A Revolution in Physics Education Was Forecast In 1989, Why Hasn't It Happened? What Will It Take?

The 1989 paper ‘Using Computers in Teaching Physics’ was subtitled ‘Computers can revolutionize not only the way we teach physics, but also what physics we teach’. It gave compelling reasons for incorporating computers into physics education. But, now, 30+ years later, we read in ‘Computing in Physics Education’: ‘In the USA the undergraduate physics curriculum - that is, the standard set of coursework and activities in an accredited physics major – looks much the same as it did 60 years ago.’ Classical physics is based on the analysis of differential equation models of physical systems. However, most differential equation models of physical systems are analytically unsolvable. This is the university’s little secret, it is the reason physics education is so difficult and why so few physical systems are analyzed.The computer and computational calculus revolutionized physics because they make it possible to analyze analytically unsolvable differential equations. This changed everything in physics. Computational calculus quickly became the norm for analyzing physical systems in science and engineering (outside the classroom).And, unlike analytic calculus, computational calculus is trivially easy and intuitively transparent. It will change everything in physics education. It requires rewriting the entire classical physics curriculum, from introductory physics, starting in high school, to advanced, incorporating differential equations, computers, and computational calculus from the beginning.