Yesterday’s physics education post kicked off a bit of discussion in a place I can’t link to about the usefulness of lectures. Something in that reminded me of an anecdote from my grad school days, that I think is useful, so I’ll post it here. When we were working on the spin-polarized collision experiment, we… Continue reading The Problem With Lectures
Month: November 2011
Links for 2011-11-30
Science Experiments for Unimpressed Kids: Surface Tension | Live Granades How to Demonstrate Surface Tension This easy and fun experiment will be sure to captivate absolutely no one. Equipment Glass of water Needle A piece of toilet paper One or more kids who will be unimpressed by your experiment Coilhouse » Blog Archive » Mr.… Continue reading Links for 2011-11-30
Links for 2011-11-29
“They’ve traded more for cigarettes / than I’ve managed to express”; or, Dives, Lazarus, and Alice “Let us consider a simple economy with three individuals. Alice is a restaurateur; she has fed herself, and has just prepared a delicious turkey dinner, at some cost in materials, fuel, and her time. Dives is a wealthy conceptual… Continue reading Links for 2011-11-29
Active Learning Experiment: The Aftermath
As I said last week, I recently wrapped up a term experimenting with “active learning” techniques in the two intro courses I was teaching. The diagnostic test results were a mixed bag– one section showed really good improvement in their scores, the other was no better than the same class with traditional methods– and the… Continue reading Active Learning Experiment: The Aftermath
Not All Attrition Is Bad
One of the many things I wish I had had time to blog about during the just-completed term was the big New York Times article on attrition in science majors. This generated enough commentary at the time that people are probably sick of it, but I haven’t seen anything that exactly matches my take, so… Continue reading Not All Attrition Is Bad
Thanks
This has been an exhausting and exasperating fall, but my classes are done, and my grades are in. And, more importantly, The Pip is out and about, SteelyKid is super excited to be a big sister, and everybody in Chateau Steelypips is healthy and happy. (Well, OK, Emmy’s a little disgruntled that I didn’t drop… Continue reading Thanks
Scientific Commuting: The Data
A few months back, I did a post about estimating the time required for the different routes I take to work, looking at the question of whether it’s better to take a shorter route with a small number of slow traffic lights, or a longer route with a bunch of stop signs. This was primarily… Continue reading Scientific Commuting: The Data
Monday Pip Blogging: Week 2
SteelyKid’s away at Grandma and Grandpa’s for a few days, to give us a little more time to acclimate to The Pip, which means you get a very traditional baby blogging picture: It’s not the greatest angle for comparing his size to Appa, but you get the idea. The Pip is settling in nicely. His… Continue reading Monday Pip Blogging: Week 2
Active Learning Experiment: Nearly the End
As noted in previous posts, I’ve been trying something radically different with this term’s classes, working to minimize the time I spend lecturing, and replace it with in-class discussion and “clicker questions.” I’m typing this while proctoring the final exam for the second of the two classes I’m teaching, so it’s not exactly the end,… Continue reading Active Learning Experiment: Nearly the End
Some People Shouldn’t Be Police Officers
Including pretty much anybody wearing a helmet in this video from UC-Davis: That’s just disgraceful, all the way around (with the possible exception of the chubby hatless cop in the first part of the video, who appears to be behaving in a more reasonable manner than his armored colleagues). I feel a tiny bit bad… Continue reading Some People Shouldn’t Be Police Officers