🚀 go-pugleaf

I've been teaching physics for goin' on 30 yrs.  About 18 years ago I had
some real soul searching(at the time I had 2-3 sections of physics using
the PSSC set of materials).  As you may know PSSC is rather pedantic and
rather student 'unfriendly', anyhow I realized that a lot of students
missed out on physics because IT AS JUST TOO HARD.  I backed of a bit and
decided on a major change...a regular physics course using the Prentic
Hall materials 'Physics Its Methods and Meanings" but kept the PSSC stuff
for the Honors Physics classes.  Well the result is that this year there
are 8 sections of physics and I now teach only physics....(no basic
Science,..awful class).  My point is that if we persist in presenting
physics to the present student population the way it was presented to us
most of students will be turned off early and just drop the course and,
then too, the word gets around that the course is hard and boooorrriiiinng.
The Conceptual Physics materials are very good and I use some of Hewitts
materials all the time, however I'm not ready for a purely Conceptual
Physics course...maybe the guy that replaces me will be more open to
change.  I feel that what I am
doing now meets the needs of most of the college bound students in my
classes.
About the trigonometry class not being in sync with the physics
class.....Where is it written in our teaching contracts that we must
start from the front of the book and go to the back??? Traditional
physics starts with mechanics then heat then light then.......  Why
couldn't someone, say, start with electricty first  or wave motion or
thermodynamics......the students don't know what the traditional sequence
is.
I'd be interested in teachers comments about a cooperative math/physics
course.  Are there teachers that have reached an agreement with the math
faculty in their schools so that students are taught trig early on in the
math sequence.  It used to(or should?) be taught in Geometry...our math
department(we have never been able to get cooperation...) skips over the
trig in the geometry text and even leaves it out in Alg II.
....my 3 cents.
Larry




On Sat, 12 Feb 1994, John S. Dilsaver wrote:

> I am a new PHYSHARE sub'r.  I joined in the midst of the trig discussion.  A
> big thank-you to Joe McLaughlin for sending me a lot of the previous responses
> to his original post.
>
>   1.-- My situation--. I have one secion of physics in an 800 student h.s.
> I've had it 3 years and I've seen physics enrollment quadruple,   and further
> growth is likely.  So, we're adding a conceptual -physics class, and a physics
> II class next year.  So, I'm starting to plan for these courses now.
>
>   2.-- Conceptual Physics--.  Sounds like a good idea, but I need help.  I'm
> curious about how many PHYSHARE'ers are teaching a conceptual physics class
> now, or are developing one for the near future.  I'm developing one for next
> year. I see this class aimed at about sophomore level, filled with good
> discussion of physics topics, but not very much math.  LOTS of labs/ data
> collection/ graphs etc. And, it should cover LOTS of topics, move around
> pretty
> quickly; a good basic intro to eveything<well, we can hope>, and which might
> sell the student on enrolling for more math and science classes.
>
>   3.-- Trig, just the basics--.  A lot of my students in physics are
> co-enrolled in trig.  But, we need the law of sines/ cosines much earlier in
> physics than it is covered in trig.  (about week #2 in physics, second quarter
> in Trig).  So, I just have to stop and teach them.  But, we don't need the
> whole trig book, just the basics. Right now, most of my students handle the
> trig well, but, my enrollment isn't as large as many of the others who have
> replied to PHYSHARE, and as it grows this problem will increase;  since
> most of
> the top math ability students already enroll for physics.
>
>   4.-- lack of materials/ time -- I feel these are my number one problems.
>  So
> often, we 'talk about' ideas, instead of actually seeing them.   I have a
> strong sense of need for major revision - but lack of time in which to do
> it.
> Also, a sense of reinventing the wheel. I think sharing problems/ideas via
> internet listserv(s) should help.
>
>   So, I'm dealing with the trig/math difficulty mainly by expanding the course
> offerings.  Since I'm just starting this, I don't yet know how well it will
> work.
>
>   I'd like further discussion on
>     --- conceptual physics classes
>     --- maximizing minimal lab facilities
>
> sorry this post got so long,
> jsd
>
> John Dilsaver, Math/Physics, Ozark High School, Ozark MO
> jdilsave@ozarks.sgcl.lib.mo.us