The optimum level of simplification

Physics presents many conceptual difficulties for learners, and the teacher has to balance the desire to teach good science with the need to pitch material at a level such that pupils can cope. There will always be a compromise between the depth and range of material we would wish to cover, and what pupils are likely to be able to successfully understand in the time available. Part of a teacher’s job, therefore, is to re-interpret curriculum content for pupils. Decisions have to be made about the level of detail and complication that is appropriate to be true to both the subject and the learners. It is argued here that, whilst simplification is necessary, a point will be reached where the logical structure of the subject is compromised. It is suggested that recent recommendations in Physics Education about teaching heat and temperature may have reached such a point.

• Children’s science, curriculum science, teacher’s science. . .
• What leads us to change our minds?
• Carlton’s recommendations for teaching introductory thermal physics
• An analysis of the relationship between heat and temperature
• Discussion: what degree of simplification is useful?