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Re: improving textbooks -- some modest proposals



The statements below are so true! They can't be emphasized enough, and they
bear repeating often! They are among the most important statements that
John has made.
Cheers,
Jane Jackson


On Feb. 18, 2002, John Clement posted:
"I don't know how great an effect size will result from accurate texts, but I
suspect it will not be very high. On the other hand effect sizes greater
than 1.0 result from properly implemented reformed physics instruction. In
other words the best way of achieving better results is by using good
research based material by a teacher who knows how to use it. In the
meantime just getting better material into the hands of most teachers should
help the situation some. Since some teachers will never adapt to reformed
materials, they can at least do better with good accurate conventional
texts. This latter situation is probably the case in middle or high school.
..."
Texts are just one part of the problem. Since only a small fraction of HS
teachers are using reformed physics education methods their impact on the
overall population is likely to be small. The fraction of MS teachers using
good reformed methods is probably even smaller than the fraction of reform
minded physics teachers. As a result just getting accurate books can help.
If the number of reform minded teacher grows sufficiently the text issue may
become moot. That may take a while. Other vital issues are teacher
education, distortions produced by high stakes testing, large class sizes,
and the worsening teacher shortage. ..."

Jane Jackson, Co-Director, Modeling Instruction Program
Box 871504, Dept.of Physics & Astronomy,ASU,Tempe,AZ 85287
480-965-8438/fax:965-7331 <http://modeling.asu.edu>
Genius must transform the world, that the world may produce more genius.