Recommended Textbooks for Advanced Level Physics Part 3 : United Kingdom Text - Advanced Level Physics by Nelkon & Parker

Textbook Reviewed :  Advanced Level Physics (by Nelkon & Parker)


This was the classic text used by most Singapore schools at the time that when I was still a student.  The current edition is much better than the 6th Edition, which I felt the paper was so thin that I was so afraid to tear it.  It is still one of the key British texts that I constantly refer to, maybe I was familiar with the lay out.

What I Particularly Like About The Text:

This is a text particularly suited for the A-level syllabus.  It contains much information especially on experiments that students particularly need for the A-level examination.

I always recommend this as a reading text for my students, as I find it helps the students to hone the way they write  (in a scientific manner).  Language and arguments are done in a formal manner and it does improve the quality the students write.  Since the A-levels are set by UK examiners, it is best to understand what the examiners are saying.  This helps in understanding of the questions set in the A-levels examinations as well.
  
This is also a good text as it covers everything and also beyond the A-level syllabus, which is good as A-levels do expect the student to be informed beyond the syllabus and provides good grounding.  (Btw, the O-level text - "Principle of Physics" is particularly good...helped me score my distinction in Physics when I did my O-level....was utterly grateful for it.)


What I feel needs to be improved:

The same with all other British texts, I hope to see a version of text with :

• more colour
• highlighting of the more important points in boxes esp. the essential definitions and explanations.
• Layout can be more friendly and aesthetically done
• More pictures (hopefully colourful ones)
• Have scaffolding questions before dumping the students with the examination style questions which are nevertheless important.

Recommended Textbooks for Advanced Level Physics Part 2 : United Kingdom Text - Advanced Physics by Tom Duncan

Textbook Reviewed:  Advanced Physics by Tom Duncan

This is another textbook which I commonly refer to when I prepare for lectures and tutorials. 

What I particularly like about the Textbook:

Explanations are very detailed and clear.  Definitions are again very precise.  I also particularly like the detailed descriptions and well-labelled diagrams of the experiments and all essential experiments are given.  The drawings were often traditional clipart drawings which you could easily duplicate for exams using your pencils, unlike the diagrams nowadays in US texts which tend to replace them by real objects and students may not know the skill to draw the schematic diagrams which they need to produce in examinations.

Areas that can be Improved for the textbook:

  I was first exposed to this text when I was an A-level student - this was the other recommended text besides Nelkon and Parker.  However, I found it a little difficult to follow as the concepts and ideas were not introduced in the sequence taught by my lecturers or tutors, this was further complicated by the fact that the tutors did not point out specifically where I could refer to for each chapter of the text.  To give you an example, for the study of thermal physics I had to look at one chapter for the various bonds of the materials to see how they affected specific heat capacity and another chapter for example on gas laws.  Examples in the texts were also too few and so I found it difficult to scaffold  my learning and found it difficult to apply what I have learnt to the questions given for tutorials.  So eventually, I still stuck on to my Nelkon and Parker.  As a teacher, I got around this problem, as I was familiar with the instructional objectives of each topic, so I usually search for the information I need through the glossary, e.g. suppose I was looking for information on Conservation of Energy, I would then go to the glossary and read through all the relevant pages on Conservation of Energy.

 As usual, end of chapter problems were usually UK A-level examination questions,  therefore they pose difficulty to a student new to the topic as there was too great a jump from the concepts to the application of concepts to exam-style question.  It would have been better to have some simpler questions that were first relevant and arranged according to the concepts introduced and then the slightly more difficult ones that were more at the examination level, and then finally the examination style questions.

[Note:  Diagram is taken of http://www.amazon.co.uk/.  In the case that anyone wishes for me to remove it I can easily do so.]

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Bargains for Members at AAPT

The American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) is having a great booksale for their members. Just choose 5 books for the price of USD 30 (excluding statement), maybe that is sufficient motivation to entice me to renew my membership....I stopped renewing when my school subscribed to "The Physics Teacher".

If you are interested, you may go to http://www.aapt.org for more details