Re: unexpected obstacles

[Ed and Laura Eckel <edeckel@EROLS.COM>]

Please, don't blame the high schools!  I am at an independent school
(private, steep tuition) and we see the same thing.  We are working on
changing the physics curriculum (junior required course) to promote
experiment design to test hypothesis and generality of conclusions.  I
am working on the premise that we need to force kids to step from
concrete (and safe) thinking to abstract (and risk taking) thought
processes.  We hammer at the notion that procedural error (and
limitation of equipment) is a fact of life and that the student is
responsible for minimizing uncertainty in the result to a level
commensurate with procedural/equipment limits.

On the other hand, can the higher education infatuation with SAT and
GPA in admissions be contributing to this?  "Get the score and get in"
thinking is endemic in my school, despite our significant efforts to
the contrary.  What would happen if college science departments made
evaluation of a HS lab notebook (real time notes and not a copied,
perfected, and clean version) part of the admissions process in lieu
of SAT scores?  More work for you (and me)? yes.  A better chance to
enforce the need to think on the student's part?  Perhaps.

Ed Eckel
The Bullis School
Potomac, MD


On Wed, 18 Dec 2002, Tim O'Donnell wrote:

> > "Edmiston  started out great and gave us all the information
> > we needed to succeed with the labs.  Then he quit doing
> > this.  He says he quit on purpose, but I think he is just
> > lazy.  I think for the money I am paying he should be
> > required to provide the same quality of teaching all term
> > long that he started with."
>
> Boy have I heard that, except in my class they use the
> name O'Donnell
>
>
>
> Tim O'Donnell - Celina High School

        Thanks to Tim and Mike for their responses. After 20 years of
teaching I was beginning to harbor some thoughts that I had begun to
"lose it"  The audiences seem to have shifted; now how do we deal with
this new reality????

                    Mike Monce
                    Connecticut College