Re: [Phys-l] special ed/relativity

[mrmeyer@mtu.edu]

At Michigan Tech, we've addressed this issue by teaching 2 different
algebra-based courses - one for pre-meds, and one for students from our
school of Technology.  The latter group usually has more of the
mathematical difficulties described here and doesn't need the "full-boat"
in terms of content--so we teach less content and take time to address the
math issues.

We used to teach college physics every semester - now we teach the pre-med
version fall semester and the school of technology version spring
semester.  We worked with the departments involved to make sure they can
get their students in on the right schedule.  Occassionally a students
"has" to take the "wrong" course because they're out of sequence...but
this works MUCH better for the vast majority of students.

Mike Meyer
Lecturer/Lab Coordinator
MTU Physics Dept.
mrmeyer@mtu.edu


> |
> | I am tired of departmental meetings where we agree to
> | sacrifice coverage for depth, and then at the next meeting a
> | few members bully the group into including again most of the
> | material dropped simply because the MCAT exam requires the
> | material for the Biology students who take the course.
> |
>
>
> If its the course for Pre-Meds, which it must be because of the MCAT
> statement, then it ideally shouldn't be the "liberal arts" course.  So
> something is wrong or the above is a different audience than the course
> that Rick Tarara is referring to.
>
> Something is very wrong if the pre-meds are lacking the mathematical
> prerequisites.
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