[Phys-L] Re: Physics Solutions Manual

[Bernard Cleyet <bernardcleyet@REDSHIFT.COM>]

I think this problem is a result of confusing grades w/ learning.
Political statement next:

I think this is (partially at least) a result of the comodification of
education, and just about everything else, a result of the unleashing of
capitalism.  We can fight against symptoms (e.g. solutions manual), or
better, also attempt to reign in capitalism.  End statement.

I don't think it's an absolute disaster, tho it does increase instructor
load.  some "work arounds":

Assign problems that have more than one method and require the non
Serway one.  Are there too few of these?

Point out that in class tests will count more and home work less with
the reminder that attempting problems w/o the answer book will result in
greater learning and therefore better test results.

My experience is learning still happens (like S***?) with such
"cheating".   I exchanged my algebra home work for my best friend's
Latin in HS.  For the majority of the sentences I had to cheat.  Even so
I got test A's and the test questions were not home work ones.  Another
example, in grad school we had take home E&M exams.  The only
restriction was no "people" assistance.   After giving up I would find
similar questions answers thru library search.   I double checked w/ the
instructor, "OK, just like life after degree award."  I did OK on tests.

The obvious is to assign your own from other sources (Is this a copy
write violation?) including your own.  [As if you didn't have enuff to
do already.]

bc,  many years ago taught sections this way, and also thinks it's a
disaster, especially as section is mainly problem solving.

Bob LaMontagne wrote:

> We have just discovered a very unpleasant occurrence. Someone has made
> photocopies of the solutions manual to Serway, Physics for Scientists and
> Engineers, and is selling them (and also a few copies of the manual itself)
> on EBay. Amazon.com also provides a link to a copy, but it appears
> unavailable at the moment. I don't know if it's an instructor or a student
> who is doing this, but it certainly seems, at the very least, like a
> copyright infringement. The publisher claims that it does not sell the
> solutions manual - it's only provided to instructors.
>
> For me, this is an absolute disaster. I use homework as a major part of the
> way I present my physics course. I spend the first 20 to 25 minutes of each
> class going over homework that the students didn't understand. If a student
> asks a question I work directly with that student, coaxing him/her through
> the solution. I rarely just go to the board and simply present the solution
> - it's an interactive process that assumes that the actual solution is not
> available - the student and I "discover" an approach that solves the
> problem. The other students are free to contribute comments, but the main
> interaction is between me and the student who brought up the problem.
>
> If the solutions manual is available, then the part of the class devoted to
> homework becomes a defense of the approach taken by the person who wrote the
> solutions manual. A typical question from the student now becomes "why did
> they do this way?". The students miss out on the best part of introductory
> physics which to me is the development of the physical intuition needed to
> start a problem from scratch and invent a path to a solution. The fun part
> of reviewing a homework problem in class is to uncover all the different
> paths that the students invented to arrive at the same solution.
>
> Has anyone else encountered this mass sale of solutions? Do you see it as an
> impediment to your teaching of your physics courses?
>
> Bob at PC
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