Identified are common features of the present implementation of new school physics teaching in Southeast Asia. Implementation aids, methods, and teacher comprehension, student cognitive levels, learning styles, and a more functional physics curriculum are discussed. (DS)

Indicating that the rationale for teaching physics, to which curricula are ultimately directed, must focus on the needs of both future scientists and non-scientists alike, trends in physics curricula and instruction are viewed. Such changes are suggested to have taken place in response to growth in information, to changing perceptions of the…