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[Phys-L] Re: Modern Physics. Was: Re: The bulb-with-one-wire task: too tricky?



I'm not so sure you weren't right the first time.

With a more select group to educate--motivationally if not
intellectually--then the standards can be set higher and the results being a
'more literate' educated populace.

As this once elite group grew, and especially through the last half of the
20th Century as a college education became almost mandatory for many jobs,
the standards started to drop. This was exacerbated by the 'philosophical'
bent of the time that sought total equality in all things--including
intellectual capability and achievement. Now to aim at the middle of this
new group, one needed to aim several notches lower. Today this gets coupled
with your flood of information and the multiple avenues of distraction that
assault student. So, the average educated person IS less literate today
than the average educated person of the past.

I suspect that the top 3-5% of students are as good or better than ever--and
those will (for the most part) be those running things in the future. The
problem, IMO, is that there is another significant percentage of student who
could be doing a whole lot more than they are doing if simply pushed to do
it. There is another significant percentage that is being pushed well
beyond their capabilities/motivation. There is, of course, a solution to
this, one that is politically incorrect but effective--different educational
tracks for students of different abilities and motivations/desires.

Rick






----- Original Message -----
From: "Frohne, Vickie" <VFrohne@BEN.EDU>
To: <PHYS-L@LISTS.NAU.EDU>
Sent: Wednesday, February 23, 2005 11:52 AM
Subject: Re: Modern Physics. Was: Re: The bulb-with-one-wire task: too
tricky?


On reflection, the argument that "fewer people were literate, so the =
literate people were MORE literate" is foolish, and I did not mean t=
o imply it. It's true that fewer people were literate, but it doesn't=
follow that this makes the literate people more so. I think that th=
e major factor in the difference between 19th century prose and 20th =
century prose is that of style. That, and the lack of instruction in=
ancient and modern languages today. We lost a facility with languag=
e - but we gained in other areas. If nothing else, today's students h=
ave an extra century of history to deal with. 19th century students =
also didn't bother with "keyboarding," computers, and a bunch of othe=
r stuff that kids today have to learn. =20

Unlike 19th century students, today's kids are literally bombarded wi=
th information from all sides, day and night. Information comes to =
them whether they want it or not. They don't have to look for it. Tod=
ay's students need to learn how to WORK to get information. They need=
to learn how to dig for the good stuff, and when to filter out the b=
ad stuff. Let's put "digging for information" and "evaluating inform=
ation" on the list of things to teach today's students.=20

I recent;y had some students refuse to go to the library because "bo=
oks are all out of date." They preferred to get their information vi=
a videos and the Internet. They also believed everything they read or=
saw regardless of the source, could not distinguish between "shallow=
" and "deep" knowledge (being satisfied with the former), and rebelle=
d when told that this was not acceptable. Unfortunately, they were =
eled majors. *sigh* =20

Vickie Frohne

-----Original Message-----
=46rom: Forum for Physics Educators on behalf of RAUBER, JOEL
Sent: Wed 2/23/2005 8:26 AM
To: PHYS-L@LISTS.NAU.EDU
Subject: Re: Modern Physics. Was: Re: The bulb-with-one-wire task: =
too tricky?
=20
_
|
| Literate: In those days very few people attended college,
| not to mention the number of science students. I think it is
| the best explanation of grade inflation.
|

Huh, you may have to explain your reasoning. One na=EFve argument wo=
uld say that if college classes are taught at the same level, (which =
of course they are not), then the above fact would indicate we should=
have grade deflation currently. I think the explanation of grade in=
flation lies mostly elsewhere.

Vickie F. stated:

The level of literacy was very high compared to today. On the other =
hand, a considerably smaller fraction of the population was literate.

Which is no doubt true if one defines literate as knowing how to read=
. However, we've seen in another thread going on at the moment state=
ments regarding how students don't read their book. If you ask them,=
they'll say they've read the book; and I believe that they have gone=
through the motions of reading their book. But are they literate?

Mostly rhetorical questions for discussion points.

Joel R.