Re: Text omission = lost pedagogical opportunity

["Bob Sciamanda" <trebor@velocity.net>]

Hi Jack,
                I have never used this as a test question, but I would
guess that probably noone would be able to do it - unless, perhaps, they
were specifically told that it might be a test question.  But even then
I'm not sure if many, or any, of (my) today's students would be able to
do more than memorize (without a real understanding) the proof.  I think
my students of the 60's and 70's would have done better (but this, too,
is a guess).

I am troubled by this, because the difficulty is clearly NOT mathematical
(in the calculational sense).  I think perhaps that people's difficulties
with such arguments from symmetry have common roots with people's
difficulties in clearly recognizing and articulating distinctions and
similarities in general - everything is one hazy mush!

-Bob

Bob Sciamanda   sciamanda@edinboro.edu
Dept of Physics   trebor@velocity.net
Edinboro Univ of PA  http://www.edinboro.edu/~sciamanda/home.html
Edinboro, PA   (814)838-7185
-----Original Message-----
From: JACK L. URETSKY (C) 1996; HEP DIV., ARGONNE NATIONAL LAB, ARGONNE,
IL 60439 <JLU@hep.anl.gov>
To: phys-l@atlantis.uwf.edu <phys-l@atlantis.uwf.edu>
Cc: JLU@hep.anl.gov <JLU@hep.anl.gov>
Date: Wednesday, March 11, 1998 2:52 PM
Subject: Re: Text omission = lost pedagogical opportunity


> Hi Bob-
> What fraction of your students can reconstruct  your argument
> without notes by the end of the course?
> Regards,
> Jack