As has been said, longitudinal studies are hard to perform, and often
are less than conclusive. I was involved in a still-ongoing
experiment, and will report as the data emerge.
While at NCSU in Raleigh, I taught an integrated
math/physics/chemistry/engineering course. The physics (and for that
matter the calculus) was taught in a workshop style with sharply
reduced topical coverage from the usual encyclopedic course. I did no
rigid body stuff, despite the fact that the course was ONLY for
engineers. I also omitted (I can hear the gasps now) waves.
Time will tell whether or not these students will do better in later
engineering courses. We will be tracking them as they move through
the stream of courses at NCSU toward graduation. Of course, those
data are not now available.
The short of it is that in comparitive exam performance the
integrated course students did just as well as the masses on standard
problem solving, but had FAR better confidences in their abilities.
So, workshop style instruction in physics does make for a different
set of engineers; we'll if the increased confidence helps them
outperform their peers later on.
JEG
--
John E. Gastineau
900 B Ridgeway Ave.
Morgantown, WV 26505
(304) 296-1966 http://www.badgerden.com/~gastineau
gastineau@badgerden.com <==== NEW as of 10/1/96