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Re: Questions in the Classroom



Hugh Haskell wrote:

Generally I agree with this philosophy. It is important for the
students to realize, especially in science class, that not every
answer is known.

But, on the other hand, it is important that they realize that *some*
answers are known, and that the teachers knows at least a good
fraction of those answers that relate to the subject at hand.--

One of the things I stress at the beginning of the year to all of my classes
is that virtually everything we will learn this year will be wrong. Useful...
but wrong. Our view of the universe is based on models and our view of models
always needs to be colored with a healthy dose of skepticism. Usually, in
fact, we know full well that our models are not completely correct. It is
important that students understand what science is and what it is not. Most
come to my class thinking that science is a collection of facts to be learned
and remembered. I hope that they leave understanding that it is really a way
of thinking about and exploring the world, and that none of it ideas are
certain. My students think it is great fun to be able to answer a question on
a test such as "What causes gravity?" with a resounding "I don't know!" and
get full credit, while at the same time understanding that they know just as
much about the ultimate cause of gravity as Einstein or Newton ever did. As a
physics teacher I think that I have to understand a good deal and I need to be
able to help my students begin to understand but I try to be very careful
about what I claim to "know."

Cliff Parker

Never express yourself more clearly than you can think. -- Niels Bohr