OK, it’s not really a full post-mortem, because I haven’t graded the final exams yet, but I wouldn’t tell you about those, anyway. Still, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the past term, which was my first teaching introductory mechanics on the Matter & Interactions curriculum. On the whole, I continue to… Continue reading Matter and Interactions: Post-Mortem
Category: Education
Algebra Is Like Sunscreen
Every year around this time, references to that damn sunscreen speech pop up again, as people start thinking of graduations. It’s in the air (Union’s graduation is this Sunday, and I don’t think I’ve ever been happier to see the end of an academic year). And, of course, I have actually been asked to give… Continue reading Algebra Is Like Sunscreen
Academic Poll: Forms of Address
This may be too late in the day to generate much action, but I thought of it just a little while ago. Two questions: 1) If you were writing a letter of recommendation for a student, would you refer to them as “Firstname” or “Mr./Ms. Lastname”? 2) Does your answer depend on the level of… Continue reading Academic Poll: Forms of Address
What Should I Say to High School Graduates?
I’m in a line of work where I have to listen to a lot of graduation speeches– at least one per year. Yesterday, though, I got a phone call asking me to give one at my old high school’s graduation in three and a half weeks. This is kind of a weird situation, because while… Continue reading What Should I Say to High School Graduates?
Nobody Expects the Vector Product
Today is the first day of the last week of class, hallelujah. Unfortunately, it’s also the first class on rotational motion and angular momentum. This is unfortunate because it’s the hardest material in the course– angular momentum doesn’t behave in as intuitive a manner as linear momentum, and the math involved is the most complicated… Continue reading Nobody Expects the Vector Product
Projectile Motion, Uncertainty, and a Question of Ethics
We no longer do what is possibly my favorite lab in the intro mechanics class. We’ve switched to the Matter and Interactions curriculum, and thus no longer spend a bunch of time on projectile motion, meaning there’s no longer room for the “target shooting” lab. It’s called that because the culmination of the lab used… Continue reading Projectile Motion, Uncertainty, and a Question of Ethics
Making Physics Relevant
An example problem from today’s lecture: A sleep-deprived parent is warming a bottle for a midnight feeding. He places a bottle containing 250 ml of infant formula at 275K into 300 ml of water at 320 K. When the two liquids reach equilibrium, what is the temperature of the formula?
Would You Like Some Calculus With Your Physics?
It’s a nice demonstration of the oddity of the blogosphere that a libertarian political blog has become my go-to-source for thoughtful blogging about physics education. Thoreau had two good posts yesterday at Unqualified Offerings, one on the problems created by breaking down incorrect intuition, and another on the lack of calculus in calculus-based physics texts:… Continue reading Would You Like Some Calculus With Your Physics?
Good Science Books for Kids
The proprietor of Good Mom, Bad Mom emails to point out a post spinning off Monday’s Goldilocks post. A good thing she did, as Technorati has collapsed into utter uselessness, at least for finding people who link to my posts. Her post quotes an unnamed correspondent, who writes: My two daughters are both compulsive readers,… Continue reading Good Science Books for Kids
How to Email Your Instructor for Help
Back in the stone ages, when I was a student and walked uphill through the snow to class, if you wanted assistance on a homework assignment, you needed to track the instructor of the class down in person, either by going to their posted office hours, or calling them on the phone to set up… Continue reading How to Email Your Instructor for Help