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Re: [Phys-L] Physics, Errors and Differenet Teaching Styles



On 06/27/2012 07:18 AM, chuck britton wrote:
A barge loaded with a stack of steel plates is approaching a low
bridge.

Would their clearance be helped or hindered by tossing a plate or two
overboard?

(It's a river/canal, not a closed swimming pool/lake.)

explain your reasoning.

Bravo! I love it.

Even though this exercise contains a number of simplifications, it
still exhibits some of the attributes of a real-world problem.

As a corollary: It is *not* a "clicker" problem. Converting it
to multiple-guess format would ruin it.

This leads us back to the snark at the beginning of this thread:

Warning: This message may pose a quandary for fans of Mazur in particular
and PER in general but who do not like multiple choice questions. You may
wish to stop at this point.

Even a stopped clock is right twice a day. Even if once or
twice a day you can find thought-provoking multiple-guess
questions, it does *not* mean that over-reliance on the
multiple-guess format is good for you.

a) In this world, there are *some* one-of-N decisions that must
be made: Ball or strike. Turn left at the next intersection
or don't. Et cetera.

b) HOWEVER, there are also plenty of things that do not fit
that pattern ... including many exceedingly important things,
including dealing with ill-posed questions, not to mention
creativity, originality, artistry, et cetera.

The coexistence of (a) and (b) does not even approach being a
"quandary".

I recognize that from time to time there is some slightly
unfair guilt-by-association going on: When we speak of
multiple-guess trivia tests, it would be a mistake to assume
that all multiple-guess questions are trivia questions. The
fact is that triviality is the major problem with the current
crop of standardized tests. However, the multiple-guess
format is *also* a problem unto itself, even if it is not
the #1 problem.

The existing state-mandated multiple-guess trivia tests are
destroying the educational system.