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Re: ??? ??? ???=the nature of students




Lynn wrote:

I struggle with what I can do to make my algebra-based intro course
(non-science majors) a course which involves the students more and still
"covers" material I've been told I need for the students in the course.
Every few years I ask the "user" departments what their needs are, and I'm
gradually going to narrow them down to see if I can do less lecturing and
more involved learning on the part of the students.

Lynn, I'm curious. What non-science programs are you classifying as a user
department that specific needs that they want addressed? At our university
the user departments are science departments (I'm counting Pharmacy and
Nursing in this) and they require our students (or should) to take the
science-major algebra based course. We also have a Calculus base course,
and a one semester course non-science major based course. (Which oddly
enough one or two science programs require, I don't know why).

Science majors and physics majors are yet another group(s) of students with
different backgrounds, interests and needs.

We do our students and our discussions a great disservice when we lump all
of these kinds of students together and discuss what to do in THE physics
course. We need to begin to be more specific about which students we are
talking about and what our goals for them are. Ludwig's students are not,
in my experience, the kind of students who will get involved in a class
unless they are actively "doing science".

We often don't have the luxury of not lumping a large variety of these
students into the same course, e.g. we aren't big enough to have seperate
physics major sections; so while I agree its a disservice, it is never the
less sometimes forced on us.

Joel