Re: Error Analysis

["John Gastineau" <jgastin@imagixx.net>]

> > What error analysis should Academic and AP Physics high school students
> > be doing?  Thanks for any input.
> Roger,
>         I sometimes wonder if college freshman are mature enough to understand
> error analysis, and feel very lucky if I can get them to record answers plus or
> minus some error after my course.


I  have to agree. In my ten years of teaching error analysis to 
college frosh and above, using a variety of techniques from lecture 
to guided inquiry, few class members really got it. Using lecture 
methods early on, I know that only a few students could use interpret 
an uncertainty. They now have PhDs. Using inquiry methods, I felt that 
I got the fraction able to interpret and really use the  standard 
deviation up to maybe 75%, but  that took much hard work and time. 

So, I'd be happy if students came out of a hs course unafraid of 
using trig, willing and able to translate a word problem, and able to 
pursue a statement (correct or incorrect) to logical conclusions. As 
far as error analysis, as long as they realize that most of the 
digits on their calculator don't mean anything, that's enough. 

Of  course, this is my own idiosyncratic opinion--I see no reason for 
 the hs physics course to duplicate the college course. The hs 
course is  preparation for the college course. From my college 
perspective, if a student has  this sense that his or  her hs course 
"covered" all the material, he or she won't pay much attention in 
the college course and then lose out. 

I have a related question about statistics in hs and college courses, 
which I will post separately to avoid confusing the thread. See my 
question about Curve Fit Stats. 

JEG

John E. Gastineau
304 296 1966
Morgantown, WV 
http://www.imagixx.net/~jgastin
email: jgastin@imagixx.net