Re: The Soapbox

[dykstrad@varney.idbsu.edu (Dewey Dykstra, Jr.)]

Bruce Esser writes:
> Wow, what a great week.  During this week learned professors of physics
> have opined that physics teaching in high school is ineffectual (no.....
> that is too kind) inappropriate is a better word.

Bruce (and the rest of the list), just in case you are saying this based on
what I wrote earlier, let me point out that, I did not say that "physics
teaching in high school is..inappropriate."

What I did say was:  "This is NOT a slur on K - 12 teachers, but, instead,
on the way we teach science/physics." (Emphasis added.)  In fact I am NOT
focussing on HS physics teachers but _all physics teaching in general_.

There are probably people on this list who hold HS physics teachers to be
less than college profs of physics.  I am NOT one of those people.  I know
what it's like to be in both positions, because I have been both a HS
physics teacher and a college prof of physics.

The point that these corelations are not universal suggests that the
variables we are investigating are not sufficiently well defined and are
not sufficiently related.  We have to look deeper at student understanding
of specific phenomena.  When we look at this level, we find that standard
physics teaching (at any level: K - college) makes very little difference.

When people who teach physics get serious over this, then real change will
be accessible.  Until then, well...

Dewey

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Dewey I. Dykstra, Jr.                   Phone: (208)385-3105
Professor of Physics                    Dept:  (208)385-3775
Department of Physics/SN318             Fax: (208)385-4330
Boise State University                  dykstrad@varney.idbsu.edu
1910 University Drive                   Boise Highlanders
Boise, ID 83725-1570                       novice piper
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