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Re: [Phys-l] not our majors now!



First let me say it would scare the hell out of me. I wonder what their experience was in the intro course...was their strategy successful there? It should not have been. Perhaps you need some sort of department level discussion about expectations. On the other hand since it is the first time, it could just be a accident of the individuals involved and perhaps be unlikely to occur again. I would be inclined to be more conservation and use the experience as a springboard for some hard nosed departmental discussions.

for what its worth,

joe

Joseph J. Bellina, Jr. Ph.D.
Professor of Physics
Saint Mary's College
Notre Dame, IN 46556

On Oct 5, 2006, at 8:26 AM, Monce, Michael N. wrote:



My colleagues in the department are tired of hearing me complain so I'm taking this to a higher authority: PHYS-L. :-)

I'm teaching E&M to a class of 8 majors. I'm using Griffiths as I've done for over many years, and actually think I'm doing a better job in teaching the course than ever (practice makes perfect). I think the "disease" that seems to be infecting the general student population has made its way into our majors. The students are not engaging the material; i.e. they are not putting in the work to stay up with the course and often wait until the last night to start the problem assignment. They don't seem to have a grasp of even basic concepts from the intro. course. I gave a pop quiz to confirm my suspicions which consisted of intro course level problems and except for 2 students, the other 6 failed. I've talked to them about keeping up, how this is a challenging course for majors, etc. etc. etc. The worst of it is for the "6" their problem sets are near perfect and closely resemble Griffiths' solution manual, yet when I ask them basic question in class, none can come up with the answers. I've told them that I can't stop them from using such a manual, but it will do them no good on the exams, and will probably contribute to their failure if they are not truly trying to work on the material. I've never expected this from junior level physics majors. GE students in an intro course, yes, but not here. I've taught this course probably 15 times and this is the first instance that I've seen such a lack of effort on the part of the students. Oh, by the way, the 2 who seem to be keeping up are both foreign students, the "6" are American.

Rant off. Any ideas folks?


Mike Monce
Connecticut College
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