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This paper reports the results of an empirical investigation into the level of physics education received by adults between the ages of 20 and 40 years and its relation to their educational career. In this context, a set of pre‐experimental hypotheses, primarily related to the presumed long‐term effects of physics instruction, was tested. A total of 869 adults from 11 towns in the Federal Republic of Germany participated in this study. For methodological reasons, the domain of physics was restricted to the thematic areas of ‘Energy and energy supply’ and ‘Electricity and domestic electrical appliances’.
A strong relationship was found to exist between the amount of physics instruction received in school and both types of knowledge, theoretical and practical, in adulthood. Interests and attitudes are less influenced by school variables than by out‐of‐school socialization. Gender differences in physics knowledge can only be partially ascribed to differences in educational career.