Once in a while I’ll come up with and use a teaching idea that I think is going to fail, but I’ll do it anyway because I think it will fail in a useful way. This time I was wrong: it didn’t fail at all. In fact, it turned out to be quite successful.
I’m teaching physics at Lynn English High School. The students who take physics have all passed chemistry and algebra 1 and geometry, and must either have passed or be concurrently taking algebra 2. They’re bright kids, but there are a few things they haven’t picked up along the way yet that they really need. The first was how to read (a textbook).
I decided that the second thing they need before we dive into the actual physics content was to look at math the way we need to use it in the course. I created a physics reference packet that’s a combination of the information in the NY Regents reference tables, the AP Physics formula sheets, and a few others that I thought were also useful. I handed out the reference packets and told them that they need to keep track of the packets because they’ll be allowed to use them on their tests all year. (If you want to download a copy, click the above link, then click the “Log in as a guest” button on my Moodle site.)
After I handed out the reference packets, I went over a few examples in which I took a simple problem (such as What is the momentum of a 10 kg cart that’s moving at a velocity of 30 m/s?) and showed them how to go from the units in the problem to the quantities involved, then to the variables that represent those quantities, and finally to find a formula that relates all of those variables. I then gave them a worksheet full of problems to do in class (with me circulating to answer questions) that covered the entire year to come–including problems dealing with kinematics, forces, momentum, electric circuits, waves, photon energy, heat, and pressure.
I expected that the kids would struggle and find the process frustrating, and that most of the honors kids and some of the CP1 kids would successfully complete the exercise. What actually happened was that pretty much all of the honors and CP1 kids were able to complete the worksheet. They found it a little more challenging than what they’re used to, but it was quite do-able, and most of them actually enjoyed the challenge.
So I told them, “Congratulations. If I gave the final exam tomorrow, most of you would probably pass it!”
The fact that they can do this at the beginning of the year will make teaching the physics significantly easier.
What we librarians live by: “I don’t know the answer (yet) but I know where to look it up!” I think that’s one of the most useful skills for problem solving, and not just in school.