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College Physics
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Question:
How can I better prepare my students for both the physics aspects of
the SAT and college physics in general? Many are concerned about the difficulty
level of both.
Replies:
Dan,
The only thing that troubles me at all in what I've read is the
refrain from
some of you about the need to prepare students for SAT tests or state exams
in physics.
Agree..perhaps a second course (Algebra II or Calculus based) is
called for the % of kids planning to major in physics related
courses in college?
So, if you forget about standardized tests and teach ninth-graders the best
physics you can for their stage of development, what you get is young people
who understand better what physics is all about, what it means to make a
measurement and analyze it - and you get young people, including young
female people and young minority people, with a favorable attitude toward
physics, maybe even excited by it, feeling that it is fun, not torture, and
that they might want to take more of it in the future. What more could we
ask than that? Bingo! And, just perhaps, fewer students will be "scared" off to
take more physics in high school and college?
Ken
I've been reading the exchanges with great interest. There's a lot
going on
out there, and a lot of teachers with good insights.
The only thing that troubles me at all in what I've read is the refrain from
some of you about the need to prepare students for SAT tests or state exams
in physics. True, SOME ninth-graders can master enough "standard,"
problem-solving physics to do all right on such exams, but if we are talking
about physics for ALL ninth graders, don't we have to abandon this idea of
preparation for standardized tests? To forget about such tests is not to
abandon one's duty as a physics teacher. On the contrary, it is to recognize
that the best kind, the right kind of physics to teach to freshmen is not
old-fashioned "standard" physics. Let the test writers catch up with you
instead of you chasing them.
I am a big fan of conceptual physics, but I don't regard that as
non-mathematical physics. What can happily be left out are derivations other
than of the simplest variety, multi-step problem solving, and trigonometry.
What can be left in, along with the concepts, are mathematics in the form of
proportionalities (including inverse squares), numerical evaluations,
measurement, graphing, and uncertainty. With the minimalist math, you have
the time to really teach the MEANING of laws and concepts. The ninth-grade
conceptual physics student has a chance to get a deeper understanding of
Newton's laws, entropy, interference and diffraction, and the photon (for
instance) than does the junior or senior in what we still call a
conventional course.
So, if you forget about standardized tests and teach ninth-graders the best
physics you can for their stage of development, what you get is young people
who understand better what physics is all about, what it means to make a
measurement and analyze it - and you get young people, including young
female people and young minority people, with a favorable attitude toward
physics, maybe even excited by it, feeling that it is fun, not torture, and
that they might want to take more of it in the future. What more could we
ask than that?
I cherish the hope that good ninth-grade physics will save college physics!
Right now, college physics departments are kept alive by teaching chemistry,
biology, and engineering majors. The number of physics majors, which has
always been small, is getting smaller still, and is declining precipitously
in relative terms. Moreover, the number of women majoring in physics is less
than one quarter of the already tiny number of men in the subject, and the
number of minorities is far less still. It's a scandal. How can ninth-grade
physics help? Well, if you "get 'em early" before all the standard biases
have kicked in, and if you imbue in your students the feeling that physics
is really quite interesting, something to be enjoyed, not feared, you may
send these kids off the college a few years later in a frame of mind to
study a little more physics in a little more depth. That will be an
achievement far more important than getting them through standardized tests.
Of course, you may have a second crack at some of them while they are still
in high school, in which case you can worry about the tests then.
Both Ken and Larry make some important points!
I will just respond to one.
The only thing that troubles me at all in what I've read is the refrain from
some of you about the need to prepare students for SAT tests or state exams
in physics.
Bingo! And, just perhaps, fewer students will be "scared" off and
take more physics in high school and college?
Physics can be taught to ALL ninth graders and the course should not
prepare them for the SAT II. If we are really trying to teach for
understanding, some of the content of a SAT prep course will need
to be skipped. The NY regents exam had core and optional sections.
Less IS more provided that students not only know and are able to do,
but also understand and are able to apply what they learn in physics!
But, there is a second audience that would benefit from
physics first. These are the most able students in our schools.
For these an algebra/trig course that uses a Conceptual Physics approach
as its base and problem solving is a good solution. Will they be prepared for
the SAT II? Not in June, but with a few sessions before or after school
in September they will do just fine on the Physics SAT II that is offered in
October. They won't all get 800's but some will.
There is plenty of data to support this! Some would claim that they
will have forgotten too much by that time. If that IS the case it is the
fault of the instruction not the student.
There is no one "magic bullet" here. We need multiple solutions to
meet the needs of all! It is clear that Physics first WILL get more
students to take more science and that they will perform at higher
levels than with the B-C-P sequence.
Thank you, Ken and Larry for helping us to refocus on the students
and our efforts to help them to appreciate the beauty and utility
of physics as we do!
Paul
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Update: June 2012
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