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Re: [Phys-l] Students' READING abilities





"Unfortunately, the research shows that student interest and liking of
science goes DOWN with each conventional science course they take."

This is a depressing fact and it may be true, but I am going to propose a politically incorrect explanation.

I think that much of the gnashing of teeth that we physics teachers do is caused by our attempt to teach physics to a broader population than those who are capable of learning it. We say "physics for all" but there is one group that does not believe us: our students. I think they ARE paying attention and being rational. And they are assessing their ability to understand. Some of them see that they can and do understand and they see the joy that we see. They come back for more. Others realistically assess that they cannot do this. The way that I have to accept that I will not have a career in singing. Music for all? Now if I didn't know what music really was and I enrolled in a choral singing class, part of my experience would include the discovery that I can't carry a tune. At the end of the class, I might rationally report that my interest and liking of music had dropped as a result of the conventional music class. If, say 60% of the class was made up of students like me, then the end of year results would make the class look ineffective. The music teachers could go back to their debates about how the next group should be taught.