Some changes in the physics curriculum involve a teacher in teaching ideas that he or she has never experienced being taught at that level. An obvious example is quantum physics, where it is widely agreed that something needs to be included at high school level, but which teachers may well only have met before at university level. Another example is elements of Cosmology. Yet another is aspects of information and communication technology.

Other changes involve teachers teaching very familiar material in new ways. A leading example is the computer modelling approach to mechanics. Another might be the study of materials, going beyond familiar things like the Young modulus, to looking at properties of materials in terms of their structure, and including polymers, ceramics and glass as well as metals.

The talk will describe experiences with developing new teaching materials for topics of these two kinds, and will discuss some of the difficulties teachers have found in coming to terms with them.