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Re: POLARIZATION


from the University of Maryland starting at
(http://www.physics.umd.edu/deptinfo/facilities/lecdem/m9-01.htm ).
Just press the "next demo" button to see successive demonstrations.

I did just this. Who is supposed to benefit from such pictures, and from
short descriptions below them?

Duh...lecture demonstrations are intended for people who have a clue how to
use them. That is not equivalent to saying that faculty necessarily fit in
this category!

Most larger Universities have a physics lecture demonstration office for
support of classroom demonstrations; the larger the university, the larger
the support provided. For a peek at several such web sites check out the
PIRA web site at: http://cavern.uark.edu/depts/pira/.

The on-line catalogs and ordering systems are intended for use by the
faculty at the particular university which has the on-line catalog. Most
of us are beginning to "layer" our ordering systems with more complete
descriptions and references from TPT and AJP articles. However, it is a
very time consuming process, especially considering that it is an
"in-house" management system. These demonstrations are *not* intended for
use by students.

Several Physics Education research groups have recently reported that
faculty using lecture demonstrations have failed utterly in getting
concepts across to their students. Supposedly, the faculty were
"knowledgeable teachers" who were also popular with their students.

Regardless, how a demonstration is perceived depends largely on how it is
presented. I have observed numerous "award winning" faculty fail to weave
the demonstrations into the fabric of their lectures. I am not surprised
that their students learn very little from the demonstrations presented in
those classes. Karl

Dr. Karl I. Trappe Desk Phone: (512) 471-4152
Physics Dept, Mail Stop C-1600 Demo Office: (512) 471-5411
The University of Texas at Austin Home Phone: (512) 264-1616
Austin, Texas 78712-1081