Vietnam: What is Murphy's Law? What are the characteristics of the Physics subject in the General Education Program 2018?

What is Murphy's Law?

Murphy's Law is a humorous "rule" in life often used to describe situations where everything can go wrong in the worst possible way. In other words, "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong."

*Origin:

This law is named after Edward A. Murphy, an American aerospace engineer. During an experiment, a device malfunctioned in a strange way, and Murphy uttered this famous saying.

*Meaning:

Humor: Murphy's Law provides a humorous perspective on unwanted situations in life.

Practicality: All of us have experienced the "dumbstruck" situations described by Murphy's Law.

Optimism: Although it sounds negative, this law also reminds us to always prepare mentally for unexpected situations and find ways to handle them optimistically.

*Examples:

You just poured a cup of coffee and accidentally spilled it.

You're in a hurry to get to work, and your car breaks down on the road.

You just found one sock but can't find the other.

*Note: The information is for reference only./.

What is Murphy's Law? What are the characteristics of the Physics subject in the General Education Program 2018? (Image from the Internet)

What are the characteristics of the Physics subject in the General Education Program 2018?

Under Section 1 of the Appendix of the General Education Program in Physics issued with Circular 32/2018/TT-BGDDT regulating the characteristics of the Physics subject in the General Education Program 2018 as follows:

Physics is the science that studies the simplest and most general forms of motion of matter and their interactions.

In general education, physics education is implemented at all three levels with different intensities.

At the basic education stage (primary and lower secondary levels), the physics education content is covered in the following subjects: Natural and Social (grades 1, 2, 3); Science (grades 4, 5); and Natural Science (from grades 6 to 9).

At the career-oriented education stage (upper secondary level), Physics is a subject in the group of Natural Science subjects, selected based on students' aspirations and career orientations. Students with career orientation that requires applying extensive physics knowledge and skills are offered additional specialized study topics. The Physics subject helps students continue to develop the qualities and competencies formed during the basic education stage, enabling them to initially identify their true abilities and strengths, exhibit a positive attitude towards the subject. Based on the foundational content provided in the basic education stage, the Physics Curriculum selects and develops the most essential and practical issues while focusing on high-application issues that form the basis for many technical, scientific, and technological fields.

Experiments and practical work play a particularly important role in forming concepts, rules, and laws in physics.

Therefore, the Physics Curriculum emphasizes training students in the ability to explore the properties of physical objects through experimental and practical content from different angles.

The Physics Curriculum emphasizes training the ability to apply learned knowledge and skills to explore and solve certain practical issues, meeting practical life demands; and ensuring the development of physics competence—an expression of natural science competence—while meeting the students' career orientation needs.

Through the Physics Curriculum, students form and develop a scientific worldview; gain confidence, honesty, and objectivity; appreciate the beauty of nature; love nature, and take pride in the natural landscape of their homeland and country; respect, preserve, and protect nature, interacting with it in a way that aligns with sustainable development; while forming and developing self-autonomy, self-learning, communication, cooperation, problem-solving, and creativity capabilities.

What are the 04 perspectives on developing the General Education Program for Physics in Vietnam?

Under Section 2 of the Appendix of the General Education Program in Physics issued with Circular 32/2018/TT-BGDDT regarding the 04 perspectives on developing the General Education Program for Physics in Vietnam:

The Physics Curriculum fully comprehends the basic regulations stated in the General Education Program, regarding viewpoints, objectives, requirements to be achieved, educational plans, educational content, education methods and assessment of results, implementation and program development conditions; guiding principles for constructing the curricula of subjects and educational activities; while emphasizing several following viewpoints:

Perspective1. The Physics Curriculum inherits and promotes the advantages of the current program and, on the other hand, absorbs the curriculum construction experiences of advanced educational systems internationally, while aligning with achievements in educational science and physics that suit students' cognitive and psychological levels and physiological ages, considering Vietnam's economic and social conditions.

Perspective2. The Physics Curriculum emphasizes the nature and physics significance of objects, highlights practical aspects; avoids a mathematics-centered tendency; facilitates teachers in developing students' scientific thinking from a physics perspective, instigating students' interest, enhancing the ability to apply physics knowledge and skills in practical contexts.

Topics are designed and arranged from intuitive to abstract, from simple to complex, from systems viewed as particles to multi-particle systems; initially engaging with some modern, practical, and core content.

Perspective3. The Physics Curriculum is constructed in an open manner, reflected in not specifying detailed teaching content but only stipulating the learning outcomes students need to achieve; concrete definitions for concepts are provided only when there is a possibility of differing interpretations.

Based on the required achievements, textbook authors are proactive and creative in implementing specific teaching content according to the program development requirements.

Adhering closely to the program's goals and meeting the Physics Curriculum's required outcomes, teachers can choose to use either a single textbook or a combination of many textbooks and various resources for teaching. Within a class, the order of teaching the topics (including mandatory topics and optional topics) is not fixed; textbook authors and teachers can create reasonably, ensuring they do not disrupt the logical formation of knowledge and skills nor limit opportunities for students' ability and quality formation and development.

The order of teaching topics is arranged so that topics describing physical phenomena are delivered first to provide an overview of the phenomenon, followed by topics explaining and researching the phenomena to offer a deeper physics basis, and finally to topics applying these phenomena in science or practical contexts.

Perspective4. The education methods of the Physics subject contribute to fostering the initiative, proactiveness, and creativity of learners, intended to form and develop physics competence as well as contribute to forming and developing the general qualities and competencies stipulated in the General Education Program.