction between science and other subjects, and between males and females,
creating an extremely artificial environment for the pupils. They have chosen mixed
schooling, so why impose single-sex restrictions? It worries me when gender issues are
thrust to the foreground in an attempt to simplify a very complex situation. There are so
many other factors to consider, the school environment, the teachers, the pupils
themselves. I realise the irony of this statement in a chapter devoted to gender issues.
However, my excess of female responses and the wealth of gender articles concerning
physics meant I wanted to focus on this issue, to then stress my feelings towards its
overly simplistic framework. In any case, my qualitative analysis, by its nature, cannot
be extrapolated to discuss how all girls view the course. It can however explore the
girls’ responses to see some reasons why they had chosen SHAP and how they had
responded to the different aspects.
4.3 …and light
Aside from the Eat practicals, coursework was another factor in responses from the all-
girls school. SHAP AS students have to set up two experiments and then write them up
for coursework. Of the eight girls questioned at that school, six mentioned a piece of
coursework involving polarisation, but of these, four could not remember the other 197 Valerie Jamieson, “Learning lessons from the classroom”. 198 Eileen Gillibrand, Peter Robinson, Richard Brawnard and Albert Osborn, “Girls’ participation in physics in single sex classes in mixed schools in relation to confidence and achievement”, pp. 349-362.
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experiment they had done. The polarisation experiment was the second and thus more
recent piece, but both had been performed in the same term. This experiment was again
in the “Good Enough to Eat” section, and in addition included light, a topic that appeals
to girls199. Sweetness and light were the two topics that these interviewed girls recalled
again and again. But this recall is two-fold. Not only are they interested in the subject,
the majority also enjoyed the coursework itself.
In the past assessment consisted of one exam at the end of the two-year course. Now,
modular exams and coursework allow for continuous assessment. Some claim this
approach works in girls’ favour200, whatever the case it has been well received by both
teachers and students. With coursework, students can carefully plan, prepare and present
work that is relevant to their “own context, experience and interests” 201. The practical
aspect itself can also be motivating and enjoyable202.
However, when coursework was first introduced, it encountered resistance. The
government did not confidently rely on teacher assessment203. They were suspicious
that coursework was easier than an exam and it was “in danger of undermining the
rigorous standard of the A level qualification”204. Teachers, however, maintained that
coursework “was not eroding standards and was certainly not an easy option”205.
Concerning pupil enjoyment of the coursework, my questionnaires and interviews
199 Jonathan Osborne and Sue Collins, “Pupils’ and parents’ views of the school science curriculum”, p. 27. 200 Tim Miles and Paul Sims, “Boys work out a way to narrow gender gap”, Evening Standard , 19 August 2004, p. 16. 201 Jeremy Higham, “GCE A Levels in the school curriculum”. 202 Ibid. 203 Ibid. 204 Ibid. 205 Ibid.
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showed a mixed response. While many favoured the independence of an investigation,
some struggled with choosing topics, with equipment and with time constraints. An
assessed piece of work will always carry the associated stresses, but on the whole
attitudes to coursework, from both girls and boys, were positive. The third piece of
coursework, however, was possibly the most interesting – the visit.
4.4 In search of role models
SHAP has taken a novel and highly effective approach to school visits. It has upgraded
them to form the basis of compulsory, assessed coursework206. Optional visits risk being
dropped due to time constraints, so adding the visit to the assessment structure helps it
to be taken more seriously207. The AS students get actively involved in the visit,
formulating questions and taking notes in an attempt to focus on two physics principles
observed “in action”208. They then have a fortnight to complete a 1,000-word visit
report, in the style of a feature article or a news piece209 aimed at a GCSE level
student 210. This component of the course tests a wide range of skills that other
assessment methods may neglect. Not only does this test their communication skills, it
tests literacy, critical thinking, computer skills 211 and creativity212. Representing 10% of
206 Christina Astin, Nick Fisher and Bernard Taylor, “Finding physics in the real world: how to teach physics effectively with visits”, Physics Education , January 2002, Vol. 37, No. 1, p. 18. 207 Fred Lubben, Bob Campbell and Sylvia Hogarth, “Assessment through reports of ‘physics-in-action’ visits”, School Science Review, June 2001, Vol. 82, No. 301, p. 51. 208 Ibid. p. 47. 209 Ibid. p. 47. 210 Christina Astin, Nick Fisher and Bernard Taylor, “Finding physics in the real world: how to teach physics effectively with visits”, p. 19. 211 Ibid. p. 19. 212 Fred Lubben, Bob Campbell and Sylvia Hogarth, “Assessment through reports of ‘physics-in-action’ visits”, p. 51.
