PHYSICS FIRST

For the past 130 years, physics has been an integral part of the science curriculum at the high school level. Its current vertical position, established about 100 years ago, is now strongly challenged. The national reform movements, inclusive in Project 2061 and Standards, and documents such as Nation at Risk (1983), that responded to low science scores and an ever growing gap between science/technology and society, have all been the backbone of Leon Lederman's ARISE (American Renaissance in Science Education) educational reform. Using the theories of hierarchical learning, constructivism, and findings that show that prior knowledge of physics greatly enhances learning in chemistry and that knowledge of chemistry is beneficial to learning biology makes this reform worth examining.

Olga Livanis
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Last modified April 15, 2006