Algebra-based high school physics

Abstract

About 60% of all physics majors chose the field because of their positive experience in high school physics courses, according to a study by the American Institute of Physics presented at the 2018 summer meeting of the American Association of Physics Teachers. In most US public high schools, only the upper 35% of the student body is allowed or encouraged to enroll in algebra-based physics classes. Such restrictions often exclude many otherwise bright and capable youngsters—of all races and ethnicities—from that formative first step toward a future in physics.At one time, weakness in elementary mathematics, including fractions, decimals, and long division, and in basic algebra prevented even higher-level students from being successful in algebra- and trigonometry-based high school physics courses. Those mathematics deficiencies also have prompted a number of public high schools to discontinue entire physics programs. As a certified high school physics and chemistry teacher who taught mostly in Chicago inner-city high schools, where a majority of students were Black or Hispanic, from 1975 to 2001, I initially found a severe deficiency in elementary arithmetic skills. However, inexpensive electronic hand calculators have made it possible for many students to properly solve basic algebra problems that are common in physics and chemistry.Drills and practice with standard physics formulas helped my physics students remember their first-year algebra, if not learn those algebra skills in the first place. Many high school algebra-based physics texts have only a few problems of the same type, which often does not provide good learning experiences for students of any level. To enhance their learning, I would have students do about 10 physics problems per formula; I would go around the room and show the students how to do the first problem and then allow them to solve three more of the same type using the same formula. By solving for all the formula’s variables in the same manner, students learn or reinforce their algebra skills as they master their scientific problem-solving. After I retired I learned that Black students I had taught at Carver Area High School and Paul Robeson High School who entered nearby Chicago State University passed their university chemistry courses, and some even graduated with degrees in chemistry.I believe that inner-city Black and Hispanic students have great potential for majoring in physics and chemistry in higher education. About two-thirds of US high schools do not have a teacher who majored in physics or physics education.11. S. White, J. Tyler, Focus On: Who Teaches High School Physics?, American Institute of Physics (2014). Also, collegiate physics programs are being eliminated because of low enrollments. If high schools open algebra-based physics to all students and provide extra physics help—including mathematics remediation, which is done everywhere in the world except in the US—not only will many student lives be enhanced, but more students will major in physics, thereby helping rescue higher-education programs at risk of discontinuation, and there will be many more competent, certified high school physics and chemistry teachers.ReferenceSection:ChooseTop of pageReference <<1. S. White, J. Tyler, Focus On: Who Teaches High School Physics?, American Institute of Physics (2014). Google Scholar© 2021 American Institute of Physics.