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the total AS or 5% of the A2, it reflects the “relative importance of communication as
an assessment objective” 213.
Most importantly, by making visits assessed, teachers can justify showing the students
physics in real life214. This helps students appreciate the excitement and relevance of
physics215. It stimulates their interest, perhaps even sparking ideas of a career in science.
Seeing experts talking enthusiastically about their subject has “a much stronger impact
on students than any number of glossy career brochures” 216.
“Real- life professionals are the best advertisements for careers in science …
[they] convey a powerful sense of relevance of … courses … they can inspire
following generations.”217
The realisation that physicists are “regular people doing really interesting things and
they don’t wear lab coats”218, helps to break down the stereotypes. Female role models
are lacking in science219, visits can introduce girls to female physicists in an appealing,
inspiring way.
The all-girls school had chosen to visit the Astrium in Stevenage, where they had learnt
about satellites including Beagle 2. Though many found scribbling notes to be quite
stressful, the majority gave extremely positive responses to the visit. A great number of
213 Ibid. p. 52. 214 Ibid. p. 51. 215 Bill Hicks, “Forces at work”, Times Education Supplement Teacher Magazine, 4 April 2003, at http://www.tes.co.uk/search/search_display.asp?section=Archive&sub-section=TES+Teacher&id=378003&Type=0 216 Christina Astin, Nick Fisher and Bernard Taylor, “Finding physics in the real world: how to teach physics effectively with visits”, p. 19. 217 Royal Society, “Media Release: Urgent Action needed to tackle crisis in science education. Statement by Sir Alistair MacFarlane, Chair of the Royal Society Education Committee”. 218 Valerie Jamieson, “Learning lessons from the classroom”. 219 Ibid.
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students were now interested in space, though whether due to the visit or the appeal of
the subject itself is difficult to assess220.
The mixed school visit had looked at medical physics in action. The choice of venue
hadn’t appealed to everyone 221 but had clearly been extremely motivating to some:
PA: “[We went] to the National Institute for Medical Research, yeah [laughs]
where I’m going to work … I mean in some ways I always knew about
it, but when I visited the Institute … it was a stimulation for me … I got
to see the place a bit more and so I went ahead and applied. … We’ll be
working with scientists on special projects over the summer.”
Though focussing on the female responses in this chapter, gender is only part of the
picture. In the responses I received, girls were indeed finding the course appealing. But
I believe that has more to do with the course than with the gender of the pupils. The
nature of SHAP appears to be attracting a new type of student.
220 Jonathan Osborne and Sue Collins, “Pupils’ and parents’ views of the school science curriculum”, p. 27. 221 PC wanted to travel further away, but when questioned didn’t really mind where. PD felt that the visit was more about biology than physics, so would have preferred a more physics-based visit.
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CHAPTER 5 – ATTRACTING A NEW TYPE OF STUDENT
5.1 Infectious enthusiasm
For students to find science appealing, they need to “feel good about learning science
and about science itself”222. Feelings and attitudes towards a subject are extremely
influential. Creating the right attitude can depend on the teacher, the science
department, the whole school environment. Changing pupils’ attitudes cannot happen
overnight, it may take several years to build feeling and confidence in a school, relying
on older pupils influencing and appealling to the younger years223.
Though piloted in 1998, Edexcel have only officially been running SHAP since
September 2000. At the same time, Curriculum 2000 was introduced in an attempt to
broaden A-levels. In terms of students, there are only three full A- level year-groups to
look at (2000-2002, 2001-2003 and 2002-2004). However, I still wanted to examine the
statistics to see if any trends were emerging, and compare these trends to the total
numbers choosing physics. Below are two graphs. The first shows the number of SHAP
candidates at AS and A2 including gender numbers. The second shows the number of
total UK candidates choosing AS and A2 physics, as well as gender breakdowns.
222 Beverley Bell, “The role of schools in providing a background knowledge of science”, p. 54. 223 Alison Kelly, “Retrieving the missing half”, p. 276.
