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Re: Birthday Wish



Any thoughts on a baseline E & M concept?

Try asking your students to describe the characteristics that distinguish the two
types of charge and to postulate as to the characteristics of a third type of
charge if one existed. This Idea is broadly discussed and elaborated on in Arons
"A guide to Introductory Physics Teaching."

Randy

Bob Yeend wrote:

The Brians bring up a good point. What minimum ideas do we really want our
students to understand at the end of the course? With some trepidation, I'm
going to ask my classes on Monday to distinguish among the concepts of speed,
velocity and acceleration.

Any thoughts on a baseline E & M concept?

Happy Birthday,
bob

In a message dated 4/10/99 10:05:22 AM, bmcinnes@PNC.COM.AU writes:

<< From one Brian to another,
Brian, you worry me a little with your choice of outcomes
from high school students.

Wouldn't it be better if they showed discrimination between
the concepts of velocity and acceleration rather than
ability in choosing appropriate substitution and consequent
algebraic manipulation in a set of formulas that have little
direct relevance to the real world? If more than conceptual
understanding is desired, I'd ask for facility in describing
and interpreting kinematic graphs.

Similarly the thermal "equation" you quote ignores much of
the real world, applying as it does to the interchange of
thermal; energy between 2 systems completely isolated from
their surroundings (including their containers). Better
would be an understanding of concepts such as thermal energy
and temperature, their distinction and their relations.

Happy birthday, anyway.

Brian McInnes

----------
From: brian whatcott <inet@INTELLISYS.NET>

It's my birthday this month.
And I have a little birthday wish.
It's not much. But you could make it happen.

I wish that all high school physics students
could work problems using three equations of constant acceleration,
namely:
v = u + a.t
v^2 = u^2 + 2.a.x
x = u.t + 1/2 a.t^2

AND
that they could work final temperatures of mixes of liquids or
solid and liquid using the relation:

mass1 x specific heat1 x rise in temperature =
mass2 x specific heat2 x fall in temperature

Thanks in advance.
Brian
>>