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Re: Aims of a Freshamn Physics Course



On Tue, 9 Apr 1996, Greg Townsend wrote:

I am trying to formulate some goals for my Freshman Elementary Classical
Physics class that I teach here at the University of Akron, and I came up
with
A basic knowledge of the concepts of physics.
The ability to apply these concepts to concrete situations.
An understanding of the mathematical expression of these
concepts.
An ability to solve numerical problems.
A familiarity with the great names of physics & their contribution.

Is this list reasonable ? Does someone have any different goals ?

These do not look out of line. But my personal preference would be to
elaborate a bit on what you mean by "A basic knowledge of the concepts of
physics." How about the following?

A basic knowledge of the concepts of physics relating to: motion,
forces, energy, and the atomic nature of matter.

Also, I always try to include a statement relating to what science is and
is not. For example, might this be a good addition?

An appreciation for the character, effectiveness and limitations of
scientific inquiry.

An understanding of the concept of measuring and associated uncertainties
!!!**************************************!!!
as related to the scientific goal of building mathematical models that
describe the behavior of the physical universe.

Richard Bowman
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Richard L. Bowman
Dept. of Physics e-mail: rbowman@bridgewater.edu
Bridgewater College phone: 540-828-5441
Bridgewater, VA 22812 FAX: 540-828-5479
"http://www.bridgewater.edu/departments/physics/physics.html";
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

An *excellent* addition, and in my opinion one of the most difficult goals
to achieve. From my experience, physics may be the only course where such
things are ever discussed or studied. I know the chemistry majors taking
my course come in with the notion that error analysis consists of listing
all the possible blunders they could have made in the course of the
experiment.


J. D. Sample (501) 698-4625
Math-Physics Dept sample@lyon.edu
Lyon College
2300 Highland Road
Batesville, Arkansas 72501