Physics Textbook Website: Features

FEATURES

for
"New Century Senior Physics
- Knowledge, Processes and Reasoning"

- by Richard Walding, Greg Rapkins and Glenn Rossiter
Oxford University Press


AUTHORS

  • All are qualified, experienced, practicing Physics teachers.
  • All are members or immediate past members of the Queensland Board of Senior Secondary School Studies (QBSSSS) "Physics Syllabus Sub-Committee"
  • All were actively involved in the review of the previous syllabus and writing and trialling of the new syllabus.
  • Authors include chairman of Physics Syllabus Sub-committee, members of the BSSSS State Physics Panel and members of the BSSSS Science Syllabus Advisory Committee.

    CONTENT
  • Covers core and many extensions of the QBSSSS "1995 Senior Physics Syllabus".

    LANGUAGE
  • Easy to understand language and "chatty" style.

    UP-TO-DATE
  • Future perspective
  • Career options related to topic
  • Activities related to Internet, CD-ROM etc.

    CONSTRUCTIVIST EMPHASES
  • Chapters begin with questions about prior knowledge and misconceptions.
  • Discussion makes particular reference to personal knowledge.
  • Each chapter includes many "Activities" that student can do at home to develop personal knowledge.
  • Students expected to draw together higher level structures from first hand data.

    GENDER BALANCE
  • Examples included to compensate for sex stereotypical experiences.
  • Gender balanced applications.

    AUSTRALIAN PERSPECTIVES
  • Australian imagery to dominate.
  • Commercial applications/research

    FIGURES AND PHOTOS
  • Selection of full colour photos.
  • Simple line art and mostly original photos.
  • Use of margin boxes for figures, related issues and historical sketches.

    REAL WORLD
  • Reference to everyday examples and real world problems.
  • Discussion of typical experiments.
  • Questions related to real world problems

    PROBLEMS AND EXERCISES
  • Questions classified as Knowledge, Scientific Processes and Complex Reasoning Processes.
  • Examples with worked solutions in each section of chapter.
  • Laboratory experiments - second hand data to analyse.
  • Graded problems related to work covered in the whole chapter.
  • Questions related to science journal extracts
  • Worked solutions to all complex reasoning problems are on-line.

    A web page allows students to get help. Updates also available on-line for the teacher.

    SUMMARY

  • Summaries and Objectives for each chapter available on line.
  • Answers to all questions.

    WORK PROGRAM AND OTHER FREEBIES
  • Work Program available on disk ready for editing and accreditation.

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