Research on views of various stakeholders on physics and science curriculum
Research team: Vojtěch Žák, Petr Kolář, Martin Chvál
About the research
Our research reveals what the desirable physics curriculum is according to relevant groups of stakeholders who (can) intervene in the development, promotion and implementation of the physics (more generally, science) curriculum. The beginnings of this research are connected with the Ph.D. thesis Starting points for a new physics curriculum (P. Kolář, supervisor: V. Žák). In our first significant international publication, we focused on the views of leading Czech physicists, and in the follow-up study (currently under review), we compare the views of leading physicists with the views of scientists from other related fields, physics teachers from upper secondary schools, and physics teacher educators. In the subsequent studies that are currently being developed, we are finding out the views of students and stakeholders from the field of industry.
Methods
We use both qualitative methods – grounded theory approach (in-depth and semi-structured interviews, open and axial coding, constant comparison) and quantitative methods (software text analysis, questionnaire, factor analysis).
Publications related to the research:
Žák, V., & Kolář, P. (2023). Physics curriculum in upper secondary schools: What leading physicists want. Science Education, 107, 677–712. [Online].
Žák, V., & Kolář, P. (2018). Proměny fyzikálního kurikula – první výsledky analýzy mezinárodních zdrojů. Scientia in Educatione, 9(1), 122–134. [Online].
Benefiting the wider community
Based on the findings of our research, the Department of Physics Education at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University is developing an upper secondary school physics textbook, which will be usable within physics education at various types of upper secondary schools. The piloting of the textbook is organized and investigated in the Ph.D. thesis Implementation of the new physics textbook in upper secondary education (T. Fürstová, supervisor: V. Žák).
