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What follows was a long P.S. in my last message. It deserves a new subject.
P.S.
Yes, "thinking's fun", as you wrote, Leigh, and as confirmed by Margaret
on the other side of the globe. I wish my students would agree. Yesterday
I asked, in a Conceptual Science course for non-science majors, "who can
explain changing shapes of the moon to a child?". Nobody raised the hand.
My first thought was "intimidation"; they do not want to be singled out
for an explanation. So I said "I will not ask you to perform. I only want
to know. Would you (pointing to a student in the first raw) count the number
of hands raised when I turn my face toward the blackboard, please." I turned
and waited. Then I turned back and asked about the outcome. "No hands were
raised" she said.
I was depressed. Do you have such students in Australia, Margaret? Phys-L-ers
from other countries, try to describe your situations. How do you deal with
the issue? My approach is "to do the best I can". I would prefer, however, to
be instructed (by those who control education) to reject such students.
But, as Donald pointed out last year, the system does not allow for this.
How should we deal with the issue?
Ludwik Kowalski