Reform of Physics Exam for College Enrollment In China

The College Enrollment Examination (GaoKao) in China has experienced continuous reforms over the past twenty years. The whole education system is becoming more open in orientation and more flexible in framework. For example, in Zhejiang Province, one of the pioneers in education reform, Physics is no longer a compulsory subject for high school students who want to study science and engineering in university. Instead, it is now only one of the seven optional subjects. The official figures in Zhejiang Province indicate that a considerable decrease of students who sit physics test, which is 160,000 in 2011, 90,000 in 2017 and less than 60,000 in 2018 (estimated) out of a total of approximately 260,000 because physics is believed to be too difficult. Therefore, the authors of this paper aim to investigate (i) how to stimulate students’ interests in physics with the help of computer-aided demonstration and online resources; (ii) how to balance the level of difficulty over individual topics (iii) how to bridge the gap between Chinese and international education in K12 level by analyzing A-level in UK and SAT subject and AP in USA.