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Re: [Phys-l] not our majors now!



Hi all-
I suggest that Bernard has missed the point. The point is, what do we do in our present relations with the students we deal with now.
Regards,
Jack



On Sat, 7 Oct 2006, Bernard Cleyet wrote:

"The issue of mortality takes precedence, in the minds of many young
people, over the demands of homework."

In that case I suggest the solution is to push for a draft w/ student
deferment, or have I missed the point.

bc, who suggested this (joke) in a faculty meeting at Keele (UK ca.
1967) in response to a low student enrolment discussion.

p.s. I thought male adolescents thought themselves immortal, or is it
just testosterone?

Jack Uretsky wrote:

Hi all -
Two separate questions:
1. There is no such rule. If I assign 6 homework propblems I keep my
teaching load tolerable by choosing at random which one or two I will
grade. If the student hasn't done thae one that's graded, tough. No
credit.

2. When you find yourself pontificating about society and the big
picture, look out! That's one or our psychological devices for avoiding
the hard work of solving prolems that we can actually deal with.
ON THE OTHER HAND, our students today are facing issues that most
members on this list never had to deal with. I remember that I did
practically no homework in the spring of 1943, the semester before I went
into service. I left school, in fact, before the semester was over, and
hitch-hiked across the US, waiting for my call to active duty. [DID YOU INTEND A NEW PARAGRAPH HERE?] I run into
many young people who have volunteered for military service, or are
thinking of doing so. The issue of mortality takes precedence, in the
minds of many young people, over the demands of homework.
I suggest that it is important to understand the issues
confronting your students, now.
Regards,
Jack



On Fri, 6 Oct 2006, R. McDermott wrote:



Is there some rule that requires assigning and grading homework? Seems to
me that the tests would indicate how well a student has learned. As to
having the test solutions, I can see where this would be an issue with
multiple choice, but problems can be modified, and it is unlikely that a
student can memorize all possible permutations of problems (keeping in mind
that most students see problems as all being different whereas we know they
fall into only a couple of general categories).

As stated earlier on, this simply reflects our (US) society. The wise and
learned person found in some cultures is here the bumbling, absentminded,
socially inept dork. Little reverence for learning as an end in itself.
Reverence instead for the person who can get the better of others by dint of
being craftier, more ruthless, etc. No surprise that we see this in our
students.

_______________________________________________
Forum for Physics Educators
Phys-l@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu
https://carnot.physics.buffalo.edu/mailman/listinfo/phys-l






_______________________________________________
Forum for Physics Educators
Phys-l@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu
https://carnot.physics.buffalo.edu/mailman/listinfo/phys-l


--
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just before leading them into the Little Big Horn Valley