Teaching Definition and 372 Threads

I was thinking of writing a motivational essay for physics undergrads where I provide a list of equations which have the property of telling you when you mastered (at undergraduate/early graduate level) a field of physics. Here are some examples: Electromagnetism: ##{\partial}^2 A^{\sigma} =...

I am excited to join this fantastic community! My name is Sara, and I have been teaching physics at the high school level for the past 10 years. Helping children discover the beauty and logic of the physical world is one of my greatest passions. My favorite topics to teach include...

A.E. Allahverdyan, R. Balian, and T.M. Nieuwenhuizen, Teaching ideal quantum measurement, from dynamics to interpretation, Comptes Rendus Physique 25 (2024), 251--287. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/380862732

I read that chalkboard is invented only in the 19 century, so how teacher before that explained pupils math and grammar with just oral instruction? It seems impossible that people need 1000 years to figure out that teaching with board is much more effective. Something must be wrong with this...

I remember there was a method of learning/teaching mathematics where all they do in class is to force students to prove the theorems themselves. What was this method again? It was named after someone.... @fresh_42 ?

I taught him about 3 times in the previous month.The student is a bit intellectually handicapped and ESL. He is in junior high school student so he is about 12 years old. From my principal in this tiny school (has only two students now used to have a few more) Good evening! How are you...

Do you know about books and websites about manipulatives in mathematics teaching for secondary schools? I think manipulatives are incredibly useful in teaching Mathematics. Thank you for your support.

Continue reading...

Hello everyone ! I speak about energy to a fifth grade class. I want to build small windmills made of paper cup for the blades. The goal is to light a LED when the windmill is running. I was looking for a small motor to do the alternator. I found this one and I wanted to know if it could fit...

Hi, I want to write some interactive Physics lessons, where students can engage with Phet Simulations and then answer some quizzes to test their thinking along the way. Any of you did that, or similar? Please, let me know if anything is unclear. I sincerely hope you can have a great time...

Dear all, after my PhD (fundamental physics) I started teaching. First math at a university, and after that physics at a high school (14-18 yrs, pre-university college). I love to teach and to communicate science in general, but I feel that an aversion towards education is growing since the...

https://www.technologyreview.com/2019/12/06/131673/a-new-way-to-make-quadratic-equations-easy/ An interesting article about solving ax2 + bx + c = 0 = (x-R)(x-S), where R and S are the roots. ## x = \frac{-b ± \sqrt{b^2 - 4ac}}{2a} ## In my classes, we were never 'spoon fed' any formula, but...

Hi, a teacher and I have been looking for websites to take Math/Physics exercises from, put them together as a test, print it and pass it to students. I know there are many websites that give you tools to write your own exercises (mainly many LMSes). But we'd like to pick exercises already...

Dear Everybody, I am about to teach my first course, College Algebra at my university as an instructor of record. Most of the students take this course is just for liberal arts requirement for critical thinking. I feel like I have too high expectation of my students when I should not have too...

Hello, I am teaching eleven year olds about gravity. There is no issue about this subject, however I would like someone to help with a model answer. As mass never changes. What is the best answer when I am asked that if someone gets 'fatter', do they not put on mass? Thanks in advance.

[Mentor Note -- thread spun off from a thread in the Advisor forums] Both Feynman and Einstein have famous quotes about explaining physics concepts to those not well schooled in physics.(freshman undergrad and a six year old respectively). Yet both hedged a bit on this: Einstein Things should...

This thread, some earlier ones, and my signature got me thinking a bit about whether it would be a good idea to de-emphasize simultaneity when teaching SR since it is a frame dependent concept. I did not do much thinking myself yet but would like to hear people’s opinions and thoughts on how...

Hello All ; i hope all are fine and well , i have teaching certificate from american university of Beirut(special education) and have a teaching diploma from a public University in Syria . other than my physics degree if i travel to other parts of the world do i need to have another teaching...

Summary:: I want to teach myself physics and was wondering if Thomas' Calculus is a good book to learn the Calculus I need to learn introductory physics. Hi, I am following a guide by Susan Rigetti (https://www.susanrigetti.com/physics) which aims to help and give sort of structured learning...

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/mathematician-finds-easier-way-to-solve-quadratic-equations This seems to just be the quadratic formula in a transposed way. :rolleyes:

Not sure how universal it is, but my experience through half of my undergrad education gave me the impression that 90% physics was about exactly solvable problems. Off the top of my head, the only approximation we ever did in introductory courses was the binomial expansion to get the electric...

Is it a bad idea for me to get a master's in secondary education and teach high school (math) for a few years before I do a PhD? My main goal is to teach college. However, I've missed all the PhD application deadlines this year and figured I might as well pick up the HS teaching degree as a...

Since this quesstion popped up in this thread I thought it might be better to create a new thread: https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/a-question-about-an-electrons-movement-in-a-dc-circuit.997736/ The question is the following: What kind of descriptive model could/should one use while first...

Hello there. My questions are: do you know of any books you could suggest reading for teaching and how to educate? How someone can change his teaching styles and what to add to improve students' attention, interest and make them study on their own? Should he speak generally to all the students...

Summary:: I teach high school (grade 12) and have always struggled with teaching about electromagnetic radiation. I'm looking for resources aimed at laypeople about EMR that may give me some ideas on how to teach it more clearly. I teach high school (grade 12). We have just finished a unit...

