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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:
****************************************************
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.
*********************************
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

Of course, that's why I said "It's not proof" and certainly there are
exceptions. Thanks for your interest in "what I do." Let me point out
that there are others from whom I have learned much and in some ways did
and are still doing things which I see as equivalent but different. I say
all of this to point out that I am not the only one. Reference to these
other people can be found in the suggestions below.

I'd be glad to describe in more detail what "I do". It takes more space I
think than normally one devotes to e-mail and graphics would be a great
help. Let me suggest because of this, and because I am preparing for a
working trip to Mexico, that I refer the readers to some places where they
can download some files or read some articles that describe what I am
finding useful. Then, for now, I've got to get on with my preparations.

Some things to look at:
1. A pre-publication draft of a book chapter. The final version was
shortened by the publisher in the interest of costs, so this file is
somewhat more extensive than that actually published. (URL:
ftp://physlrnr.idbsu.edu/pub/physlrnr)
Download the file "plr08" (pc for word for windows 2, and mac for word for
mac 5.1) If you are using ftp software no userid or password is necessary.

2. The article in Science Education 76(6): 615 - 652 (1992) along with a
response and a reply: Science Education 77(4), 461 - 463, (1993) and
Science Education 77(3), 343 - 349, 1993. The main article has
"philosophy" with some examples, but the Appendix to the article give a
description of some instruction.

3. Jim Minstrell's "Explaining the 'at rest' condition of an object" in
TPT, Jan 82.

4. If you can get your hands on a copy, look at the Electricity Unit in
AAPT's Powerful Ideas in Physical Science. The unit is a "work in
progress" on instructional materials about electrical circuits.

5. This is a little further away from the essence of what "I do" but it is
satisfyingly close. Look into the materials in the CPU Project at San
Diego State University (Fred Goldberg, Sharon Bendall, Pat Heller).
Especially Pat's Electricity Unit. (URL: http://cpuproject.sdsu.edu/CPU/)

I gotta go now. Sorry.

I'll be back on 19 Jan.

Dewey


+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Dewey I. Dykstra, Jr. Phone: (208)385-3105
Professor of Physics Dept: (208)385-3775
Department of Physics/MCF421/418 Fax: (208)385-4330
Boise State University dykstrad@bsumail.idbsu.edu
1910 University Drive Boise Highlanders
Boise, ID 83725-1570 novice piper

"Physical concepts are the free creations of the human mind and
are not, however it may seem, uniquely determined by the external
world."--A. Einstein in The Evolution of Physics with L. Infeld,
1938.
"Every [person's] world picture is and always remains a construct
of [their] mind and cannot be proved to have any other existence."
--E. Schrodinger in Mind and Matter, 1958.
"Don't mistake your watermelon for the universe." --K. Amdahl in
There Are No Electrons, 1991.
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