Re: Physics Education reform in 50s and 60s

[Bernard Cleyet <anngeorg@PACBELL.NET>]

"... PSSC physics ....

"Some of those materials have been directly
recycled into the current research based curricula."


Especially the labs (and demos.)?

My memory is not that good:   I think it broke the Cenco monopoly and introduced much less expensive and rather innovative apparatuses.  e.g. ripple tanks and even a Coulomb balance.

bc, whose seen abandoned PSSC stuff on local HS shelves.

p.s. The Berkeley Physics Course and Lab, too?





John Clement wrote:

> I would say that this is a good place to start.  Two curricula which =
> came
> out of the effort were PSSC physics and Harvard Project Physics.  Whi=
> le both
> had some very good ideas, they were not based on research even approa=
> ching
> the current level in PER.  Some of those materials have been directly
> recycled into the current research based curricula.
>
> In reality the retooling in the average classroom was probably very s=
> mall
> and business as usual has continued to this day.
>
> John M. Clement
> Houston, TX
>
>
>
> > =20
> > Have your student start looking for information about the National
> > Defense Education Act, which became federal law in 1958.  The NDEA
> > provided financial support to US schools to help them beef up scien=
> ce
>
>
> > and mathematics education, following the embarrassing realization t=
> hat
>
>
> > our space program efforts were running substantially behind the USS=
> R's
>
>
> > accomplishments.
> > =20
> > Best wishes,
> > =20
> > Larry