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Graph 5.1 Numbers and gender breakdown of SHAP students taking AS and A2 (2000-2004)
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
3500
2000-2002 2001-2003 2002-2004 2003-2005
Years
Nu
mb
er o
f C
and
idat
es
Male AS
Female AS
Toal AS
Male A2
Female A2
Total A2
Graph 5.2 Numbers and gender breakdown of A-level physics students taking AS and A2
(2000-2004)
05000
1000015000200002500030000350004000045000
2000-2002 2001-2003 2002-2004 2003-2005
Years
Nu
mb
er o
f C
and
idat
es
Male ASFemale ASTotal ASMale A2Female A2
Total A2
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Undoubtedly it’s extremely bad practise to draw too many conclusions from such a
small amount of data, but there are some aspects to discuss. What graph 5.1 indicates is
that SHAP AS and A2 numbers have increased for both genders, whereas in graph 5.2
AS fluctuates but A2 falls. Fair enough, the numbers are widely different, SHAP is new
and this novelty factor may be to its advantage 224.
Both graphs show that many more boys are taking the subject than girls, and their sheer
numbers, which are decreasing in A-level physics generally, are affecting the totals far
more than the fairly constant, smaller intake of girls. Courses need to appeal to both
genders. Targeting females to boost numbers must not be done at the expense of losing
more males, and thus creating more drastic drops in totals.
As a proportion of the total candidates, SHAP has slightly more girls than the national
average 225. However, because the numbers are so much smaller in graph 5.1 than graph
5.2, a higher percentage of females could be a result of targeting strategies of SHAP.
For SHAP, Female A2 figures remain static, but more are choosing the subject for AS.
Perhaps indicating the AS appeal in the broader climate. Perhaps different types of
students are choosing it.
Statistics aside, I want to examine the two schools that I visited. As I mentioned, it can
take several years for attitudes to change towards a subject. SHAP has only officially
been running for three, is it too early to discover anything? On a grand scale, possibly,
but on a small, qualitative, case-study scale, I wanted to see how SHAP was impacting
224 Jeremy Higham, “GCE A Levels in the school curriculum”. 225 See Appendix 8 for tabulated figures of numbers and percentages of candidates.
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on these schools. Both had slight advantages. The all-girls school had been a pilot
school. SHAP had been running there since 1998, so five year-groups had experienced
it rather than three. In the mixed school, its specialist science status allows it to focus
and increase emphasis on science. Inevitably this increases pupils’ awareness of
science, as well as seeing the improved resources, and the positive outreach work into
the community226. The mixed school had also introduced Salters Horners Chemistry
about six years ago, so in the time that had passed the physicists could see the positive
effects, and be more open and trusting of SHAP. Teacher TA also mentioned that a
governor was interesting in teaching physics through application, and his
encouragement aided moving to SHAP. It is a big move to change to a syllabus of this
kind. All the interviewed teachers expressed that the decision needs careful thought.
Such a reinvention requires teachers to learn new concepts, and requires technicians to
become familiar with new resources. Schools need to buy and build apparatus for such a
practically focussed course. A great deal of time, effort and money is required to
implement SHAP. So why did these teachers get involved, how were they persuaded
that SHAP was a good idea?
A current problem with science teachers is not only recruiting them but retaining them.
To do this requires better on-the-job training, as well as keeping them up-to-date with
226 An aspect of this status involves outreaching into the commu nity. The school has, among other things, opened up its science laboratories to visits from primary schools, and encouraged local astronomy groups to use its facilities during out-of-school hours.
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contemporary science227. Above all else, teachers need to be enthusiastic about their
subject228.
“…the curriculum is not unimportant … But without lively teachers, with the
time and inclination to teach physics in a stimulating manner, few students will
become ‘switched on’ to physics or engineering.”229
Science teachers are a valuable resource, and SHAP took this on board from the start.
From the early 1990s, UYSEG held consultation meetings with teachers, they helped
contribute expertise. They gave inputs concerning experiments, some even helped write
the textbooks. It was a pooling of resources, and it paid off. Now SHAP holds teacher
and technician training courses for newcomers. There are online support groups, as well
as central support. They are given a wealth of resources: teacher guides, technician
guides, student worksheets, CD-Roms etc. All this support, especially the teacher
courses, has injected a huge amount of enthusiasm:
TB: “I was actually sent on a course, which is [laughs] luxury, where we saw
lots of experiments, spoke to other teachers, learnt a bit about the AS
course … The support, the resources … are brilliant … it’s all there …
it’s just finding the time to go and find it … there’s lots of other support
as well, if you get onto the websites … I mean I never do! But I know
it’s there.”
