Regarding PHS 560:LIGHT AND MATTER, at Arizona State University in July
(see my post of May 1):
A high school physics teacher who took PHS 560 last summer found it
enLIGHTening! Read that teacher's reflections. (The teacher asked that I
post this, to share the joy.)
cheers,
Jane Jackson
Jane.Jackson@asu.edu
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For years I'd been "teaching" about light...this mysterious electromagnetic
wave able to propagate through a vacuum.
I'd been "answering" questions and "explaining" all sorts of phenomenon:
Reflection: Like a ball bouncing... Refraction: Like a car rolling at an
angle from a smooth surface to a rough one... Prisms and rainbows based on
dispersion: Light travels at different speeds in different mediums because
it interacts with the matter and, well, that is just what happens...
Diodes: Like a one-way turnstile for current, you will study this in more
depth if you take a university physics course...
Of course I wasn't very comfortable with any of these "explanations", but
they seemed as in depth as the typical high school textbook. And although
I could sort of follow Maxwell's equations one by one, I never had that
"aha!" moment where any of these other topics made clear sense, so I locked
onto many of the same superficial models listed above.
Fortunately, last summer I enrolled in PHS 560: Light and Matter. We
learned some clear and powerful models that can be used to better explain
the above topics and others. And what I really learned is that I can still
learn.
In this course you will also perform labs and use powerful computer
programs and applets, most of which can be used with your students.
If you are interested in a better understanding of electromagnetic waves
and their interaction with matter, that is, if for you LIGHT MATTERS, then
you will certainly want to consider enrolling in the course LIGHT and
MATTER!
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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>
Wisdom is applying knowledge to human needs.