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Re: [Phys-l] Equations



Hi all-
I think John's advocacy transcends logic in the sense that...

On Thu, 27 Apr 2006, John Clement wrote:

While the comments about causality and equivalence are certainly true, the
pedagogical analysis is off base.

Students at the lower level and beginning students will be completely
overloaded by considerations of causality. Students must start from what
they already know and then work towards higher levels, not the other way
around. This has been proven by experiments by Lawson, Karplus, Renner...
Students must first see force as causative and acceleration as a result.
This gives them a familiar context to begin with.

the last sentence must be incorrect. It is logically impossible to prove the correctness of an experimentally testable proposition - any
experimentally testable proposition.
A more useful statement would be to cite the specific "Lawson, Karplus, etc." experiments referred to and to consider these specific experimental results in the context of the discussion.
On the other hand, isn't there general agreement that we can look to the Arons' book on the teaching of physics for research-based advice on good pedagogy?
Regards,
Jack

--
"Trust me. I have a lot of experience at this."
General Custer's unremembered message to his men,
just before leading them into the Little Big Horn Valley