The teachers felt valued and supported, and by meeting enthusiastic teachers at the
courses, they were excited about the subject, and happier to devote time and effort to
learning the new, interesting concepts:
227 Royal Society, “Media Release: Urgent Action needed to tackle crisis in science education. Statement by Sir Alistair MacFarlane, Chair of the Royal Society Education Committee”. 228 Jonathan Osborne and Sue Collins, “Pupils’ and parents’ views of the school science curriculum”, p. 28. 229 Brian E. Woolnough, “Why students choose physics, or reject it”, p. 370.
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TA: “I still enjoy learning more about things, and, I therefore didn’t regret
having to find the time to do that, and I enjoyed finding out more and
found it quite fascinating.”
The enthusiasm seems infectious, teachers are inspired by the training courses and
support, and their enthusiasm feeds back into their teaching, getting the pupils more
excited about the subject:
T1 “If you’re happy with the course … the kids know you’re happy … so
they become more enthusiastic about it as well. … [T2] likes it … since
her time here the numbers of girls doing physics has increased … she’s
very, very enthusiastic about the course and maybe that’s made a
difference … it’s either the course or it’s [T2], or it’s both.”
TA: “Numbers have gone up in Physics quite steadily over the last three or
four years, but the school has become increasingly a very strong science
school, we’ve had some fantastic teachers in the science department, so
that’s helped a great deal.”
All four interviewed teachers were enthusiastic about their subject and had studied
physics. However, increasing in schools this is not the case. Less physics graduates are
choosing teaching, and non-specialists are teaching a subject they are less confident or
passionate about. It would have been interesting to see how non-specialists are fairing
with SHAP. The resources are excellent, the subject matter is engaging, but SHAP calls
for time and effort on the part of any teacher that undertakes it. I’d like to think that
SHAP would fair better than traditional courses. Its relevance to reality and the support
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given would help non-specialists get to grips and be interested in the course they were
teaching. But without any exposure to this situation, I can only speculate.
Another reason teachers can get enthusiastic about the course, is that they know the
pupils will enjoy it. Teaching a motivating course to students gets the teachers
motivated too. And the pup ils are indeed enthusiastic about the course. In yet more
infectious enthusiasm, they pass this on to the lower years:
TA: “The Year 11 pupils have Year 12 students talking to them about their
subjects informally, without teachers present and I think the impressions
they get by talking to the Year 12 Physicists is that it is an interesting and
good course to follow. … I think that’s why numbers have increased.”
5.2 A new type of student
With increased enthusiasm and increased numbers, new students are choosing AS
physics, who in the past may have avoided it. At the visited schools, I wanted to look at
the new types of students SHAP was attracting. According to previous research230,231,
SHAP students fit four different categories: context- focussed, subject-focussed, context
and subject focussed and those who use contexts as a bridge to the subject. Previous
physics A-level courses had attracted subject-focused students. “For such subject
focussed students the physics itself may be a sufficient interest and an adequate stimulus
to learning”232. To increase the numbers doing A-level physics, the SHAP course
230 Bob Campbell, Sylvia Hogarth and Fred Lubben, “Contextualising the Physics Curriculum: Learners’ Perceptions of Interest and Helpfulness”, p. 5. 231 Fred Lubben and Bob Campbell, “Learners’ views of context -led physics curriculum materials”, p. 6. 232 Ibid. p. 9.
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needed to appeal to more than just this subject- focused, traditional pupil. As a result,
new types of students are now choosing the course:
P3: “[On the open day the Physics topics] looked really interesting, to be
honest only two of them have been. … It’s probably just cos I was
looking at the pretty pictures and what have you … It was a lot harder
than I originally thought.”
P4: “I don’t understand it but I’m glad that I did it because it’s really
enjoyable. I know I’m not going to get a good grade, but it doesn’t really
matter because I can get good grades in other subjects. I’m just very
interested in finding out how things work and stuff like that.”
P5: “I wasn’t going to do Physics AS level but then I swapped a month into
the course because everyone seemed to like the AS Physics class. … I
was going to give up Physics at AS level … but I’ve now decided I want
to do Physics A-level, because it’s a bit fun so, I’ve never had any plans
to do Physics, but I just continue with it, cos I’m enjoying it!”
