The question physics educators are wrestling with is how to
increase the appeal of the discipline without compromising its core content.Schoolteachers have long bemoaned the constraints of an exam-driven syllabus that precludes them from creating more interesting 1essons.The government's response has been to implement new science exams that emphasize the application and relevance of ideas.This move has( 27 ).〇no teacher at a leading fee-charging school in London,Dr.Martin Stephen,has claimed the new exams are“a lethal injection”for the subject and that they are“to real science what baby food is to steak and chips”The concern is that the subject will be made more attractive at the expense of hard-core theory.
Ironically,some suggest that pure sciences are actually already
easier than the arts“If you grasp the fundamental principles,applying them is not that difficult,”says one physics graduate now running his own business.He also believes that leading employers place more weight on what they see as“hard”subjects when selecting graduates. If science graduates are indeed seen as more employable than peers with arts degrees,will the sciences( 28 )?Possibly_ especially if teachers succeed in making the subject more engaging. “In some ways,”says DanielSandford Smith,education manager at the Institute of Physics,“you shouldn't have to work that hard to
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