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[Phys-L] Re: Modern Physics. Was: Re: The bulb-with-one-wire task: too tricky?



On reflection, the argument that "fewer people were literate, so the =
literate people were MORE literate" is foolish, and I did not mean t=
o imply it. It's true that fewer people were literate, but it doesn't=
follow that this makes the literate people more so. I think that th=
e major factor in the difference between 19th century prose and 20th =
century prose is that of style. That, and the lack of instruction in=
ancient and modern languages today. We lost a facility with languag=
e - but we gained in other areas. If nothing else, today's students h=
ave an extra century of history to deal with. 19th century students =
also didn't bother with "keyboarding," computers, and a bunch of othe=
r stuff that kids today have to learn. =20

Unlike 19th century students, today's kids are literally bombarded wi=
th information from all sides, day and night. Information comes to =
them whether they want it or not. They don't have to look for it. Tod=
ay's students need to learn how to WORK to get information. They need=
to learn how to dig for the good stuff, and when to filter out the b=
ad stuff. Let's put "digging for information" and "evaluating inform=
ation" on the list of things to teach today's students.=20

I recent;y had some students refuse to go to the library because "bo=
oks are all out of date." They preferred to get their information vi=
a videos and the Internet. They also believed everything they read or=
saw regardless of the source, could not distinguish between "shallow=
" and "deep" knowledge (being satisfied with the former), and rebelle=
d when told that this was not acceptable. Unfortunately, they were =
eled majors. *sigh* =20

Vickie Frohne

-----Original Message-----
=46rom: Forum for Physics Educators on behalf of RAUBER, JOEL
Sent: Wed 2/23/2005 8:26 AM
To: PHYS-L@LISTS.NAU.EDU
Subject: Re: Modern Physics. Was: Re: The bulb-with-one-wire task: =
too tricky?
=20
_
|
| Literate: In those days very few people attended college,
| not to mention the number of science students. I think it is
| the best explanation of grade inflation.
|

Huh, you may have to explain your reasoning. One na=EFve argument wo=
uld say that if college classes are taught at the same level, (which =
of course they are not), then the above fact would indicate we should=
have grade deflation currently. I think the explanation of grade in=
flation lies mostly elsewhere.

Vickie F. stated:

The level of literacy was very high compared to today. On the other =
hand, a considerably smaller fraction of the population was literate.

Which is no doubt true if one defines literate as knowing how to read=
. However, we've seen in another thread going on at the moment state=
ments regarding how students don't read their book. If you ask them,=
they'll say they've read the book; and I believe that they have gone=
through the motions of reading their book. But are they literate?

Mostly rhetorical questions for discussion points.

Joel R.