In P3s case the marketing had an effect, in P4 it was interest rather than ability that
attracted her to the course. P5 was initially influenced by peers then found the course
engaging. P5 in particular was a bright pupil who plans to continue with biology. The
links she found between SHAP and biology meant she found it useful, and enjoyable, to
continue SHAP to A2. These new pupils are not going to be the physicists of the future,
but they are gaining experience of physics at this level, and embracing the broader
curriculum framework. SHAP has enabled them to do this.
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5.3 New skills, new assessment
At both schools, the positive responses have not only affected numbers, the grades have
also improved. This could be because a positive attitude correlates to greater
comprehension233 and a greater enthusiasm to study. Or it could be the way SHAP is
assessed.
When interviewing pupils about their exams, a number of themes emerged. Mainly
SHAP seemed to be breaking physics’ strong bond with maths234, to create a more
stand-alone image. Exam questions seemed aimed at a different type of candidate.
PD: “It was more essay questions this year. I prefer the maths questions.”
PA: “Maths calculations I’m fine with, but it’s just written explanations I find
it, I think there’s a separate way you need to think to be able to write the
written explanations.”
Gender studies have shown that girls are better at essay-type questions than boys235,236,
but the approach itself is useful for both genders as it tests understanding237. However,
physics attracts students who like mathematics238. With good numerical skills, they may
have a lower level of literacy or a slower reading speed239. In the past physics with its
heavy emphasis on mathematics, would not have posed a problem. With increased
emphasis on comprehension and application, traditional pupils may struggle.
233 J. Solbes and A. Vilches, “STS Interactions in the Teaching of Physics and Chemistry”, p. 385. 234 Victoria Neumark, “Physics needs maths”, Times Educational Supplement, 1 January 1999, at http://www.tes.co.uk/search/search_display.asp?section=Archive&sub_section=News+%26+opinion&id=82404&Type=0 235 Alison Kelly, “Why girls don’t do science”, p. 14. 236 Jan Harding, “Sex differences in science examinations”, p. 203. 237 Barbara Smail, “Organizing the curriculum to fit girls’ interests”, p. 87. 238 M.B. Ormerod, “Factors differentially affecting the science subject preferences, choices and attitudes of girls and boys”, p. 107. 239 Geoffrey Cantor, “Teaching Philosophy and HPS to Science Students”, PRS-LTSN Journal, Summer 2001, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 14-24.
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TA: “I just wonder whether a more sort of plodding Physicist who
understands the Physics but finds it hard to envisage different situations,
would look at it and get a bit of a panic and not feel they could answer
the question, which the Physics of which actually is quite
straightforward, and if it was asked in a more straightforward way they
could answer it quite easily.”
Whereas in the past, physics may have tested numerical skills far more than others,
SHAP indicates that in this broader climate, a wider range of skills are necessary and
now form part of the assessment through coursework and examinations. Students are
thus emerging as more rounded individuals, with more transferable skills.
5.4 Repackaging
With its new, more rounded assessment and its context-led approach, SHAP has to
some degree reinvented and repackaged physics. The content is still there, it still
conforms to QCA’s guidelines, but the approach and assessment are new and
innovative. This repackaging has updated the physics, making it more relevant and
appealing. But does this repackaging pose a problem to the students? To some it does,
P1 felt the physics principles were being disguised, and P8 found the application-
theory-application nature of SHAP confusing. Being taught the theory from one
application, then another, then assessed using another was difficult for some students to
grasp. With so much reinvention to the course, how has it effected students’ perceptions
of physics? What was, in fact, the nature of A-level physics both within SHAP and in
the wider context?
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CHAPTER 6 – A-LEVEL PHYSICS RE-BRANDED
6.1 What is Physics?
SHAP’s practical, context-led approach has made A-level physics more relevant to the
daily lives of students. By incorporating aspects of technology, the subject has become
less abstract. How has it affected the way the students perceive physics as a subject? I
asked the interviewees “What is Physics?”. The main response was that it was “how
things worked”240. In addition, all four pupils from the mixed school said that physics
was involved with everything around them. PD felt physics gave him a different
perspective on the world and PA’s response was the most enthusiastic:
PA: “Physics is related with everything … you walk, there’s Physics, you
speak, there’s Physics … the way a plant moves is related with Physics,
the way we move is related with Physics, gravity itself is Physics … how
we are put on this planet is Physics, you know.”
