After 30 years teaching physics - from high school through
college level - I can't remember a single class where I
discussed the difference between theories, laws and
principles. I'm not attempting to make any claim as to
whether it's better to mention these things or not - I'm
simply stating that I haven't.
I'm curious as to how many people do cover these
differences a part of their approach to physics? - I'm
assuming that many do, given the length of this thread.
Is it more common to cover this in high school or at the
college level - or maybe even middle school? I mentioned
this thread to my colleagues at lunchtime and they were all
puzzled as to why anyone would take time out of a course to
discuss this topic - one joked about letting the philosophy
majors worry about it.