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FIZIKA A 8 (1999) 4 , 215-222
 
THE DECLINE IN THE STUDY OF PHYSICS
P. J. FORDa and A. J. WILDEb
aPhysics Department, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY,
United Kingdom
bCity of Bath College, Bath BA1 1UP, United Kingdom
Dedicated to Professor Boran Leontiæ on the occasion of his 70th
birthday
Received 17 January 2000; Accepted 10 April 2000
This paper draws attention to the diminishing number of students studying physics both
at schools and universities despite its enormous importance for a modern technological
society. One possible reason is that many teachers do not convey fully the fascination and
excitement of physics and hence fail to inspire young people. A possible way of overcoming
this is to place emphasis on "hands-on'' experimental work which can be carried out
using simple and inexpensive materials which are readily available. Examples of this are
given.
PACS numbers: 01.40.Gm, 01.50.-i, 01.75.+m
UDC 53.087
Keywords: physics education, decline of the numbers of students
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