P8 was happier to say what physics wasn’t, she felt it was whatever was left after
biology and chemistry had been assigned. P2 thought physics was very theoretical, full
of set equations and tests that will work in theory and “if they don’t it must be
something you’ve done”241. To P2, physics gave to straight answers, unlike biology
which was more “shifty”242. P5 felt physics “tries to explain the world around you using
basic equations. It’s like Maths [except] … you have to go out and collect data for the
equations.”243 These SHAP students have realised the relevance of physics. Learning by
240 P1, P3, P4, P6, P7 and PD all gave this response. 241 Quoted from P2 interview. 242 Ibid. 243 Quoted from P5 interview.
SUGAR-COATED PHYSICS KATE BRADSHAW
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application has let them draw connections to the subject and appreciate it. But does
making physics more real and less abstract actually have detrimental effects on the
status of physics?
6.2 Destroying the elite?
Physics’ reputation as a “difficult” 244 subject is bitter sweet. On the one hand physicists
try to make their subject more appealing, but on the other hand they rather enjoy their
elitist status 245. Small numbers pursuing physics makes the subject seem more
unobtainable246, requiring intelligence to master it247. As a result, people see it as a
prestigious subject, with high academic status 248 that looks great on a CV249. Some
students enjoy this status, finding the challenge rewarding250. Some choose to do
physics because it makes them feel intelligent 251. If SHAP courses are appealing to
more people, they are appealing to a wider range of abilities. Weaker students are
motivated by the contexts. But does this wider appeal mean that physics will become
devalued?
244 Neil Havard, “Student attitudes to studying A-level sciences”, pp. 323 and 326. 245 Mark Elise and Jonathan Osbourne, “Should physics be more elitist?”, PhysicsWeb, January 2004, at http://physicsweb.org/article/world/17/1/7 246 A point made by Hearn in the Discussion section after Beverley Bell, “The role of schools in providing a background knowledge of science”, pp. 62-63. 247 Brian Ridley, “Are physicists useful?”, PhysicsWeb, December 2001, at http://physicsweb.org/article/world/14/12/2/1 248 Jonathan Osborne and Sue Collins, “Pupils’ and parents’ views of the school science curriculum”, p. 24. 249 Kate Hilpern, “Life, the universe and everything”, The Independent, Physicist, a special supplement produced in association with Institute of Physics, 9 October 2003, p. 3. 250 Jonathan Osborne and Sue Collins, “Pupils’ and parents’ views of the school science curriculum” , p. 28, and P3 also said this when interviewed. 251 Valerie Jamieson, “Learning lessons from the classroom”.
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“The Department of Education report suggests that ‘science and technology
would have to change out of all recognition and possibly to its detriment, to
attract the non-science students.”252
Schemes to incorporate technology and society into science have faced opposition from
teachers and universities, concerned that it will devalue the subject253. Indeed people use
the example of domestic science’s status compared to ‘proper’ science, to explain how
real- life connections can devalue a qualification254. There will always be some people
who either dislike science or prefer other subjects. Why should physics try to attract
more students?
6.3 Realism
This leads us back to the arguments in 2.3. There, the arguments for getting more
people to study physics were for citizens, economics and future training. Economics and
future training imply the retention of physics’ superior status. The citizen argument
requires a broader appeal. In addition, Curriculum 2000 has sought to broaden A-levels.
With mixed demands on A-level physics, it’s worth re-examining these arguments.
Firstly, the informed citizen argument is a powerful one. It is currently helping to
introduce a “Science in the 21st Century” GCSE255,256 and launch Sciencewise257, a new
government initiative to promote public engagement with science. It was even an
252 Neil Havard, “Student attitudes to studying A-level sciences”, p. 327. 253 P. James Gaskell, “Authentic science and school science”, p. 269. 254 Alison Kelly, “Retrieving the missing half”, p. 285. 255 BBC.co.uk, “New science lessons for young citizens”, BBC.co.uk , 9 January 2003, at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/2642745.stm 256 BBC.co.uk, “Science pupils want more ideas”, BBC.co.uk , 24 November 2003, at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/3234260.stm 257 Launched 6th September 2004 at the BA Festival of Science in Exeter, for more information see http://www.sciencewise.org.uk
SUGAR-COATED PHYSICS KATE BRADSHAW
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argument that helped to set up this MSc course. But the question is, does the SHAP
approach help students to be more scientific citizens? On the surface it would appear so,
interviewees appeared to realise the relevance of the subject by learning this context
approach. Yet it is still within the confines of an academic classroom context. TA noted
that the contexts used in SHAP are somewhat distorted to incorporate the necessary
physics, resulting in a degree of artificiality. In fact, when tested, everyday contexts in
school science did not always mean school science was applied to everyday
situations 258. But this is such a qualitative issue, how do you measure scientific
citizenship? You don’t. A quest like this could just run and run259. The fact that more
pupils are choosing SHAP, many of which will drop it either after AS or A2, means that
it’s fitting the scientific citizen argument’s aims.
