Slovenia: Description of Physics Programs and Curriculum
The published physics curriculum used for the student population assessed in TIMSS Advanced 2015 Physics describes the goals, contents, competences, expected results, cross-curricular connections, and didactic recommendations for teaching Physics in Grades 10 to 13 as well as requirements for grading students.
Physics is taught as a fundamental natural science to develop students’ ability to study natural phenomena and emphasis is placed on understanding and evaluating achievements of modern science and technology. Physics education in secondary school builds on knowledge of physics and mathematics from primary school and gives appropriate basis for study of science.
Students develop basic competences in science in technology, in mathematics, in digital literacy, in communicating science in their mother language as well as in foreign languages, in learning to learn, and in entrepreneurship.
The curriculum puts emphasis on cross-curricular links at the levels of content, process skills and conceptual level. Interdisciplinary cooperation creates the possibility of transferability of knowledge, thereby creating conditions for a better understanding, greater usability of knowledge and hence greater creativity in all subject areas.
Teachers have autonomy to decide how best to implement their teaching, methods and forms of assignments and the order of reading material. In each year from Grade 10 to 12, all gymnasia students have 70 45-minutes classes (52.5 hours) of compulsory physics lessons. These hours of lessons comprise 80 percent prescribed compulsory content and 20 percent elective content, specified by teachers. The prescribed topics in each compulsory and elective content are listed below.
| Compulsory Content Areas | Topics |
|---|---|
| Measurement, Physical Quantities and Units | Use and measurement of physical quantities, conversion of units, calculating error (absolute and relative) |
| Motion | Displacement, average and instantaneous velocity, acceleration, circular motion (frequency, period, angular velocity and radial acceleration) |
| Force and Moments of Force | Composing and decomposing forces (graphically), equilibrium of forces, Newton’s Third Law, frictional force, resistance force, moments of force, pressure and pressure in fluids |
| Newton’s Laws of Motion and Law of Gravitation | Applying Newton’s law in motion and circular motion, Newton’s law of gravitation, Kepler’s Laws |
| Work and Energy | Work, kinetic energy, potential energy, mechanical energy and law of conservation of mechanical energy |
| Structure of Matter and Temperature | Calculate the number of particles (molecules or atoms) in a given mass of a pure substance and the mass of one of the components; Kelvin temperature scale, thermal expansion of solids, liquids and gases, linear and spatial extensibility, law of ideal gases |
| Internal Energy and Heat | Apply the first law of thermodynamics, specific heat capacity, phase transition, heat flux, Stefan’s law, thermal conductivity, heat engine, reversible and irreversible processes, second law of thermodynamics |
| The Electric Charge and Electric Fields | Conductors and insulators, electroscope, Coulomb’s law, capacitors, electric fields |
| Electric Current | Electric current, voltage, Ohm’s law, resistance and resistivity, series and parallel electric circuits, equations for resistors in series and parallel circuits, electric power, Kirchhoff’s circuit laws |
| Magnetic Field | Permanent magnet, magnetic fields around electrical conductors, magnetic field lines, magnetic force acting on a charge moving in a magnetic field, magnetic torque, density of the magnetic field, mass spectrometer, Hall effect sensor (working principle) |
| Induction | Induction in a moving conductor in a magnetic field, changes of the magnetic field in a coil and in a transformer, Faraday’s and Lenz’ laws of induction, L-C circuit |
| Oscillations | Simple harmonic motion (period, frequency, displacement from equilibrium and amplitude, velocity, acceleration and energy), damped oscillation and resonance |
| Waves | Transverse and longitudinal waves, sinusoidal waves (amplitude, wavelength), absorption, reflection, refraction, interference, polarization and Doppler Effect |
| Light | Electromagnetic spectrum, specular reflection, Snell’s law, optical physics and geometric optics |
| Atoms | Structure of atoms, photoelectric effect, energy levels of atoms |
| Atomic Nuclei | Structure of atomic nuclei, mass and atomic number, radioactive isotopes and their half-lives, radioactive decay, fission and fusion, nuclear reactions (conservation law, energy) |
| Astronomy | Solar system, nuclear processes on the Sun, stars, the galaxy |
| Elective Content Areas | Topics |
|---|---|
| Linear Momentum | Linear momentum (theorem), conversion of linear momentum, elastic and inelastic collisions |
| Angular Momentum | Angular momentum (theorem, conversion) |
| Fluids | Volumetric and mass flow rate, Bernoulli’s equation, surface tension |
| Semiconductors | Difference between metals, insulators and semiconductors; semiconductor diode, photodiode and solar cell (characteristics) |
| Theory of Relativity | Speed of light, speed of light in vacuum, time dilation and length contraction, relativistic particles (linear momentum and kinetic energy) |
In Grade 13, physics is a compulsory subject only for students who choose physics as one of their five matura examination subjects. Physics in Grade 13 has 140 45-minutes lessons. Half of these, 70 lessons (52.5 hours), is intended to deepen and enhance the physics knowledge acquired in Grades 10 to 12 as well as learning some special contents. Teachers decide which two or three themes from Mechanics, Heat, Electrics with Magnetism, Waves and Optics, and Modern Physics will be in focus of the course. The course includes 20 lessons (15 hours) of laboratory work and 50 lessons (37.5 hours) for lecture and assessment.
The physics curriculum prescribes the standards of knowledge that students should acquire by the end of Grade 12 and includes a separate list of standards for the matura examination at the end of Grade 13. The standards for the matura examination, listed below, are more detailed descriptions of topics from the standards for Grade 12.
| Grade 12 Standards |
|---|
|
Fundamental physical quantities and units of the international measurement system
The scientific method of studying natural phenomena Description of linear motion and the main features of curvilinear motion and its graphic representations Vector quantities and mathematical operations with vectors Newton’s laws and law of gravity Work, power, and energy Microscopic view and description of the structure of matter Temperature, heat, and internal energy Laws of thermodynamics Conservation laws for mass, energy, and electric charge Electric charge and electric field Simple electrical circuits Magnetic fields Induction The fundamental laws of oscillation and waves, especially electromagnetic radiation The visible spectrum of electromagnetic radiation Sound Wave nature of light Light as a form of energy and basic optical equipment Basic structures and characteristics of atoms The basic structure of the atomic nucleus and the charges and masses of the nucleons Qualitatively explain the mass defect in terms of energy Radioactive decay Fission and fusion of nuclei The operation of a nuclear reactor The structure of our solar system and the fundamental processes taking place on the Sun Characteristics of the most important objects in the universe |
Didactic recommendations in the curriculum relate to the implementation of the curriculum, laboratory work, project and term papers, the use of ICT, and about active forms of teaching. In physics, in addition to content knowledge, it is also important for students to acquire procedural knowledge and skills, so teachers incorporate independent work and group work, problem solving, project work, modern laboratory work, and field work into their classroom practice. Increasingly, traditional experimental work is gradually being replaced with more modern laboratory approaches, the objectives of which include the development of observation skills, thinking, reasoning, and research skills. The physics curriculum recommends that teachers should enhance their physics lessons with the use of computer technology. It recommends also interactive forms of lessons to promote the active participation of all students.