Continue reading...

In many physics curricula, some elements of the so called "old" (Bohr-Sommerfeld) QM are taught before teaching the actual QM. The pedagogic value of such teaching may be doubtful, but for someone without prior knowledge of QM, the old QM is more intuitive than the actual QM. That's because the...

Thermodynamics is an interesting subject but all too often students think of it as solving math problems. And indeed most of the problem solving involves calculations which can be quite in-depth, requiring knowledge of calculus. I have been looking for ways to deliver thermodynamics principles...

With social distancing likely to be still important for the foreseeable future, some schools are planning how to manage this in the new school year when students return. I spoke to one school manager this week who suggests students will work 'shifts' - in this case one week in school, one week...

The Amplitudes 2020 Conference (on the physics of calculating probability amplitudes in quantum mechanics) was to be held in Michigan this year. But, this year, the conference was cancelled, for obvious reasons, and held via Zoom for Zoomplitudes 2020 instead. Physics blogger 4gravitons explains...

Hi, I am a physicist interested in going through a basic analysis course. The real line, open sets, that whole thing. On my own, so I need a good selection of bibliography, ranging from those that are good references but too dense to actually read to those that are very pedagogical but tend to...

Summary:: How to do chemistry labs and demonstrations for online education. I am teaching two lab sessions one on general chemistry, one on organic chemistry. Now th we are going “online” I need a lot of help. Do you have videos showing labs?

There's a good chance that the spread of the COVID-19 virus will cause colleges and universities to suspend on-ground class meetings. I know that UC Berkeley and UCLA have already done so to some degree, and the schools I teach at have suggested instructors prepare the possibility by getting...

Hello friends. I was thinking that if you study physics, you learn first the basic math to understand it, but you don't go beyond, or deeper, you just learn the minimum math necessary to understand what you are going to see in your physics leassons. For example, if you are going to learn...

Hello, Does anyone know if a Phd in physics can teach engineering courses at a university? Or do you need to have an engineering degree? Thanks you!

Hello, I am currently a high school physics teacher in Chicago. I am thinking about going back to school to get a PHD in Physics. I currently have a B.S. in Applied Physics and a secondary education license. I would like to find a way to go back and get a PHD. I cannot afford to quit my job...

Hi everyone. I'm the only physics teacher at my school, so I have nobody to bounce ideas off of. I'm having a problem with students getting confused with direction when calculating net force. I teach an introductory physics course. It's the first time the students have ever seen physics and...

Summary: Anyone know any games that legitimately help when trying to understand basic concepts of physics? So I've been into studying physics for a while now but i feel like my attention span is holding me back. Almost nothing sticks. I always end up getting bored and playing video games or...

starting next winter term, I will be voluntarily invovled in a new project teaching basic physics to young people from around the world (e.g. refugees or people wanting to study natural sciences in Europe). Ideally, the students will receive some basic understanding of physics through my course...

Hello everyone, A postion for an AP (advanced placement) physics teacher opened up at the high school I work at and I jumped all over it. More specifically, I will be teaching AP Physics 2. I believe I will be one of two teachers in our district teaching the course. I haven't had much...

I'm currently learning quantum computation on edx. I don't mean unrespectable, but Prof Shor is just not suitable for teaching. I guess he maybe a little nervous around students. Anyhow, he is still a great computer scientist.

Here is a NY TImes article about using special lego blocks for teaching Braille. Braille is based upon the combinations of the presence of a bump in any of six positions. The most common lego block size has 8 bumps. Six of the bump positions are used to encode the Braille while the rest of the...

Does anybody here have any experience with Ohio States’s undergraduate physics program? If so, what stuck out to you and what did you like/dislike about it?

I want to produce a resource that has a narrative and includes the following topics: Sets, logic and proofs, numbers (irrational, integers, rational, …), binomial theorem, geometric series, inequalities, define things like identity, polynomial, symmetry, sigma and product notation. It is in...

I am finding it difficult to motivate students on why they should how to prove mathematical results. They learn them just to pass examinations but show no real interest or enthusiasm for this. How can I inspire them to love essential kind of mathematics? They love doing mathematical techniques...

Are there any resources of questions on the topic of Pell's and non linear Diophantine equations? I am looking for interesting results which are required to be solved. This is for a typical second year undergraduate level. Thanks.

Does anyone know of a website that sells mechancial devices that demontrate the principles of mechanical engineering? Dynamics (gyros, etc.), Fluids, Deformation, Heat Transfer, etc? For undergraduates

I am currently applying to physics graduate programs (considering both Master's and Ph.D.) in both Europe and North America. In choosing programs, I really care about teaching quality: emphasis on pedagogy, well-designed syllabi, and professors who are passionate about teaching. The QS World...

I am looking for my first medical physics job, a field I consider a MS to be a terminal degree in. I love teaching, and feel in a couple decades I would like to transition to a teaching job. Are these very common with a MS at community colleges? Would it typically involve moving, like looking...

I have two job offers: one from a community college (CC) and the other from a four year liberal arts college (LAC). Location: both are in the same area (with 20 minutes from one to the other). Salary: both jobs offer comparable salaries (four year college about $5K/year higher) Benefits: CC...