Re: Intro Physics Sequence

[Joel Rauber <Joel_Rauber@SDSTATE.EDU>]

> I guess I would worry about teaching physics in the context of
> engineering.  There is the general philosophical issue of
> what one does
> when one teachs and learns physics.  If you do it to solve a
> problem and
> get a number...then I suppose you are correct.  But if you do it to
> understand a way of thinking about the world and how objects interact
> with each other, then I think the engineering context is not the
> place.  I am, as some of you know, inclined to the latter.

Mind you, I'm not suggesting the proposal, but its not just a
tongue-in-cheek comment.  ABET 2000 has no physics requirement.  I'm just
pointing out that if you don't want mathematicians teaching calculus you
need to be prepared for the serious proposals of others to not have
physicists teach physics.

WRT to calculus, I think you need both, mathematicians teaching calculus and
physicists teaching calculus (which means math majors should be require to
take the calculus level physics course).  Indeed at my alma mater the math
majors were requiredd to take the intro physics sequence and one advance
science course that had a lot of applied math, there was a small approved
list of such courses, which included classican mechanics, E&M, quantum
mechanics, and P-chem as I recall.  I think most math majors opted to
satisfy the requirement with the physic's departments classical mechanics
course and a smaller sub-set chose the E&M course.

> > > 1) Mathematicians do not consider The Calculus to be a real
> > > math course yet
> > > they try to guard it as their domain -- only the pixies know why.
> > > <g>  Ideally Calculus should be taught in a Physics
> Class. IE "tools"
> > > should be taught in an ambient where the tools are used.
> >
> > Which is why physics should be taught just-in-time in the
> engineering
> > courses!!!  Thus eliminating introductory physics from the
> curriculum. (or
> > so it is argued by many)
> >
> > Joel Rauber
> > Joel_Rauber@sdstate.edu

Joel Rauber
Joel_Rauber@sdstate.edu