The second argument is an economic one. To some extent SHAP is meeting this aim,
it’s promoting the applications of physics via the textbook contexts and the visit,
thereby making students more aware of the career options open to them. However, the
argument that we need more scientists for our economy is to some extent building false
hope. In the UK, biotechnology is thriving, physics is not260. Careers in science and
technology have “low status, relatively low pay and modest career prospects” 261. For
law graduates starting salaries are around £30,000, but for science you find jobs needing
“a degree, a doctorate and two years post-doc experience … which pay £19,000 and …
258 Bob Campbell, Fred Lubben and Zelda Dlamini, “Learning science through contexts: helping pupils make sense of everyday situations”, pp. 249-250. 259 At least that will keep the science communicators busy. 260 Brian E. Woolnough, “Why students choose physics, or reject it”, p. 372. 261 Ibid. p. 369.
SUGAR-COATED PHYSICS KATE BRADSHAW
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only last for 22 months”262. An economic argument breaks down when you examine
reality, “the career opportunities are not there”263.
This leads on to the third argument of training the next generation of physicists.
Realistically “more than half of those students studying physics at any level will not
move on to the next level at the end of their course … physics education must involve
much more than training the next generation of physicists”264.
What we have here is a powerful, yet vague, citizen argument, and two unrealistic
arguments concerning economy and training. Add to this the Curriculum 2000 aims and
you can see where A-levels are heading. Breadth is the future, and physics needs to
improve its image in a competitive market of AS subjects. It can do this by adopting the
approaches of SHAP and the Institute of Physics Advancing Physics course265. Like
SHAP, the IOP course updates physics, yet rather than put contexts first, it retains a
more topic-based approach266,267. But what both courses do is stress the relevance of the
subject, and its multiple roles in society. They also stress the wide range of career
options open to physics students. Many science students are aware of this, and choose
the subject to enhance their career prospects268,269. However non-scientists do not realise
262 Vivienne Parry, “Don’t mention the S-word”. 263 Brian E. Woolnough, “Why students choose physics, or reject it”, p. 374. 264 Peter Rodgers, “New dimensions in education”. 265 Becky Parker, “The A-team”, Times Educational Supplement, 8 September 2000, at http://www.tes.co.uk/search/search_display.asp?section=Archive&sub_section=Curriculum+specials&id=338234&Type=0 266 Jon Ogborn, “New hope for physics education”, Physicsweb, October 1999, at http://physicsweb.org/article/world/12/10/7 267 Becky Parker, “Fresh approach to A-level physics”, Times Educational Supplement, 5 September 2003, at http://www.tes.co.uk/search/search_display.asp?section=Archive&sub_section=TES+Teacher&id=383375&Type=0 268 Valerie Jamieson, “Learning lessons from the classroom”.
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the potential opportunities270,271. Since few students continue to degree level, why not
make this stage enjoyable, interesting and relevant, teaching pupils a wide range of
skills.
Do the new skills being assessed neglect the more traditional student? No, a traditional
student still has the physics concepts. Their subject- focussed manner means they will
still get a great deal from the course, and in addition will learn other valuable,
transferable skills such as communication and comprehension.
