Chronology Current Month Current Thread Current Date
[Year List] [Month List (current year)] [Date Index] [Thread Index] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Date Prev] [Date Next]

[Phys-L] The Relativistic Model of Instruction (was Re: Shocked!!!)



In her Math-Learn post of 12 Aug 2005 6:06 pm titled "Re: Shocked!!!"
math teacher Timotha Trigg wrote: "In my experience with education,
less is less despite claims of less being more". . . [as by the late
great astrophysicist and educator Phillip Morrison (1964)].

On 14 Aug 2005 00:09:48-0500 John Clement responded on Math-Learn:

"As you add more topics, there obviously is a point at which students can not
learn the basics, and the overall learning goes down. . . .If less is
always less, then more is always more. By this logic we should be
able to cram every topic up to quantum electrodynamics and string
theory into a two semester course."

Aside from the passive-student lectures, recipe labs, and algorithmic
problem sets, all demonstrated to be relatively ineffective in
promoting conceptual understanding of physics [Hake (2005)], another
failing of of traditional introductory physics courses has been that
"coverage" of a vast multitude of topics prohibits students from
learning the basics.

The late Arnold Arons (1986) put it well:

"The relativistic model of instruction is based on the premise that,
if one starts with an E - N - O - R - M - O - U - S [my emphasis]
breadth of subject matter but passes it by the student at
sufficiently high velocity, the Lorentz contraction will shorten it
to the point at which it drops into the hole which is the student
mind."

For a cartoon representation of the "relativistic model of
instruction" that characterizes most introductory physics courses see
Hake (2000).


Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University
24245 Hatteras Street, Woodland Hills, CA 91367
<rrhake@earthlink.net>
<http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~hake>
<http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~sdi>


REFERENCES
Arons, A.B. 1986. "Conceptual Difficulties in Science," in
Undergraduate Education in Chemistry and Physics: Proceedings of the
Chicago Conferences on Liberal Education," No. 1, edited by M.R.
Rice. Univ. of Chicago. p. 23-32. See also Hake (2004).

Hake, R.R. 2000. "What Can We Learn from the Physics Education Reform
Effort?", ASME Mechanical Engineering Education Conference: Drivers
and Strategies of Major Program Change, Fort Lauderdale, Florida,
March 26-29; online as:
(a) ref. 9 at <http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~hake/>, or
(b) download directly at
<http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~hake/ASME-040300e.pdf> (436 kB), or
(c) HTML plus video at
<http://hitchcock.dlt.asu.edu/media2/cresmet/hake/>.

Hake, R.R. 2004. "The Arons Advocated Method," submitted to the
"American Journal of Physics" on 24 April 2004; online as reference
31 at
<http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~hake>, or download directly as a 144
kB pdf by clicking on
<http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~hake/AronsAdvMeth-8.pdf>.

Hake, R.R. 2005. "Student Learning Assessment In the Social
Sciences," online at
<http://lists.nau.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0507&L=phys-l&P=R16600>. Post
of 30 Jul 2005 11:34:43-0700 to AERA-C, AERA-D, AERA-GSL, AERA-H,
AERA-I, AERA-J, AERA-K, AERA-L, AP-Physics, Biolab, Biopi-L,
Chemed-L, EvalTalk, Math-Learn, Physhare, PhysLrnR, POD, STLHE-L,
TeachingEdPsych, and TIPS.

Morrison, P. 1964. "Less My Be More," Am. J. Phys. 32: 441-457.