I am new to this forum, and I would like to ask the forum a few questions
relating to increasing the number of students interested in physics. Five
years ago, I was hired to help improve and build the Physics program at the
high school. Prior to me joining the school, there was a high turn-over rate
with physics teachers. Since we are on a block schedule, we only offer one
section of AP each semester, one section of regular physics each semester,
and one section of Algebra-Based Physics for freshman each semester. I
currently am not teaching any of these classes, even though I was hired to
teach physics.
My question is: how can our science department, guidance department and
administration improve the amount of interest in physics? I don’t want to
create a dog-and-pony show to entice students to take physics; nor do I want
to create the Bill Nye effect of a surface understanding. I want to develop
true interest among the student body.
To help you understand the dynamics of our high school, it is based in a
moderately sized town of about 60,000. The school has a very diverse
population of about 1,400 students. It could be considered one of the
poorest schools in the district. The population of the feeder schools is
very mobile. The FARMs population is about 28%, LEP is about 10%, White –
49%, African American – 26%, Asian – 10%, and Hispanic – 15%.
Any suggestions for how to attract students to take physics would be
appreciated. Thank you.