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[Physltest] [Phys-L] Re: California standards test in physics



Jack hits it on the head. The idea about returning to learning basic math
facts, to phonics for reading, perhaps to more traditional writing
curricula (learning nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, conjunctions and
maybe, forsooth, actually diagramming sentences) is not to have such as an
end goal but rather to provide the necessary TOOLS so that students can
learn to problem solve, to critically think, the read for comprehension,
and to write creatively. It seem as though education has gone through a
period where we were giving the students a pile of building materials,
sometimes even the blueprints, and asked them to build a 'house' but failed
to provide them a set of tools to do so.

I don't think there is a math curriculum out there that doesn't have lots
of 'word problems' included in the materials. The problem is getting the
teachers, especially the considerable portion of the elementary teachers
who are math-phobic, to do these. This is where students should start
learning problem solving and honing their critical thinking skills, but too
often the instruction technique is just work sheet after work sheet of
straight numerical calculations. Of course doing word problems is made
more difficult by the abysmal reading skills of the general school
population. I've seen reports that the average reading level of most 8th
graders is actually 4th grade (which of course means many are below this).

So we should look at a 'back to the basics' movement as one looking to give
students the proper tools to progress to more sophisticated learning.

As to a previous questions--how do we know it has failed (throwing money at
the problem)--in many areas (like mine), look at your property tax bills
(usually heavily laden with school costs), and then look at the AVERAGE
student showing up at your institution. For most, has not the quality of
the average (not the best who are still damn good) deteriorated. Don't you
see an increasing inability to read for comprehension, to do simple math
(much less algebra), to LISTEN attentively, to write coherently, etc.?
Didn't the SAT re normalize their scoring so as to mask this deterioration
relative to the past? And then there IS the state testing where many urban
schools have trouble getting 50% of their students to perform up to minimal
standards.

Rick

****************************
Richard W. Tarara
Professor of Physics
Saint Mary's College
Notre Dame, IN 46556
rtarara@saintmarys.edu

**********************************************************
FREE: Windows and Mac Instructional Software
www.saintmarys.edu/~rtarara/software.html
***********************************************************


[Original Message]
From: Jack Uretsky <jlu@HEP.ANL.GOV>
To: <PHYS-L@LISTS.NAU.EDU>
Date: 1/8/2005 2:13:04 PM
Subject: Re: California standards test in physics

Hi all-
How do you do "proportional thinking" if you're not solid on your
math facts?
Regards,
Jack

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