Re: force

["Dewey Dykstra, Jr." <dykstrad@varney.idbsu.edu>]

John Mallinckrodt wrote:

> I'd go a step farther than Paul is advocating.  As Martha Takats wrote a
> while ago, it seems to me as well that beginning a course with constant
> acceleration kinematics is a strong contributor to the confusion about and
> distaste for the subject that students often develop.  Viewed from a
> student's perspective, the subject seems to require "memorization" of the
> largest and most complicated set of equations that they will see in the
> entire course.  Furthermore, even those many students who do clearly
> distinguish the definitions of acceleration and velocity when asked to do
> so, will continue to make unconscious mistakes that only exacerbate their
> confusion about forces.

There's more than one way to explore the world of kinematics.  If one
chooses one the does not make sense to the students or assumes that is the
only way, then one is doomed to poor results.  There are other ways which
do not impress students in this way.  It's too bad that people who teach
science (physics), all to often, take the approach used to teach topics as
given instead of as a choice and an object of manipulation and
experimentation itself.

Dewey

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Dewey I. Dykstra, Jr.                   Phone: (208)385-3105
Professor of Physics                    Dept:  (208)385-3775
Department of Physics/SN318             Fax: (208)385-4330
Boise State University                  dykstrad@varney.idbsu.edu
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