Modern Physics and its Pedagogy
Integrated Subject and Pedagogy course on modern physics for secondary school teachers.
This course deepens the subject-didactic treatment of modern physics for future secondary school teachers. It connects central ideas from 20th- and 21st-century physics with ways of making abstract phenomena teachable in school.
In terms of physics content, we cover:
- atomic models and the transition from particle ideas to models of the atom;
- light models, the speed of light, and the role of model choice in explanation;
- stars, astrophysics, and modern observational evidence;
- quantum physics and the basic ideas of quantum mechanics;
- solid-state physics, magnetism, and the laser;
- radioactivity, radiation, and laboratory practice;
- particle physics, current research contexts, and possible links to a GSI excursion;
- relativity and its role in a coherent picture of modern physics.
In terms of pedagogy and practice, we examine:
- modelling competencies - how learners construct, evaluate, revise, and use models in modern physics;
- representational competencies - moving productively between diagrams, mathematical descriptions, experiments, simulations, verbal explanations, and everyday representations;
- analogical learning - using analogies carefully, including where they support understanding and where they break down;
- everyday anchoring - tying abstract phenomena from modern physics to familiar objects, technologies, and observations without losing conceptual accuracy.
Course materials
Materials appear here as soon as they are uploaded. Please note that the downloadable materials are in German.
No downloadable materials are available yet. Check back after the next workshop.