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
Category: Education
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
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
Donors Choose Fundraiser: Double Your Impact
I’ve been too busy to really work on the DonorsChoose fundraiser this year, but it’s worth taking a little time to mention this opportunity: Starting today and running through Saturday midnight, the DonorsChoose board will match donations to the Science Bloggers for Students fundraiser. thus, a $5 donation becomes $10, $10 becomes $20, and, well,… Continue reading Donors Choose Fundraiser: Double Your Impact
Active Learning Experiment: The Halfway Point
Tuesday was the last day of the fifth week of classes (out of ten; for reasons that passeth all understanding, we started on Wednesday, so all the week-based deadlines fall on Tuesday). Accordingly, it seems like a decent time for an update on the active learning stuff I’ve been doing in my classes. Each class… Continue reading Active Learning Experiment: The Halfway Point
Physicists Are Cheap
Alternate title: I Have an Overdeveloped Sense of Responsibility, Which Is Going to Get Me in Trouble Someday. So, it’s October, which means the annual DonorsChoose fundraising challenge is upon us. I really don’t have time to do a good job of this, but having raised a whole bunch of money for them in the… Continue reading Physicists Are Cheap
Active Learning Experiment: The First 1.6 Weeks
As mentioned a while back, I’m experimenting with “active learning” techniques in my intro courses this term. Specifically, I’m doing a variant of the “Peer Instruction” method developed by Eric Mazur and others. There are a few complications imposed by our calendar/ class schedule, but I’m giving it a shot, and I thought I’d report… Continue reading Active Learning Experiment: The First 1.6 Weeks
Academic Poll: Essentials of Physics
While I was out in Denver, Joss Ives had a nice post asking what courses are essential in a physics degree?. This is an eternal topic of discussion in undergraduate education circles, and I don’t really have a definitive answer. It’s an excellent topic for a poll, though, so here you go: Which of the… Continue reading Academic Poll: Essentials of Physics
Poor Man’s Clickers, or Re-Inventing the Flat Tire?
As previously noted, I’m planning to do more active-learning stuff in my intro mechanics courses this fall (starting next Tuesday), and as a result have been reading/ watching a lot of material on this (which, by the way, includes far too many slickly produced sales videos and not nearly enough “here’s an example video of… Continue reading Poor Man’s Clickers, or Re-Inventing the Flat Tire?