Overview
My physics teaching philosophy is built upon my experience in how different people learn physics and how they respond to enthusiasm and passion for the subject. Usually, in a constructivist fashion, I am not so concerned with ‘transmitting’ my knowledge to the students, (I am, however, concerned with transmitting my enthusiasm), but I understand learning to be more of a constructive activity that takes time and much effort by the individual. Learning physics is a deliberate process of sense-making that inevitably includes confusion, struggle, and reconciliation of the difficulties. This relatively simple recognition has deep implications for instruction, in particular when it comes to concrete problem solving.
Problem Solving
A music student who wishes to develop skill at violin must play violin, and so similarly, a physics student who wishes to develop skill at physics must solve physics problems. A student cannot learn physics solely by reading about physics, or by fully and attentively listening to wonderfully orated lectures. This would be akin to simply and only reading about the violin. Unlike much of the humanities and social science courses, physics offers a compact and beautiful way to advance in skill: concrete, solvable, textbook problems. It is
hard to overemphasize the importance of learning physics by doing problems, i.e. ‘doing physics’. As opposed to memorization, the higher cognitive processes approach that is required in physics is made possible by the vast majority of physics textbooks with varying difficulty degrees of problems. The over- whelming majority of physics exams, tests and quizzes are characterized by the mathematically oriented problems, as opposed to lesser used essays, fill-in-the-blanks, and other formats. Despite this fact, many teaching strategies often neglect the use of in-class examples, in favor of the ‘transmission-of-facts’ approach, seeing the classroom as a place for the dissemination of declarative content knowledge or for sole exhibition of proofs. I suspect one reason for this, beyond tradition, is the extra degree of difficulty and mastery required to solve physics problems in real time format. Proofs, principles, background, and conceptual grounding have their place, but these aspects of physics instruction are sometimes surprisingly more efficiently done through textbooks, multimedia, and online resources. The physics classroom is under-utilized as a place for problem dialogue and interaction. In this regard, I am different than most instructors for my emphasis on in-class problem exploration, confrontation and resolution. Smaller classroom sizes are more ideal for this, but in large lecture halls, interaction is greatly facilitated by the use of a classroom response system.
hard to overemphasize the importance of learning physics by doing problems, i.e. ‘doing physics’. As opposed to memorization, the higher cognitive processes approach that is required in physics is made possible by the vast majority of physics textbooks with varying difficulty degrees of problems. The over- whelming majority of physics exams, tests and quizzes are characterized by the mathematically oriented problems, as opposed to lesser used essays, fill-in-the-blanks, and other formats. Despite this fact, many teaching strategies often neglect the use of in-class examples, in favor of the ‘transmission-of-facts’ approach, seeing the classroom as a place for the dissemination of declarative content knowledge or for sole exhibition of proofs. I suspect one reason for this, beyond tradition, is the extra degree of difficulty and mastery required to solve physics problems in real time format. Proofs, principles, background, and conceptual grounding have their place, but these aspects of physics instruction are sometimes surprisingly more efficiently done through textbooks, multimedia, and online resources. The physics classroom is under-utilized as a place for problem dialogue and interaction. In this regard, I am different than most instructors for my emphasis on in-class problem exploration, confrontation and resolution. Smaller classroom sizes are more ideal for this, but in large lecture halls, interaction is greatly facilitated by the use of a classroom response system.
Technology
However, when it comes to technology, as opposed to many science education researchers, I recognize that each new technology that has appeared tends to be seen as transformative or revolutionary. Consider for example, how the advent of motion pictures must have seemed like a revolutionary learning technology. After all, they did revolutionized entertainment, however, they failed to make significant inroads into the classroom. Consider also, for example, the advent of TV and video, and how they seemed like a cheaper, scaled back film, and could transform education, however they too failed to live up to expectations. There is now a glut of information and video on the internet, and the question is, should we expect it to revolutionize education? I don’t find technology to be inherently superior for education, e.g. animations over static graphics seem like
a good idea in general but are context dependent. Or consider that filmed presentations don’t trump live lectures for asking questions. My philosophy weighs heavily on the idea that learning is inherently a socialactivity, motivated and encouraged by interactions with others. A more fundamental role of the teacher than transmission of knowledge, then, is to guide the social process of learning: inspire, challenge, and excite. Demonstration,explanation, and conveying knowledge is important and technology can help tremendously to facilitate this, however the need for guidance while treating learning as a social activity is paramount..
a good idea in general but are context dependent. Or consider that filmed presentations don’t trump live lectures for asking questions. My philosophy weighs heavily on the idea that learning is inherently a socialactivity, motivated and encouraged by interactions with others. A more fundamental role of the teacher than transmission of knowledge, then, is to guide the social process of learning: inspire, challenge, and excite. Demonstration,explanation, and conveying knowledge is important and technology can help tremendously to facilitate this, however the need for guidance while treating learning as a social activity is paramount..
Driving Motivation
I have identified problem solving as what I think the salient ‘skill-acquiring’ mechanism is but motivation is arguably more fundamental to learning physics. I wish to draw students to physics in multiple ways: its technological benefit to society, the explanatory power it offers, the art/creativity/imagination that is fundamental to succeeding and contributing to the scientific enterprise, or the depth and richness of the ideas and content, and I am not opposed to using numerous other motivators, such as the more dry factors like grades and graduation requirements. I personally try hard to break the stereotypes that students sometimes have about physics. In particular, I feel that those preconceptions that draw students away from physics are mostly the notoriety the subject has for having boring or poor teachers, for being forbiddingly hard, and for stereotyping involving nerds, absent-minded/anti-social instructors and arrogance in its practitioners. My particular strengths for helping drive motivation incorporate a mixture of rigor and clarity with sincere enthusiasm and awe for the beauty of the subject. When these traits do not carry through for some students, I emphasize other techniques aimed at motivation: question-oriented instruction, instant assessment and feedback, and engaging back and forth dialogue. Imperative to my philosophy is the task of leaving the students with the critical thinking and problem
solving skills that are so valuable to society, as well as some measure of appreciation for the beauty and wonder of the natural universe.
solving skills that are so valuable to society, as well as some measure of appreciation for the beauty and wonder of the natural universe.