Physics/math: how much knowledge does a high school teacher need?

[haushofer]

Dear all,

as some of you may know I'm a math/physics teacher at a teachers education in Holland, where we prepare teachers at pre-university level high school. We focus mainly on teachers who are already licensed to teach in the first three years of pre-university high school ("2nd degree"); for the last three years (4,5,6) they enroll with us to obtain a "first degree".

Of course, some of the curriculum in our education they'll also teach at their pupils, at a lower level. But some topics they'll never teach to them. One example of this is Linear Algebra; of course high school pupils need to solve equations, but they'll never encounter matrix equations or vector spaces. I also taught quantum mechanics to physics teachers, which goes pretty beyond they'll teach their own pupils.

So that made me think: how much do teachers need to know to stand above their pupils? Has there been any research on this topic? I'm also intending to do some research on my own, but I thought maybe other teachers here are also interested in the topic and can add to the discussion ;)

 

[.Scott]

I'm all for pushing statistics over calculus. Calculus is very STEM-oriented. Statistics is much broader.
Knowing how to read a study and understand how it applies to your situation. For example, is deaths per mile important? What about deaths per passenger mile? How do studies hedge against the placebo effect?
How are studies designed?
Different parts of the community have different criteria for studies. You need five-sigma to claim a new particle discovery on Physics. You need a more complicated evidence-based studies for drugs or medical procedures.
It's important that High School student recognize the limitations on N=1 studies.

 

[gleem]

There is a lot of talk about QM and its counterintuitive behavior, which is commonly referenced in the media. It is reasonable to teach an elementary introduction to quantum principles. In my opinion, it would be of value.

Here is a program from the University of Chicago on teaching quantum mechanics principles to high school students. I hope you find it useful.

https://teachquantum.pme.uchicago.edu/_gl=1%2Amnb3hs%2A_gcl_au%2ANDA3MjcyMzc1LjE3NzYyNzU5NDE.