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Re: #6: WOMEN'S WAYS OF KNOWING (final excerpt!)



Hi Dewey-
As a follow-on to my last:
Maybe here's the nub:
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It's not "proof" but I have students, elementary ed majors, who ask if
there are any other courses like this because they "didn't know the liked
science," and at least one elementary ed major who switched and finished
with a major in Bio and a minor in Chem. (I wish she had not switched
majors, but focused on science teaching, but it is her life.) In the last
couple of years there have been a few physics majors who have gotten
involved in the course. I have had two physics majors (one an honors
student) who for their own reasons have taken the course and suggested
without soliciation that they think that all physics majors should take it.
And, finally a physics major in the secondary ed option (planning to be a
HS teacher) who after being a participant/observer in the course for a
semester who has suggested that he thinks maybe this is how physics
instruction ought to start.
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So you have found a way to captivate students in a certain kind
of course (I've missed the correct characterization). That is important,
and I'd like to here more about what you do (as opposed to the philosophical
arguments that support what you do).
I once taught a physics for premeds course at Berkeley (in the
'50's). At the end of the course 3 of my students said that they were
switching to physics.
Let us remember that a good showman (and I'm sure that you are
one) can outshine his/her material. And (to keep us all humble):
1. Elvis still walks the earth;
2. Hawking's book, "A Brief History of Time", was a best seller.
Regards.
Jack