Teaching and Learning Optics at the Secondary Level

Abstract

Optics is one of the main building bricks of every physics/science curriculum at the secondary level. While a lot of research on teaching/learning optics has been conducted, hardly any syntheses have been proposed that systematically summarize the most relevant and reliable findings and robust conclusions for school practice or point out research gaps. In this review, we offer a synthetic and systematic description of about 70 articles that were published between 2000 and 2020 in the ERIC database and indexed as “peer-reviewed”, “journal articles” mentioning “teaching optics” or “learning optics.” Following a clearly defined procedure, abstracts are scanned to exclude articles that do not match the age-group, do not cover the topic or are not based on empirical research. The remaining articles are analyzed according to a previously developed grid echoing the goals of this handbook. Our aim is to show how PER concerning teaching/learning optics at secondary level has advanced during the last two decades and which instructional strategies proved to be successful in triggering students' understanding of optics. In doing so, we focus on empirical findings about teaching/learning optics and related subtopics of optics in secondary education. Finally, we provide conclusions and recommendations for future research.