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And they "teach to much" in two different meanings. 1) The courses are
"an inch deep and a mile wide". The students have fat text books
(2 to 3 times the size of other countries) and they cover an amazing
amount without being able to spend time on any one topic. 2) The
American teachers "teach" by puting the answers on the board and
expecting the students to basically accept the result and memorize it.
In other countries students were required to struggle BEFORE they were
introduced to the "standard" answer.
Anyway, here is the point for this group.
Before we go to the high schools to enlighten them, aren't we
(collectively) guilty of the same thing? I think we are doing a
disservice to our students by covering as much as we do in the
first year. I would like your opinions on what it is we SHOULD be
teaching in the first year of physics. Perhaps a good place would be
to answer the following questions:
What is "physics"?
What "facts" should every student know after a year of physics?
What "skills" should every student have after a year of physics?
How do we best accomplish this in 3-4 hr a week?
Do the answers depend on whether the students are physicists,
chemists, engineers ...?