The Rutherford Schools Physics Project, led by Cambridge University Professor of Theoretical Physics Mark Warner, and Cavendish Laboratory Outreach Officer Dr Lisa Jardine-Wright, will work collaboratively with teachers, schools and other partner universities to deliver extension materials, on-line learning, workshops for students and support for physics teachers.
The DfE has agreed to support the project with a £6.9million grant over five and a half years, with an intermediate review after three years.
“University physics is ideally suited to students who are fluent in mathematics and have an appetite for problem-solving,” explains Professor Warner. “Universities want to admit students who are beginning to demonstrate that they think like physicists.
“This includes them sketching diagrams to assess a problem, deconstructing problems, sifting information, assembling ideas from different areas of physics, and using their mathematical skills.”
“The Rutherford Schools Physics Project will provide extension materials for students and support for teachers in developing these key skills and methods, working within the framework of the existing A-level curriculum.”
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Reproduced courtesy of the University of Cambridge
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Rutherford Schools Physics Project launches with support from DfE
9 May 2013
A new five-year project aimed at developing the skills of sixth-form physicists has been awarded a £7 million grant by the Department for Education.