What about the elite status of physics? Will the subject be devalued with this broader
appeal? I believe no. Of the thirty questionnaire responses, only two students were
certain about pursuing physics to degree level. Couple this with the broadening of A-
levels and you realise that the elitism is still there, it is simply shifted to degree level. To
avoid becoming the “new Latin”, physics A-level has had to move with the times. Even
with the elite status of a physics degree, many universities are now combining the
course with other sub jects, creating wider appeal and highlighting the diverse range of
subjects that physics can relate to. What can’t be underestimated is the enthusiasm that I
saw in the interviewed pupils and teachers. That spark is the most important thing. That
is what will keep teachers teaching their subject with passion and enthusiasm, and
perhaps even inspire a new generation of teachers to emerge from the students
themselves. With only three full year-groups to examine, and only a small selection of
qualitative responses, I can’t extrapolate and predict whether this course will endure, but
269 Jonathan Osborne and Sue Collins, “Pupils’ and parents’ views of the school science curriculum”, p. 24. 270 Neil Havard, “Student attitudes to studying A-level sciences”, p. 327. 271 Julia King, “Young physicists being turned off”.
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even if it doesn’t, the excitement and novel approaches it has explored should surely be
built upon in the future.
6.4 Tomlinson and the future of A-level physics
But future plans for SHAP are on ice at the moment272. In fact all A- levels are on ice,
awaiting the Tomlinson report due out next month. In 2002, the first group of
Curriculum 2000 students received their results. The event was described as a
“fiasco”273, and as a result Mike Tomlinson, former Chief Inspector of schools, was
given the task of investigating the situation. In December 2002, he produced his
inquiry274. Then, at the beginning of 2004, he produced an interim report. But the final
report, due in October, will outline proposals for “overhauling exams and the
curriculum”275. His recommendations will be phased in over the next ten years, but at
this stage the only rumour is a possible 4,000-word dissertation that A-level students
may have to do for university entrance276,277. If a reality, this dissertation will be
compulsory and parts of the existing coursework will be dropped to make room for this
extended essay278. In SHAP’s case this may mean the end of practical investigations or
of inspirational visits, and all to quench the claims that A-levels have got easier. I
believe these claims are false, the students that I met still struggled with the transition
from a spoon-fed, dual-science GCSE to A-level. To conform to QCA regulations, their
272 Taken from Elizabeth Swinbank interview, conducted over email. 273 The Guardian, “The Tomlinson report: The key points”, The Guardian, 3 December 2002, at http://education.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,4559738-110914,00.html 274 Mike Tomlinson, Inquiry into A level Standards (London: Inquiry into A level Standards, December 2002). 275 Polly Curtis, “Dissertation could determine university offers”, The Guardian, 19 August 2004, at http://education.guardian.co.uk/alevels2004/story/0,14505,1286448,00.html 276 Ibid. 277 Tony Halpin, “Students will face 4,000-word super essay at A level”, The Times, 19 August 2004, pp. 1-2. 278 Ibid.
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courses are overloaded and rushed, without the added stress of an extended essay.
Physics is difficult in both reality and perception279. SHAP gets the message across in
an entertaining, relevant way that both the pupils and teachers enjoy. Both find it hard
work, but both find it rewarding. Yes there are glitches, but I think the sugar-coating
Salters Horners has given physics is a step in the right direction, sparking interest and
infectious enthusiasm. It would be a shame if next month’s report meant an end to this
innovative approach to physics.
279 M.B. Ormerod, “Factors differentially affecting the science subject preferences, choices and attitudes of girls and boys”, p. 103.
SUGAR-COATED PHYSICS KATE BRADSHAW
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Acknowledgements
Felicity Mellor for her help, support and advice
The teachers and Year 12 pupils for their time and help and for letting me disrupt
classes with my interviews and questionnaires
Steve Jones from Centre for British Teachers (CfBT) for the invaluable crash course in
science education and for fantastic help, advice and contacts
Elizabeth Swinbank at the Department of Educational Studies, University of York,
for her approachable, helpful attitude, and the wealth of information she
provided concerning the Salters Horners course
Mark Orrow-Whiting at Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) for helpful
advice and information concerning exam boards, syllabus schemes and statistics
Ian Cuthbert at the Institute of Physics, for helpful discussions and educational
resources, and for inviting me to join an IOP education advisory group.
Fred Lubben, Bob Campbell, Sylvia Hogarth and Judith M Bennett at the
Department of Educational Studies, University of York, for their help, papers
and resources
Jiffty Chug at Barnet Local Education Authority for her help with contacts and schools
Nick Fay for helpful discussions concerning teaching and the wider context of A-levels
James Bradshaw for providing the Year 12 perspective
Sarah Bradshaw and Richard Burr for late-night sugar-coated discussions
Frances Bradshaw for support, advice and information about teaching practices
Alan Bradshaw for emotional and financial support
My friends and Dorling Kindersley workmates for their support and humour