-----Original Message-----
From: Waggoner, Bill
Sent: Wed 8/29/2001 3:14 PM
To: phys-l@lists.nau.edu: Forum for Physics Educators
Cc:
Subject: RE: Teaching 3 Students
Tina,
I responded to you off list after your previous message, and
much of this is the same. ...I appologize, but I wanted to join in this
discussion.
I have had small classes in my calc based physics course since
day one. By small I mean 3 to 14 students. Classes are even smaller,
particularly when the second semester rolls around. When the class size
is near the handfull level, teaching can be particularly frustrating.
You will find the same characteristics present in your small classes as
in your large. You will have students who are always prepared, sometimes
prepared, and those who are last minute crammers. Which mix you have
will greatly affect how much small group activity you can do. I have had
discussions with my VP who thought this was wonderful, while I have
often found classes of 3 to be extremely tough to teach. It depends on
the students, and sometimes you really have to crack a whip.
I would suggest you prepare your curriculum based on your
average class size, and then just tweak it for smaller classes. While
you only have 3 students, these three may be expecting a rather standard
course. It might be that is how they learn best. Be careful about
forcing another model on them.
Some tweaks I would be suggest might be shorter exams but on a
more frequent basis. Be ready to work lots of problems, even if the
students arent asking questions. They might not be there yet, etc. There
will be some peer pressure so they might get shy on you. Send them to
the board, but be careful about wasting time when they arent prepared,
dont be afraid to step in. Assign a few more problems than normal, and
make them team assignments. Let the students know you are also part of
the team!
Two year college students typically are very motivated, and
usually older and hopefully more mature than typical university students
(although this demographic varies from region to region.) I find that
my students are motivated, but often have serious outside class
constraints like military, family, job, etc. They very well may only
have the weekend to prepare for class. They may have several week
stretches where little time is available outside of class, followed by
stretches where they create an abundant amount by taking off work etc.
to catch back up. If you are working presentations in to your course you
might want to consider this.
You also should take into consideration that these are
introductory students, they may not have had much experience in self
directed learning. In that case, your not only helping them learn
physics, but are helping them develope this skill as well. .. something
you may need to take into account in your assessment.
I generally try several things to engage the students and have
grown to lecture less and less. Things like ranking task
excercieses(Maloney, Hiegellke, OKuma), interactive lecture demo's
(Thorton and Sokoloff) , as well as traditional demos. Since I have
very little to no support in setting up demo's, and since I have to roll
into a classroom immediately after another instructor rolls out (most of
the time), I have utilized Cinema Classics, and other laser disk
material to supplement the demos. In many situations this allows you do
go into the analysis in far greater detail because of the frame by frame
stepping capability. I also like to show different programs from the
mechanical universe series, as well as assign watching programs along
with a written assignment. There are many other kinds of materials I
have found very useful, the Active Physiscs workbooks of Van Huevlen. I
also have tried to get as much resource material into the library as
possible. Interactive Physics (Schwartz), Schaum's outlines, Physics
made easy, etc.
Another excellent set of materials is the ICP21 materials
developed by Alex Dickison. It is not calculus based, but I have used
it in a calculus based setting. It is not hard to supplement this
material with a few mini lectures, and a good set of calc based problems
to assign. It is very constructive based, very hands on, with a well
defined learning cycle built in. After a few weeks the students
generally seem to like it. You will need to integrate this with your lab
time however to be truly effective. I am sure Alex would be happy to
send you an example of the materials. They have devloped modules for a
full year now (I believe?).
Finally, your students will be typical students. They ultimately
will be responsible for their success. More than likely it wont matter
tremendously what you do as long as you put forth your best effort.
Relax, have fun and enjoy!
Bill Waggoner
-----Original Message-----
From: Tina Fanetti
Sent: Tue 8/28/2001 8:29 AM
To: PHYS-L@lists.nau.edu
Cc:
Subject: Teaching 3 Students
Hello
I have 3 students in my General Physics Class. I see
this as a uniqu=
e opportunity to really impact them with physics. But I
am not sure =
exactly what to do. I don't want to lecture like
normal. Idea?
Thanks
Tina=20
Tina Fanetti
Physics Instructor
Western Iowa Technical Community College
4647 Stone Ave
Sioux City IA 51102
712-274-8733 ext 1429