tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31189917.post115816953214659993..comments2024-03-28T21:04:16.189-07:00Comments on The Blog of Phyz: I'm done with kinematicsDean Bairdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17681829220589441713noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31189917.post-1160113090952182032006-10-05T22:38:00.000-07:002006-10-05T22:38:00.000-07:00Ian,I don't pretend to know what the politics are ...Ian,<BR/>I don't pretend to know what the politics are that surround the sequencing of intro physics at a major university. <BR/><BR/>It seems there would be more leeway at that level given that the students have seen physics in high school prior to matriculation. Alas, inertia cannot be ignored since the professors are there to conduct research; instructional excellence may not be a priority. Tinkering with the sequence may cut into their research time.Dean Bairdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17681829220589441713noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31189917.post-1160103518297635212006-10-05T19:58:00.000-07:002006-10-05T19:58:00.000-07:00Greetings.For years, some of us in the UMass Physi...Greetings.<BR/><BR/>For years, some of us in the UMass Physics Education Research Group (http://umperg.physics.umass.edu) have been arguing that the Physics Department should change its introductory physics majors' curriculum around. Optics and thermodynamics are both mathematically simpler and, hopefully, a little more interesting to students. Thus, they should go in the first semester.<BR/><BR/>Unfortunately, the Physics Department has never been quite brave enough to try it. The suggestion sounds a little too... heretical... for them.<BR/><BR/>:ianAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31189917.post-1159806638539058892006-10-02T09:30:00.000-07:002006-10-02T09:30:00.000-07:00You need not work out too many application and und...You need not work out too many application and understanding type questions in Mechanics if time is limited. However,you may insist that the students should work out some typical and comparatively interesting problems related to the topics taught.<BR/>MV(physicsplus.blogspot.com)MVhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05910408858112321196noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31189917.post-1159073515300663442006-09-23T21:51:00.000-07:002006-09-23T21:51:00.000-07:00I agree.I teach - velocity- momentum and its conse...I agree.<BR/><BR/>I teach <BR/>- velocity<BR/>- momentum and its conservation<BR/>- impulse-momentum<BR/>- falling objects<BR/>- conservation of energy<BR/>- rotation<BR/>- sound<BR/>- lens optics<BR/>- color theory<BR/>- electricity and magnetism<BR/><BR/>I have started with optics and sound, but I am trying starting with mechanics again. The math teachers and I are trying to work together so that the students will get similar presentations in two classes and double the practice. Maybe that will help.<BR/><BR/>Marc "Zeke" KossoverAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31189917.post-1158362941606539872006-09-15T16:29:00.000-07:002006-09-15T16:29:00.000-07:00I totally agree with the unintended consequences o...I totally agree with the unintended consequences of kinematics (which we see as easy, because it doesn't really require physical reasoning, just algebra; unfortunately, they think it's hard for exactly the same reason!). I don't teach it to conceptual physics students until the spring (after osc. and waves, sound, optics, and circuits), and this is the mechanics sequence that I'm using for my senior-level students:<BR/>- preliminary stuff (3 days max)<BR/>- 1D kinematics, no acceleration<BR/>- 1D and 2D statics<BR/>- kinematics with acceleration<BR/>- dynamics<BR/>- momentum conservation<BR/>- energy conservation<BR/><BR/>My hope is that the "big picture" is grouped into "situations with a=0" and "situations with nonzero a." This is my attempt to group the concepts physically and not mathematically - we'll see how it works!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com