Re: College nowadays - What "should" students know?

["L. R. Cartwright (Larry)" <physics@SCNC.CPS.K12.MI.US>]

I'm not falling for "don't worry about content, help the students feel
that physics is fun and beautiful" again.  I ran into this when I first
started teaching hs physics back in the '70's.  We had some joint
workshops for college profs and hs teachers, and that's what we were told.
Then when our students entered college, they were clobbered for not having
covered this and not having learned that.

The kids were miserable, their parents were confused and angry at the
difficulties the kids were having in college, and I was embarrassed and
furious for having helped put them in that position.  Since then, helping
kids be prepared for what awaits them in college has been very high on my
agenda.

I have never EVER heard a college prof on this list complain that their
biggest problem with incoming students is lack of appreciation for the
beauty of science.  Read the list archives, and look for the posts that
put kids down.  Read the posts that talk about prerequisites.  All the
complaints are about "they don't know how to do math well" and "they don't
have a decent foundation in this content or that content" and "they are
incompetent analyzers and problem-solvers"  etc.

I trust your intentions are good, and the "fun and stimulation and beauty"
thing does sound like such a grand idea.  But in my experience it leads to
a lot of frustration and failure for the kids when they hit the realities
of college physics courses and the actual expectations of college physics
profs in the wild.

BTW, I am a huge believer in trying to get kids to appreciate the beauty
of good science and the thrill of discovery as we make our way through
physics content and related skills; but please don't try to convince hs
physics teachers that "beauty is job one".

Larry

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Larry Cartwright, Physics and Physical Science Teacher
Charlotte High School, 378 State Street, Charlotte MI 48813
<physics@scnc.cps.k12.mi.us> or <science@scnc.cps.k12.mi.us>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On Mon, 27 Sep 1999, Allen Miller wrote:

> Arlyn DeBruyckere asks for advice for subject-matter focus in a
> high-school physics course for 11th and 12th graders. These are students
> who may be intent on a scientific career. What areas would enhance
> success in college physics?
>
> In my view, high-school physics should not pay any attention to what may
> help out a student in college. That is not its purpose. Most important,
> the students need to be stimulated and to feel the beauty of science. It
> does not matter what you teach, as long as you are stimulated by it, and
> feel you can transmit this excitement to the students.
>
> Allen Miller
> Syracuse University