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But is students were required to take physics, they might actually know how to do math!
This column is based on an original article published in PhysicsToday. Unfortunately, that article is not free access. The central issue is one of being able to "sell" physics curiculum to school districts. Most foreign students take twice as many STEM (see below) classes as their American counterparts. This is a sobering reality, especially given the emphasis of the creationism vs evolution curriculum debates of late. One has to wonder if there isn't a connecton there.....
Physics is not something to be scared of, rather it's something to be embraced as appreciated as it gives us a foundation for contextualizing events in our corner of the universe.
http://brane-space.blogspot.com/2011...l-physics.html
I provide the original link to PhysicsToday as well:The news in the most recent issue of Physics Today wasn't encouraging in the least, for those of us who'd like to see more U.S. high schoolers studying physics. First, the article (July, p. 29, 'Convincing U.S. States to Require Physics') notes that in terms of the STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) core subjects, the states by and large a doing a lousy job.
http://physicstoday.org/resource/1/p...sAuthorized=no
But is students were required to take physics, they might actually know how to do math!
The problem with students learning physics is that most students are not taught algebra, geometry and trigonometry well enough to do it.
High school physics is all straight line and rotational motion, maybe some energy but if you do not know the above disciplines you are going to panic when asked to set up a problem. They are not going to have the tools to set up a coordinate system or be able to isolate variables. Thats the reason why they are scared of it. They do not have the baseline and they know it.
Instead the teacher is going to have to figure out where each students baselines are and bring them up to speed. When you have a class of 30 students that is all but impossible even for very good teachers.
What they need to do is give math and science teachers who actually have the capability to teach the subjects well, better money at the 6-9 grade levels to make it worth their while to teach it.
The lower level physics don't require hard math. I think it actually makes math easier to understand, and a person can visualize real applications for it.
One of the problems today is that schools aren't teaching well enough. I didn't use any harder math in HS physics than what was common to learn in middle school... at least for my time. Today, the schools don't require the levels of math they once did.
Well, it's simple incentive. Start flunking kids again instead of teaching to the lowest common denominator.
Merit pay should be part of any job, but try to get that past the unions, since they also look out for the lowest common denominator.
Then that was because you were in the dummie class. i have taught those subjects before on the middle school level by all means keep going.
Harder math? what do you consider 'harder' math.
I was doing Algebra II level in the 7th grade.
Dummy? No. I was at one of those at the top.
then how did you fall so far? And what topics were in your algebra 2 courses.
You want me to remember something ~ 40 years ago?
Thats right you are old AND dumb. Must suck but at least you can use the former as an excuse for the latter.
Say as you will. At least I understand AC power and know there is such a thing as a brush-less DC motor. You fail to understand the primary reasons three phase was developed.
Without Googling, do you know what the "j" operator is?
Nice, I'm in your head. I explained it you like it was explained to me in signals. You didn't understand I am not particularly worried about it.
And the imaginary world is so wonderful.
tbh, I was fairly proficient at math in high school, but physics was always something that really turned me off, and I always did poorly mostly because of lack of interest or lack of seeing applicability for it.
I ended up pretty much re-learning the whole thing on my own when writing 3D engines. Then it was more fun, and you could actually visually see what was going on.
That's really the key with math I think. I'll bet most people have a topic that they like, and has math in some form. Even music.
We have to be careful of a one size fits all curriculum. Some students exceed in Math and would welcome a introductory physics course, others, not so much...nothing wrong with that...if you take a long look at jobs that hire today, we need more creative thinkers, i.e. right-brain thinkers...the literary creative types...Instead the teacher is going to have to figure out where each students baselines are and bring them up to speed. When you have a class of 30 students that is all but impossible even for very good teachers.
Hard to find a hobby or occupation that doesn't involve math in some way. The Math curriculum is getting tougher and many kids, social economically disadvantaged or not are rising to the occasion, but in general, its foolish to believe that a kid is gonna get the same rigor in math and science in a south-side district school than a kid at Reagan or Churchill, schools where kids compete for college scholarships.....
I'm willing to bet that most people could not pass a Math HS exit exam after just 2 years out of high school....does that mean they didn't learn math in school? No...they just don't use it enough after high school to refresh their skills....
Would they also have to know English?
Indeed. Physics by its very nature is quite intimidating. Unless its made interesting in the proper context, most kids will opt to sleep through it. I remember an experiment regarding magnetism that our 7th grade teacher performed which finally awoke me from my slumber. I was a slacker up to that point.
Point taken, but I was forced to take that each an every year until I graduated HS, whether or not I wanted to.
Kids are mandated to take one or two years of physics after which they're allowed to take as much basketweaving as thier young hearts desire. Bad ju-ju.
i took physics in hs ain't no thing, i don't see how forcing another hard subject on dumbass kids will do anything but lower their already low GPA it's fine as an elective.
My comment was more directed at certain holier-than-thou posters who consistently fail to form coherent sentences. Sorry if it was misinterpreted.
I am all for requiring more science, and I think physics is the best place to start. The fact we require biology and chemistry in high school but not physics actually baffles me.
Ah, my apologies, but you're right about the English issue. I don't think that educators are in touch with the proper way to introduce and convey science. Physics is what everything is built on. Without that context, the work being done in other fields may lack the depth and framework to be utilized correctly. With research becoming increasingly interdisciplinary, this is an important consideration for the future.
If anyone has paid any attention to Chomsky, they would realize that the US agenda has been to keep voters stupid, not educate them. Belief in the supernatural is the best stupid pill ever invented.
In a reductionist philosophy physics is the foundation of everything. Chemistry and biology were not developed on the basis of classical mechanics however.
Certainly, and I'm no more than 100 percent biased obviously. Other physical disciplines impact those fields though. "Everything" was just part of the sales pitch +)
I'm surprised that today's kids can't write cursive and struggle to do basic mathematics without a calculator.
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