The Physics Escalator: from GCSE to Degree Level Physics

Physics is a skill

No-one is born with an innate understanding of physics. From birth, we begin to explore the world through our senses, learning from trial and error, and making mistakes along the way. We learned about stability and balance by falling down and getting back up.

Importantly, the process of falling down and getting back up does not stop. It is precisely how we learn, albeit in a less corporeal way. The way physicists think can be learned. People can be trained to become physicists.

At each stage in one’s physics education, there are fundamental changes. Almost everyone in the UK studies Physics at GCSE Level (either as a separate science or as part of a Science GCSE). Very few progress to A-Level Physics, and even fewer go on to study Physics at university. Physics has a reputation for being difficult, which may be a reason why so few progress to the higher level studies; but it is in the latter stages of A-Level Physics where it starts to come alive for students.

In order to progress to university physics, where the really fun stuff happens, students must develop good study habits and make excellent use of structured support.

Stage 0: Pre-GCSE Physics

Before the start of GCSE Physics, the subject is mainly focused on exploring the material universe qualitatively. The purpose of any science study before GCSE level is to inspire young people to become interested in asking the question ‘why?’

That is not always an easy question to answer, so physics at this stage is about encouraging young people to develop a love of inquisition and a receptivity to exploring the unknown.

This is also the last stage before subject-based examinations become the deciding factor of what is taught and what is left out. Essentially, this stage involves exploring physics just for the fun of it, without the pesky inconvenience of mathematics.

Stage 1: GCSE Physics

At GCSE level we build the foundations. Everything you learn at GCSE level will come up again at A-Level. The fundamentals of the subject must be firmly established before physics education can progress further, so this stage is potentially the most important stage of all.

Here, students shift from thinking qualitatively to thinking quantitatively. Almost every aspect of the course involves some basic mathematics. Forces? There are formulae for that. Energy? Formulae for that too. Motion? Waves? Electromagnetism? Electricity? In every topic, we have simple equations that can be used to determine what the outcome of an experiment may be.

In addition to the 30+ formulae that students will need to master, there are also unit prefixes. Here, simple plugging numbers into equations is not enough, students must have an appreciation for scale of the numbers. Does an aeroplane fly at 900 m/s? Probably not. 900 km/h? That sounds more reasonable. Students will have to be cognizant of the unit prefixes used, and do sanity checks on their answers to make sure they haven’t missed anything.

The snake-in-the-grass at this level is examination technique. A student who has truly mastered the physics and has no understanding of exam technique should still achieve a top grade, but often there are mark scheme idiosyncrasies particular to each examination board. A slightly less capable student who has mastered those idiosyncrasies can perform better in examinations than a student who has mastered the subject but not looked at a single examination past paper. The examination rewards knowledge and understanding, yes, but it also rewards good study habits and attention to detail.

Top tips for success at this level:

• Master algebra. You can do this by using the Formula Drill web app, which is available to enrolled tutees via the dashboard > Resources > Web apps.
• Master unit conversions. The Area and Volume Conversion Drill web app can help with this, found in the same place.
• Practice active recall. Here, the Definitions Drill web app is useful, as is regular participation in the weekly tuition sessions

Stage 2: A-Level Physics

There are three main ways that A-Level Physics steps up from GCSE Physics. The first is the conceptual leap. At A-Level, many topics become more abstract.

In particle physics, the strong nuclear force must be understood (albeit at a basic level), but you do not get to investigate the strong nuclear force on a daily basis because of its short range and because it only acts between hadrons. Electromagnetism involves an understanding of flux, which is an entirely abstract model to simplify an interesting consequence of special relativity for moving charges. Waves are a model that can apply to all sorts of situations. Binding energy and mass defect? I guess you have to take it on faith at this level, but the mathematics works.

At this level, there are things that you cannot investigate with your own two hands or your own two eyes (for those with two of each of those). Physics stops being about the tangible material universe and shifts towards the intangible, and with that shift comes an increase in mathematical complexity.

Students have to master algebra. I mean really master it. Calculus is used for derivations. Vectors must become second-nature. Equation rearrangement needs to be quick and accurate, with barely a hesitation or thought. Unit conversions are still required, but they don’t factor as a special skill in themselves because they are supposed to be so ingrained in the students’ thinking. In fact, unit conversions take on a new dimension, with converting energies from joules to electron-volts and vice versa. Units become algebraic elements in their own right.

The biggest challenge for A-Level Physics students is that they have to have mastered GCSE Physics in its entirety. Much of A-Level Physics is about connecting different topics together. Concepts are no longer taken in isolation. Students must develop the ability to think synoptically. I often joke with my students that all we require is for them to have knowledge of all things at all times; they must become omniscient to succeed. Whilst this is obviously a joke, the best jokes work because they contain a kernel of truth. A student who has not truly mastered all of GCSE Physics will find A-Level Physics extremely challenging, because teachers will not be able to re-teach GCSE Physics. There just isn’t time.

