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Re: [Phys-l] Students' READING abilities



I tried something different in class today. I modeled what is required
to read the text.

From a quick survey at the outset, it was clear that such an activity
might be helpful. I asked how much and how carefully they read the text
and got a variety of candid answers, like:
* "only before the test"
* "the words confuse me"
* "the equations confuse me"
* "the diagrams confuse me"
* "I only pay attention to the terms in bold"
* "I look at the examples if I get stuck on the homework"


So, I sat down amidst the students (just 7 in Engineering Physics II)
and read thru parts of the text that we were studying - picking out a
few paragraphs, equations and figures to concentrate on. (Fortunately
most had brought their texts!) Pretty much every sentence I stopped and
asked ask someone for a response - to paraphrase; to define words; to
relate the words to an equation; etc. I tried to avoid the temptation
to go to the board too often, but sometimes I would, to model the need
to write out intermediate steps in a derivation, to "translate" words
into equations, etc.

It was slow going. It was apparent many had never read the text in this
manner (and this is a month into the second semester). Heck, even
"simple" questions like "why is 'Delta V' in italics?" had most of them
stumped! We got thru about 1/2 of what I was expecting (or about 1/4 of
what I might cover in a typical class). I am thinking I have not held
the students responsible enough for the materials from the text. I will
have to change that ....

In the end, most students seemed to think it was a good day and I got
mostly positive feedback (and a couple of "we should have done this
earlier" remarks) . It gave them a better idea about what it really
takes to read a science text. I had written out a few of the sentences
on a handout, and since we didn't get all the way through, then their
homework was to read the next section and be ready to discuss the
materials from that section. We will see how well they follow through
and if they can read critically on their own and figure out why an ideal
voltmeter should have infinite resistance!


Tim F


P.S. My wife (a HS English and reading teacher) has made the point
before that EACH DISCLIPLINE should teach reading and writing - not just
English. English class certainly has the key spot in teaching grammar.
English also teaches reading and writing, but with an emphasis on
literature and essays. If we want students to learn to read a science
text, don't expect an English teacher to teach them how to integrate
information from text, diagrams, and equations. Novels and poems aren't
written that way, and English teachers are not likely to cover such
topics.