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Re: Pedagogy of misconceptions.



This has been going on too long...this quote really has little or
nothing to do with the content of the section being discussed and as
such constitutes a straw man. I suggest we not continue to copy it, and
I do so only so we all know what I am referring to.

cheers,

joe

On Fri, 15 Feb 2002,
Tim Folkerts wrote:

I believe the book may be written to take into account
the probable viewpoint(s) of a student new to the
topic and to recognize the likely preconceptions he or
she is likely to have. For example, twists and turns
on a path force you to move more slowly than if it
were straight. I think it's very understandable that
many students would expect steady-state current in
wires to be similarly affected.

After all, how do we draw a resistor? A zig-zag line! So at some level we
are all comfortable with this miconception.


Tim


Joseph J. Bellina, Jr. 219-284-4662
Associate Professor of Physics
Saint Mary's College
Notre Dame, IN 46556