🚀 go-pugleaf

Whoa!  What a lot of thoughts about concept based physics.



I teach/taught science in a variety of arenas - college and university
level, K-12 planetarium astronomy, teacher inservice, workshops with
Headstart teachers, public science education via science centers and
musuems.



I am approaching physics teaching from a different vantage point than
many of you who shared your thoughts here.  I teach at a college where
*most* of the students are adults (over age 30), female, possibly
trying to re-enter the job market after being laid off or starting
careers after being at home for 40 years.  In short, these are the
folks, 20 to 30 years later, that you all are dealing with now as
students.



I teach a course that presents a variety of concepts in physics; have
been doing so for 6 years.  80% of my students are female over 30 who
invariably had a "horrible experience" with science, usually physics,
in their adolescent or teen years.  The horrible experience typically
involves a science teacher as opposed to a concept or equation or
experiment.



Most have been disenfranchised from science - thinking that it is
beyond their ability.  They feel bad that they aren't comfortable in
helping their kids at science homework, that they don't understand the
issues they are supposed to be voting on, that there is a part of life
that has been passing them by.



And at this point in their life, they would like to recapture some
lost ground, to get back in the game, to overcome whatever
societal/familial messages they got as youngsters that they weren't
smart enough.



In a phrase, most of my students are "recovering science-phobes".



My ultimate goal/objective at the end of a quarter of exposure is for
these folks to feel more confident to include science in their lives;
to not shy away from the next mention of science.



I applaud those teachers who want to include everyone in some kind of
physics experience.  In a perfect world, students would get all the
concept based stuff in elementary school (I work with elem teachers
and visit elem classrooms to work with students).  I know they love
the subject.  At first grade, conceptual physics is what they have
been doing for the last 7 years!  But the reality is that many elem
teachers are themselves uncomfortable with science.  At some point,
potential teachers get turned off to science, OR never get the spark
that science is as interesting as other subjects.



Keep on trying to raise interest levels among a broad a range of
students as possible.  How you do it should be based on your
objectives for the varied situations that you face.  Do what is
necessary to train the future doctors, but don't forget about the
people who will be factory piece workers faced with the task of
helping their daughter or son stay interested in homework and school
in general.



As for *real* physics as someone mentioned...  Geez, what makes one
teacher's physics real and the other, what? virtual or imaginary?
This is a big world and I am sure as heck glad that there are more
than one kind of apple to eat.



See you in the funny papers.