In his 2/21/00 Phys-L post "MARCH TPT," Rick Tarara wrote:
".......... Dewey's group also gets blasted in an editorial ......(in
the March 2000 issue of "The Physics Teacher")....."
I assume that Rick may use the term "Dewey's group" to mean
"physics-education research and development" (PERD).
In his sprightly editorial "Buzzwords and Newspeak," TPT editor Cliff
Swartz has this to say (among other things) about PERD:
"In case you aren't keeping up these days, I thought it might be
helpful if I explained some of the new .....(PERD).... words
..........
-'Socratic dialogue.' The epitome of the Socratic method is
described in Plato's 'Meno'. We ran this account in the March 1994
issue of "The Physics Teacher," word for (translated) word, figuring
that it was its own parody. It's hard to do a parody of a parody, so
we'll say no more about it here. If you really want to understand
the method, better look it up in TPT .....(1)...... or in the
original Greek. Suffice to say that Socrates tried it with only one
slave boy. If you have more than one in your class, better forget
it."
Among those who have NOT forgotten the Socratic Method but instead
have used it effectively in their physics teaching (with more than a
single slave boy) are, e.g., Arons(3); Redish, Saul, and Steinbeg(4);
McDermott, Shaffer, Somers, and Vokos(5), and myself.(6)
The Socratic Method used so successfully by the above is NOT derived
from the FICTIONAL Socrates of Plato's imagination as depicted in
Meno (1,2), but rather from the REAL historical Socrates as
researched by the late great Gregory Vlastos (7-10).
For those who might wish to experience the REAL Socratic Method first
hand, Rudy Sirochman and I will be presenting a workshop (11) at the
AAPT Guelph meeting in July. The deadline for early registration for
the meeting is 5/26/00.
Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University
24245 Hatteras Street, Woodland Hills, CA 91367
<rrhake@earthlink.net>
<http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~hake>
REFERENCES
1. "The Classic Socratic Method" The Physics Teacher 32(3), 138-141
(1994), a "free translation" from Plato's "Meno." See also ref. 2.
2. R.A. Morse, "The Classic Method of Mrs. Socrates," The Physics
Teacher 32(5), 276-277 (1994).
3. A. B. Arons, A Guide To Introductory Physics Teaching (Wiley,
1990), reprinted with minor updates in "Teaching Introductory
Physics" (Wiley, 1997) [also contains "Homework and Test Questions
for Introductory Physics Teaching" (Wiley, 1994) along with a new
monograph "Introduction to Classical Conservation Laws."
4. E.F. Redish, J.M. Saul, and R.N. Steinberg, "On the effectiveness
of active-engagement microcomputer-based laboratories," Am. J. Phys.
65, 45-54 (1997); on the web at
<http://physics.umd.edu/rgroups/ripe/perg/research.html>.
5. L.C. McDermott, P.S. Shaffer, and M.D. Somers, "Research as a
guide for teaching introductory mechanics: An illustration in the
context of the Atwood's machine," Am. J. Phys. 62, 46-55 (1994). L.C.
McDermott, S. Vokos, and P.S. Shaffer, "Sample Class on Tutorials in
Introductory Physics," in "The Changing Role of Physics Departments
in Modern Universities: Proceedings of the ICUPE," ed. by E.F.
Redish and J.S. Rigden, (AIP, Woodbury, NY, 1997). p. 1007-1009.
6. R.R. Hake, "Promoting student crossover to the Newtonian world," Am J.
Phys. 55, 878-884 (1987); S. Tobias and R.R. Hake, "Professors as
physics students: What can they teach us?" Am. J. Phys. 56, 786-794
(1988); "Socratic
Pedagogy in the Introductory Physics Lab," Phys. Teach. 30, 546-552
(1992) and at
<http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~sdi/>.
7. G. Vlastos, private communication, 9/17/90: "I only wish I had
been taught physics in the way you propose .... Though Socrates was
not engaged in physical inquiry, your .....(Socratic Dialogue
Inducing Lab)..... program is entirely in his spirit."
8. G. Vlastos, "Socrates, Ironist and Moral Philosopher," (Cornell
Univ. Press, 1991), esp. Chap. 2, "Socrates contra Socrates in Plato."
9. G. Vlastos, "Socratic Studies," (Cambridge Univ. Press, 1994).
10. E. Venant, "Second Thoughts on Socrates," Los Angles Times, 8/6/90.
11. R.R. Hake and R. Sirochman, "W20: Socratic Dialogue Inducing
Laboratories," (8:30am - 12:30pm, Sunday July 30) AAPT Announcer
30(1), 68 (2000): "...participants will work through SDI Lab #2,
"Newton's Second Law,"..... on the web at
<http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~sdi/> ..... just as if they were
students .... experiments will include motions of pendulum bobs,
falling bodies, and kids in accelerating trucks."