For all of us to help you, we need more details. First, how big are your
classes? I can see from your signature that you teach in a community
college, but class size dictates what you can and should do. Second, tell us
who is taking your classes and why. Third, who has set the topics that you
must cover? You say that you cannot go slower, otherwise you will not cover
the appropriate material. Who set what you are to teach?
I am going to make some guesses about your situation. I may be wildly off
base, but that has never stopped me before. Some of my colleagues will read
this and snicker; I don't always practice what I preach.
As to questions. Part of the job of a good teacher is anticipating questions
and answering them before they even come up. Over time, you will learn what
students' misconceptions tend to be and what is taught by you and your
textbook in such a way as to create problems. Right now, you don't know
these things yet, but experience will help you, assuming that you take the
time to learn from your students. The old adage is that some teachers have
20 years of experience and others have the same year of experience 20 times.
But are there any shortcuts? Two books come to mind. One is relatively easy
to get. It's called something like _Understanding Students Misconceptions
About Physics_ . (I'm at home right now and the book is at school.) It is
trade sized and has a red cover. It cost me about $40. The book seems oddly
organized to me and could be summarized in about 30 pages, but nonetheless
it describes the most common misconceptions that students have.
The second book is the instructors guide that comes with text called _The
Physics of Everyday Things_ by Bloomfield. I liked the first addition of
this text a lot, but I hate the second edition. The trip to color seems to
have reduced the number of chapters and interesting problems, made the pages
busier and harder to read, and raised the price. The text is rather
controversial in the same way that Hewitt's _Conceptual Physics_ is. Like
many on the list, Bloomfield has students turn in questions at the end of
class about the physics with which they are having trouble. He has
catagorized and answered the most common ones. It is a great resource. He
has something similar online at <http://howthingswork.virginia.edu/>
Another thing that may help is using a homework service like the one at the
Univerisity of Texas. you create a set of homework for the students to do.
They download the problems from UT. Each student gets the problems with
different numbers, so students can work together (more on that below) but
still do their own work. It offers thousands of questions for you to chose
from. The nicest thing about it is that the students can submit their
answers and get feedback immediately. This greatly encourages them to do the
homework unitl it is correct.
My students would only do their homework when I checked it, and then they
never corrected what they got wrong. On the other hand, I've had nearly all
of my students doing homework until correct. This has helped their grades.
Even if you are not planning on grading homework, this is a valuable
resource for your students.
UT's service is free. Another company, WebAssign, charges $250 plus $5 a
student.
LABS! LABS! LABS!
Getting hands on has changed how well my students learn. The equipment can
be expensive, but on the other hand not all of it is. Even in a lecture
class, students can do simple labs. Demonstrations are okay, but having the
students do it is the only way to be sure they have learned it. Few
scientists learned anything by just thinking about it.
Marc "Zeke" Kossover
-----Original Message-----
From: Tina Fanetti
To: PHYS-L@lists.nau.edu
Sent: 9/18/01 12:15 PM
Subject: What to do now
Hello all
And now for something completely different.
I was called into my supervisor's office yesterday. My physics stude=
nts think I am a bad teacher and accuse me of not answering questions=
etc etc.
I am like they don't ask questions. I ask them if they are getting i=
t and I get no response. =20
They just had their first test. They did horrible. This is a calc b=
ased class and they are all going to be engineers at a much tougher s=
chool than this.
I don't know what to do. I can't slow down anymore. I have to do so=
mething.
I also have a problem relating to some of the foreign students. I wo=
uld like some advice regarding this too.
I had a long talk with my students today begging them to ask question=
s telling them I can't help you if I don't know what you don't get. =
It makes perfect sense to me and if you don't tell me that it doesnt'=
make sense to you...I assume you got it.
Tina
Tina Fanetti
Physics Instructor
Western Iowa Technical Community College
4647 Stone Ave
Sioux City IA 51102
712-274-8733 ext 1429