Physics Education

Credits

Prerequisites

None.

Scientific-disciplinary sector (SSD)

FIS/08 Physics Education and History of Physics.

Examination method

Oral exam.

Learning
objectives

The course aims to develop the ability to design and carry out teaching activities for physics in secondary school. In particular, by studying proposals arising from classroom trials and from the results of physics education research, students work on proposals aimed at developing longitudinal pathways based on a unified view of physics, with particular attention to modelling processes and to the problems of interpretation in the transition from classical to modern physics.

Syllabus

Covering many topics of classical and modern physics in a cross-cutting way, the course analyses:

textbooks and popular science books;
innovative proposals and teaching materials based on simulations, animations and real-time experiments using sensors and automated systems;
significant contributions in the pedagogical, historical and epistemological fields;
educational experiences and proposals from science museums.

In the laboratory, experiments are carried out with interactive demonstrations and measurements, focusing on the search for relationships between quantities, the construction of models and strategies for arguing about hypotheses and theories.

Expected learning
outcomes

At the end of the course, students must demonstrate that they

know and understand strategies for improving learning and teaching by drawing on students’ resources and working simultaneously on physics and language, physics and mathematics, physics and technology, as well as the evolution of the key concepts of physics and of concepts shared across the different scientific disciplines;
are able to apply the knowledge acquired to design teaching activities on the modelling of physical phenomena;
are able to communicate ideas and solutions clearly, rigorously and effectively to both specialist and non-specialist audiences;
are able to identify the most appropriate methods to analyse and solve a problem related to the course topics and to interpret the results correctly.

Learning outcomes
to be assessed

Command of the subject matter, clarity of presentation, rigour in the use of language, confidence in using the notions acquired, familiarity with the use of educational technologies for teaching physics.

Physics Education