[EPS12-rt] Future of physics education

[Trocsanyi Zoltan]

Future of physics education in Europe

About the time when the cold war ended the popularity of physics among
high school students has also suffered a sudden decrease, which manifested
in a severe drop in the number of physics students at universities in
Europe. For instance, in the Netherlands the number of enrollments in
physics and astronomy has halved in the decade of the 1990's. By now the
decreasing trend seems to level out, the number of students stabilized or
in some countries has even started a slow increase. However, a warning
sign remained and we have take it very seriously.

The number of students who plan to become physics teachers keeps shrinking
and by now it has reached a level that calls the alarm. In Hungary, where
in all disciplines there are 51 thousand places available for freshmen,
only 170 applicants has chosen teaching physics as their primary goal for
pursuing university studies in 2002. Taking into account the high dropout
rate until these applicants reach the classrooms as teachers, we daresay
it is not a too bold prediction that within a decade teaching physics as a
separate subject at high schools in Hungary will cease.

The same trend can be observed all over Europe. As a matter of fact, in
some countries physics has already disappeared as a separate subject from
the curriculum and integrated science classes took the place. This would
not be a problem itself, but it usually means that physics in the
integrated education is taught by other, for instance often biology
teachers, which is clearly not adequate.

If physicists are concerned about the future of their profession, they
must communicate the seriousness of the problem to their governments. We
must make the responsible people understand that sustainable development
is possible only in those societies where the individuals have the ability
of understanding complex phenomena via simple models, which is the primary
goal of physics education.


 Zoltán Trócsányi, professor of physics -- University of Debrecen, Hungary
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 Mail: Dept. of Exp. Physics         e-mail: Z.Trocsanyi@atomki.hu
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