Physics,
the Neglected Science
Of the the three major sciences taught in the high
schools of the United States, physics is the most neglected. It has
more misconceptions associated with its principle than any of the
other science, not to mention an undeserved reputation for
difficulty. Yet physics is is the foundation of modern technology
and a key requirement for millions of high paying careers in
engineering, computer science, and medicine.
These pages have been created to help increase
awareness about the value of physics and to lend support to high
school physics students, teachers, and parents.
Why
Take Physics?
Intuitor.com provides ten good reasons
why every high school student should take physics even those who are
not "math and science people".
Which Physics Program Is Right For Me?
The number of high school physics options has grow
considerably. Here's information to help you make a choice.
Shortcomings of High
School Physics Here are the reasons why physics
has become a neglected high school subject.
STEM Careers There's
nothing worse than spending years getting a degree and finding out
you can't get a job. Here's information covering a diversity of
possibilities including engineering, architecture, computers, and
medicine as well as other scientific areas.
References
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Why The United States
Has to Rely on "Temporary" Foreign Technical
Professionals
The United States currently
allows 95,000 new foreign professionals each year to enter
the country on six year temporary H1B work permits because the
U.S. cannot train enough individuals for these jobs. The U.S.
should be the kind of place where skilled immigrants with big
ideas can come and seek their fortunes, but it should be a
benefit not a dependency.
Professional jobs filled by
foreign workers are primarily computer or engineering related. Physics
training is a key component for entry into most of these jobs
and yet the U.S. places little emphasis on physics education
as shown in the figure below.
The number of college freshmen
selecting engineering and computer science as their majors has
tended to decline even as the number of jobs has grown.
Furthermore, graduation rates in these majors is significantly
lower than non-technical majors. Clearly the U.S. needs to do
a better job of giving students the background they need to
succeed. Boosting high school physics is at least part of the
solution.
(Reference for the figure: The Digest of Education Statistics 1996)
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