Re: Parent teacher conference frustrations...

["Michael N. Monce" <mnmon@conncoll.edu>]

On Wed, 19 Mar 1997, Dwight K. Souder wrote:

snipped

> 	There were a few others, but the real kicker was when a parent
> and I were discussing the lack of participation of her son.  The son is
> noticably of above intelligence, but is heavy into self-expression (art)
> and sometimes from the appearance of his pupils...I think he's into other
> things as well.  The mother told me of her son's interests in pop and
> abstract art and if I made my class more art related, he may take more
> interest.  I think I felt my jaw hit the ground.  I am structured in my
> classroom, but I also know that I'm a bit more liberal on some of our
> activities and topics.  I feel that I'm not there to just teach chemistry
> and physics, but how to think logically and applying those logic skills
> to real life.  I'm not sure how I responded to her...I don't think I want
> to know.  
> 	Maybe next week, to make science more art related, we'll start
> coloring the periodic table.  :-)


	First of all, I would never advocate that the structure of a
course should be dictated by the supposed interests of one student;
especially when that student is not motivated.  However, it may be useful
for you to think about introducing some applications of chemistry into the
course.  In the case of art, the subject of paint analysis for restoration
and authentication purposes is very big, and might show the students that
what they are learning does have relevance outside of knowledge of the
subject itself.  I am not advocating a technology course, but just
introducing such "relevance" when appropriate.

				Mike Monce
				Physics
				Connecticut College