First edition of Science Education published with Springer Nature.

01.       Introduction

Hans E. Fischer, Raimund Girwidz and David F. Treagust

 

Abstract

Building on its German edition, Physics Education is a profoundly important textbook for student teachers, in-service teachers and teacher educators in the field of physics teaching and learning and its related research. It highlights new and traditional perspectives on physics instruction.

The contributors of the book are all experts in their research area and experienced educators of mainly physics teachers. Each chapter of the book presents research-based essentials of physics instruction, which are necessary for understanding how teaching physics can be effective and teaching and learning physics may be enjoyable. In addition, the chapters refer to one another for providing guidance to physics education, its basic research to understand the historical development and how its theory and practice can lead students, teacher educators and in-service teachers to develop insights into and orientations for improving physics instruction.

Knowing about professional competencies in the areas of subject knowledge, lesson design, resilience and the variety of beliefs on physics, students, the other teachers, parents and the school system is a necessary boundary condition for teaching physics in an optimal way. In addition, teaching and learning physics in this case, can only be successful if it is supervised by research in the respective aria of activities.

Nevertheless, to develop the quality of physics teaching and learning from Kindergarten to university needs a wide range of topics and many connections to different other sciences. With a choice of central issues, the first chapter brings teaching and research of physics education in line with academic physics, psychology and pedagogy. For physics teacher students and in service teachers this orientation should help to understand research results and gives a chance to transfer theoretical approaches and empirical results into own practice.

Physics Education concerns with research, teaching and development of teaching and learning physics on all levels of the respective educational systems. The adaptation to the respective educational system has to be done by each teacher on his or her own, hopefully with help of physics educators in their countries. Nevertheless, all of those adaptations and integrations should be guided by international research in the field. The introduction wants to describe the framework and links to other sciences necessary to understand what is going on in a classroom and how to analyse the own planning and practice for an increasing quality of teaching and learning physics in institutional educational systems.