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Started by Nevin M. Ranck H 610 767-0762
Sat, 14 Jan 1995 02:44
Re: teaching with computers
Author: Nevin M. Ranck H 610 767-0762
Date: Sat, 14 Jan 1995 02:44
Date: Sat, 14 Jan 1995 02:44
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2044 bytes
Reply on; J.S. Miller, as it appeared in Physics Today (July, 1982, page 10). > > ... "This machine business is a curse upon us - anathema ! It robs > the beauty of physics - it cheats the students - it is a sickness ! > It destroys the humanism the subject posesses. Deliver us from this > affliction - this plague - this evil monster - which so abuses the > spirit of physics." There is a ring of truth to the above, however our student's MUST be exposed totechnologies that are part of our lives. Following is an example of how technology can circumvent understanding. I gave my students a bonus problem where I ask them to find the point between the earth and the moon where the gravitational force of attraction would be the same. Some needed help. Given the following m(earth)/dīŋŊ2 = m(moon)/(3.9E8-d)īŋŊ2 I soon had a student who solved it. He has an HP 48g (I think) calculator. I ask him how he got the answer and could not explain. He simply plugged the above equation into his calculator and it solved it for him. There just has to be something missing when you can't explain how to isolate the square quantities or apply the quadratic. Just a PS. Have any of you ever thought that if students knew how to use a slide rule their thinking skills would be better?
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