Re: trig woes

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1 total messages Started by Mark Hines (NEWMAST) Thu, 10 Feb 1994 21:44

#1602

Author: Mark Hines (NEWMAST)
Date: Thu, 10 Feb 1994 21:44

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On Wed, 9 Feb 1994, Ed Henke wrote:

> David,
>
>         You asked if anyone had been able to deal with trig versus non
>   [much deleted}...
>         By conmcentrating on the concepts in the FIRST year course, the
> number of physics students has jumped to 100+ every year in a student
> body of approx. 800 students.  The SECOND year course concentrates on
> introducing the trig and heavy algebra.  Our school now has two physics
> teachers to carry the teaching load.  As soon as trig is laid on the
> first yrear students in anything more than a passing mention to the fact
> that trig can help with some of the topics, the kids drop the course like
> they were burned.
>
>         For my school, the success story seems to be a Conceptual Physics
> course in the First year for all students.
>
My experience is much the same - I teach at a private High school in
Honolulu, switched from a more math based to conceptual, and saw
enrollment triple in two years. We still have honors (which doubled) and
AP (which tripled), but now we cover basic concepts with a population of
students who never would have been enrolled. I grant you - a very tiny
percentage will become scientists/engineers - but they are more literate
and aware of basic phenomena than before - a fundamentally more important
goal in the long run.

Just my 10 cents worth...
Mark Hines
mhines@quest.arc.nasa.gov

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