Re: Computers in the lab. /diatribe/

[Dave Hamilton <djhamil@TELEPORT.COM>]

In my 11th-12th grade physics classes, I first have my students use the 60Hz
recording timers (with carbon paper circles and paper tape) to study motion.
After we have been through that process, I feel comfortable having them use
Vernier motion sensors because we can relate what the sensors are doing for
us back to the things we did with the paper tape.

In my 9th grade, low-skills physical science classes, we use the motion
sensors with just a brief explanation of how they work (one that I believe
most students do not care about or understand).  I know I'll draw ire (and
fire) from some, but I defend my practice because I am more interested in
the students' ability to "see" the motion represented by distance and
velocity graph than in their understanding of how the data are collected.

My point here is that our decisions about the best approaches (technological
and methodological) must take into account our goals, our audience, our
context, our resources, and several other things I'm leaving out.  I find
that medical metaphors for teaching (see Brian's post below) lead toward
"one best course of treatment for all" recommendations.  But I don't believe
that education is that much like medicine.

> From: brian whatcott <inet@INTELLISYS.NET>
> Reply-To: "phys-l@lists.nau.edu: Forum for Physics
> Educators"<PHYS-L@lists.nau.edu>
> Date: Mon, 04 Sep 2000 10:18:24 -0500
> To: PHYS-L@lists.nau.edu
> Subject: Re: Computers in the lab. /diatribe/
>
> At 10:12 9/4/00 -0400, Michael Edmiston wrote:
> > Each teacher has to decide whether each experiment succeeds best
> > (promotes learning) by computerizing data acquisition or by more
> > manual data acquisition.  Here are some of the ways I make that
> decision....
>
> > Michael D. Edmiston, Ph.D.
>
> It seems to me that this proposition is roughly equivalent to this
> position:
> "Each physician has to decide whether each course of treatment for
> bacterial infection works best by using the preferred broadband
> antibiotic or alternatively by prescribing bed rest and herbal
> infusions, with daily acupuncture."
>
> That is to say: if it has been established by respectable
> experimental protocol that a certain prescription is far superior
> to others, a physician would risk malpractise by deviating far
> from this high road.