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Re: examples vs. formalism -- chapter 0 versus appendix



"Robert J. Beichner" wrote:

(A lot of ³instruction² actually is relegated to the examples
since many students limit their reading to them.)

That's an excellent idea. Don't relegate it to a parenthetical
remark; embrace it.

IMHO there is a difference between a reference/review book and a
textbook. A R/R book should just lay out the important laws and
facts, and discuss the relationships between them. But a textbook
can't do that. As we've discussed before: the structure of science
is like a stone arch: it holds itself together nicely. But you
can't build an arch without a lot of falsework. The stones, by
themselves, won't hold together until the whole arch if finished.

When I'm writing for myself, or for my learned colleagues, I
want an R/R discussion. But when I'm teaching students, I need
a lot more. I need examples. Lots of examples. Only after
the students get a feel for the examples is there any hope of
showing how the formalism ties things together.

Chapter 0 will be a series of ³tools² and techniques that physics students
should find useful.

I think this is a bad idea, for the reasons given above.

I agree that it is nice to collect the tools and techniques
all in one place, but Chapter 0 is not the place for it.
Indeed I would prefer the opposite extreme: put it in an
appendix.

That is, in the early chapters, trot out lots of examples and
the _minimum_ amount of formalism needed to get the job done.
Additional layers of formalism can be added gradually during
the year.