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[Phys-L] Re: Aristotelian thinking among modern students



On Oct 21, 2005, at 9:28 AM, Rauber, Joel wrote:
Rick, how would you know the reading skills are bad ;-)

Students have to actually read the book to find out if the skills are
bad or not.

(a bit of a vent on my part, I suppose, but that is what the
"teacher's
lounge" err, umm Phys-L is for in part.)


More seriously, I had a student in my office Wednesday, who is
struggling and actually asked me with a straight face if I thought it
would be helpful if they started reading the sections in the textbook.


Think about the students' (admittedly shortsighted) perspective:
- I get no immediate gratification for reading the book, nor are
there explicit penalties for not doing such reading
- the prof will read the book to me in class or summarize it for me.
- the book is expensive and I'm not a physics major.

So try to change some of these perceptions:
- don't read the book; instead expect them to, and tell them some
stuff (conceptually easier stuff) in the book will be on home works
and the exam w/o spending class time on it. Cite an example each
week in class. Put some of this stuff on home works and the exams.
- make short chapter reading summaries a regular for-credit turned in
assignment due before you start that section (Mazur has written on
this in his Peer Teaching book). Raise your expectations to help
students develop their reading skills if you're unsatisfied with these.
- don't use a book (c.f. Sadler & Tai's article on predicting success
in physics)

Dan M

Dan MacIsaac, Associate Professor of Physics, SUNY-Buffalo State College
222SciBldg BSC, 1300 Elmwood Ave, Buffalo NY 14222 USA 716-878-3802
<macisadl@buffalostate.edu> <http://PhysicsEd.BuffaloState.edu>