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Re: Physics First, Last, Always



nguilber says:



While most of the 600 or so students in our introductory calculus-level
physics are domestic or Asian or Latin American, we have a few Europeans.
They tend, even when not particularly brilliant students, to be very
logical and systematic in their homework and exam solutions and to have a
very good background in physics. When I ask them, they typically did not
take physics in their last year of school, or the year before, or whatever,
but had some physics every week for many years. Same with chemistry and
biology. I suspect this is a good system, and wish we could incorporate
something of the sort in our educational system. Perhaps this is similar
to some of the "integrated" approaches that have been mentioned.

Laurent Hodges, Professor of Physics lhodges@iastate.edu
12 Physics Hall, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011-3160
(515) 294-1185 (office) http://www.public.iastate.edu/~lhodges


I have heard arguments like this one before, and although I don't
necessarily disagree with the conclusion, the logic of the argument loses
something on me, I guess. I feel it's saying something like, "This seed yields
a good crop in the field Across The Water - therefore it should also yield a
good crop in my field here". The problem with the syllogism is that it assumes
the growing conditions in the two places are approximately equivalent, and, in
the case of physics teaching and learning, I'm really not sure that is the


Not to mention the fact that the European students who travel across the
Atlantic for schooling are likely to be some of the best and brightest.
It's unlikely to be a representative sample.

--
--James McLean
jmclean@chem.ucsd.edu
post doc
UCSD