Re: Weight

["Michael N. Monce" <mnmon@conncoll.edu>]

On Thu, 10 Apr 1997, Leigh Palmer wrote:

> I would like to suggest an alternative way to view the problem and its
> solution. Physics used to be an elite subject. When I was in high school
> (in the late Pleistocene) the brightest students all went into physics or
> EE in college. The luster of the Manhattan Project was still high, and the
> students who went into physics had no trouble with the concepts as they
> were taught then. Perhaps the reason that we are having difficulty
> teaching these concepts to today's students is that they are not the
> brightest high school students any more! I've looked hard at this
> hypothesis. I haven't been able to invalidate it. What do the rest of you
> who have been teaching three decades or more think about that idea?
>
> Changing the conventional meaning of "weight" is an inappropriate reaction
> to a pedagogical "problem" that doesn't exist. If a student proves
> incapable of understanding the conventional definition then perhaps we
> should advise that student that he is not suited to a discipline which
> requires him to understand physics. Again, I'll have to apologize for
> offering such a radical solution.
>
> Leigh

	While I can't say if the students we see are the "brightest" by
whatever scale is used to measure such a thing, I don't believe I have
seen a change in the overall intelligence level of the students.  What I
have seen is a change in the methods of study, time management, experience
with the physical world, and a lack of mathematical skills.  All of these
contribute to making teaching more challenging.  

	I believe I am continually trying to make up for the lack of the
above mentioned "skills" in teaching intro physics.  The students are
bright, they just don't know what to do with their talents.  Consider the
case of a freshman I am currently "nursing" along.  This woman is
incredibly bright and has been working with me in my lab all year.  All I
need to do is show her once, or sometimes just describe a task, and it is
done very well.  Yet, she is struggling in the intro course because for
the first time in her life she has to take time to read carefully, think
carefully, and then step-by-step analyze a problem.  She breezed through
high school with no effort; i.e. she has never been intellectually
challenged before her college physics class, so never developed the
appropriate skills.  She has made much progress during this year, yet will
probably not a pull an "A" in the course. Do we consider her "not fit" to
be a physicist?  

	I think we must look carefully at the preparation that students
get in high school, middle school, and elementary now as compared to the
1950's, before making statements about the nature of the students.


				Mike Monce
				Connecticut College
			

P.S. been teaching at college level for 20 years.