Re: Scientific method was physical pendulums/ an opportunity

[Leigh Palmer <palmer@SFU.CA>]

At 4:55 AM -0700 9/24/99, Jack Uretsky wrote:

> Yeh!  Even more blatant, I think, is that gravity problems are independent
> of mass.  But getting the students to do algebra, and watch the mass
> cancel out
> (or leaving only mass ratios) is an impossibility.  It makes me wonder about
> the big push, currently, to introduce algebra in the lower grades.  Yes, you
> can teach them to mouth the words (or write down symbols), but doesn't it
> take
> maturity to understand the meaning (or use the symbols to solve problems)?

Of course it does take maturity to do something differently than it
was done in high school. Would I not be cheating (and patronizeing)
my university students if I permitted them to continue to use the
methods they learned as high school students? They tell me they've
matured.

Leigh