Looking forward: teaching optics in the 21st century

摘要

The teaching of optics will become more difficult in the future because the amount of teaching material is increasing rapidly for two reasons: new facts about optics evolve at a rapid rate and understanding the adjacent disciplines becomes more important since optics will be engaged increasingly in interdisciplinary activities. The capacity of the human brain will not increase. The situation is not hopeless, however, for three reasons: the fundamental of optics will not grow or change drastically; the advancing technologies of computing and communicating may be used more intensively in support of teaching; and improvements are possible, if more teamwork is utilized in education. Learning as a term and also teaching by a team is more efficient than traditional procedures.