And if all that wasn’t enough, students also have to master new practical skills, which are assessed on a pass/fail basis! Students have to gain a working understanding of uncertainties and mathematical modelling. Some of these ideas are new to students. The student may have worked in a laboratory and completed practical work at GCSE Level, but now they have to consider how to conduct the practical work themselves – they are not told exactly what is needed. They have to consider uncertainties through the practical activity so that they can compare their result to the expected result, which they have to look up and reference themselves.

Top tips for success at this level:

• Master first principles and fundamentals. Students must break every new topic, every new skill, everything they learn, down to first principles. Students should memorise every derivation of every equation on the formula sheet from first principles. They can use the Multistep Calculation Drill web app to help them. Enrolled tutees can access this by going to the dashboard > Resources > Web apps.
• Being able to visualise the physics is essential. Tutees should practice their diagram drawing. There are a variety of simulations and drill web apps that can help, depending on the abstract topic that students are trying to visualise.
• Past papers and mark schemes must be deconstructed. Just as with GCSE Physics, A-Level Physics examination mark schemes include idiosyncrasies. Students who spend time learning how examiners think will tend to perform more highly. We practise this skill every week during term times in the weekly tuition sessions.

Stage 3: University Physics

If you thought the level of abstraction in A-Level Physics was high, you haven’t seen anything yet. From Maxwell’s Equations to the Schrodinger Equation to Dirac Notation to the use of tensors. The list goes on and on. The jump from A-Level Physics to University Physics isn’t too bad though. Students who have learned to cope with abstractions in A-Level Physics are already well prepared for this.

At A-Level, students are expected to work independently. At university level, this takes on a whole new dimension. Weighty textbooks need to be studied, questions need to be practised, lab work needs to be completed, and no-one will be taking a register. (Actually, in some universities they do take a register, but many still don’t). You are paying over £9000 per year for the privilege of being there, so the lecturers will not be stressing if you do not attend. It’s all on you. You are an adult.

The mathematical step up from A-Level Physics to University Physics is huge, but again, it’s manageable and probably easier than the step up from GCSE Physics to A-Level Physics. Those tools you learned about in A-Level Mathematics get expanded on and used regularly. Just like algebra stopped being a big deal during A-Level, so calculus, matrices and series just become a normal part of your mathematical thinking.

You will get problems set that most students will not be able to solve. Some lecturers won’t even have been able to solve them! There’s no structured plan to solve the problems laid out anywhere that you can memorise, no recipe book to follow. You have to develop the skill of unstructured problem solving. That comes with practice and repeated failure. Failure is not something to be afraid of, it is something to embrace. Every failed attempt is a lesson learned.

Remember I said the lecturers don’t care if you don’t turn up? Well they do care if you miss a deadline. If you miss deadlines, you don’t get second and third and fourth chances. If you fail to manage your own time effectively, you simple score zero in assignments.

Top tips for success at this level:

• Get the mathematics right early. Make sure you turn up to every lecture, every tutorial session, every opportunity to practise and develop. Be there, be engaged, and continually practise those new mathematical techniques.
• Build a support network of friends. This is so critical. University can be the most fun time of your life. You are an adult, but still young enough to get away with making silly mistakes (to a certain extent). The friends you party with will become the friends you have for the rest of your life. If you have a group of friends who are all going through the same academic struggles and you strive on together, you will succeed. You will make it to the end.
• Learn to embrace the struggle. This is the last stage before the real physics begins. Research, discovery, publishing papers, becoming a real physicist. All of that requires you to be comfortable with the struggle. If it was easy, everyone would do it. If some new knowledge or understanding in Physics was easy, then it wouldn’t have waited until now to be discovered! To become a real physicist, a research physicist, a PhD student or beyond, you need to accept and embrace the fact that you are going to find it difficult. That’s actually where the fun is to be found!
• BONUS TIP: Get involved in projects early. During your first year, befriend the lecturers and researchers, and see if you can get summer projects contributing to their work and helping them out. When you eventually apply to study a PhD, you’ll be in a stronger position

Conclusion

Physics is the very definition of a “growth mindset”. Students who see failure as opportunity are the ones who will strive on through their studies and succeed. Failure is temporary if you continue to push forwards.

Consistency matters. Cramming before tests or exams does not lead to success. To master physics, you have to truly live it, embrace it, make it part of your everyday experience. Physics cannot be put off until later.

There is support available. No-one struggles alone. Even PhD students have supervisors. Make good use of the support that is available.

I have lived a lifetime in Physics education. I cannot imagine not studying the subject (I still study it even now). I cannot fathom why anyone would choose not to push forwards in physics. Some will see it as a means to an end (such as students who wish to study engineering at university – although I would have to ask, do they really know what engineering is, or what the difference is between physics and engineering?) I don’t see it that way, I see it as the end in itself. We are the only species on the planet – maybe the universe, we don’t know – who has an innate yearning to understand our universe. We are compelled to understand. We are driven by something deep within our DNA to have to discover. I believe that any student who is capable of studying Physics at the highest level has a moral duty to do so.

And I believe every student is capable.