11 Education

Perhaps no other activity has more far-reaching effect on human welfare than education. The scope of education is broad. It starts from the first visual, audible, and tactile stimuli that we provide help infants with their vigorous and natural assimilation of all surrounds them. Then we shape environments for children to combine play with learning, hoping that they will take joy in acquiring – amazingly – the abilities to speak and read, manipulate and assemble, to watch and emulate. All this develops further through the various grades of formal learning up into adulthood, at which point humans are learning the knowledge and skills to support their livelihood and – we hope – to maintain an active and deep interest in the wonders human creativity and the natural world. Learning remains active throughout life and can achieve a resurgence when retirement permits a re-focusing of the active mind and (hopefully) still-healthy body.

So how does physics lend itself to this hugely important realm? First, of course, physics itself is a base of knowledge that gives profound order to our comprehension of our surroundings: observation of how infants probe their environment and naturally develop schema for living within it leads one to believe that we are all born physicists. The challenge is for physics to remain accessible and interesting as it becomes more abstract and mathematical and corrects natural misconceptions through careful uncovering of deeper constructs and relationships. Systematic research into how people learn physics helps bridge the gap between the “obvious” and the “true”. Also, fortunately, demonstrations of physical phenomena can always arouse intrigue; public engagement through such demonstrations is a key contribution to learning.

There are many other ways for physics to contribute. Physical tools like magnetic resonance imaging help us learn about brain processes associated with learning. Physical devices can extend our senses, giving us a chance to see with previously invisible radiation and even hear – when re-transcribed into loudspeaker movements – the arrival of gravity waves. Toys can be amazingly rich in their ability to reveal and employ physical effects. For learners with physical impairments, physics can assist by with tools and representations that make sure learning is available to everyone. Physics can attend to the environment in which we learn, making sure that it is safe, comfortable, and stimulating. Simulators – including physical motion devices as well as audio-visual simulations – can be designed as immersive environments. And communication technologies mediated by various physical devices can ensure that learning can be collaborate and extended across distance, unifying people through a common quest for knowledge.