Worst instructional tool of all time

[TVP45]

for lower level physics and math the requirement that students show a of there work is bordering on the ludicrous, when the problem takes all of 2 steps to solve and uses formulas that arefresh in the minds of the students.

For what it's worth. In many industry projects, all important steps must be shown in calculations. A fairly simple FEA, say a shaft in torsion, will usually result in a 6-10 page backup which might be paper or digital. Obviously, things like the distribution property don't count as a step, but even simple formulas are typically shown. In the case of very obvious points, the calculation may show an eyeball. You cannot imagine the nightmare (or expense) of having a product fail and being unable to explain why. I'm a genuine OF but I consider the loss of dimensional analysis in many schools as a catastrophe.

When I took E&M, it was under a fellow who had Jackson as his adviser, and there was a set of problems - maybe 40 or 50 - that Jackson had never solved and none of his students had either (apparently). We worked on some of these and had available copies of previous student's efforts. I think only one problem got finished during the two semesters, but several went from maybe 50% to 60% or 70%. Then our efforts were filed away for the next round. So, there is value in partial work, but only with good documentation.

 

[stewartcs]

We have very different experiences, likely due to being in different situations. The firm I worked at intended to patent successful work. To do so (and to make it stick!) required careful record keeping.

Internal record keeping to backup your "correct answer" is definitely important, especially when filing patents. Regardless, you still want a correct answer - in any industry.

I am having a hard time accepting that the scribbled nonsense I'm getting from the students, followed by a goofy, usually incorrect, circled number apparently meant to be the answer, is a healthy way to solve problems in real life situations.

You should have a hard time accepting incorrect answers as they are incorrect! When I say "correct answer" I don't mean some random selection of a multiple choice question that just happens to be right. I mean actually doing the work an arriving at the correct answer using whatever tools you have learned throughout your educational process.

CS

 

[TVP45]

Internal record keeping to backup your "correct answer" is definitely important, especially when filing patents. Regardless, you still want a correct answer - in any industry.



You should have a hard time accepting incorrect answers as they are incorrect! When I say "correct answer" I don't mean some random selection of a multiple choice question that just happens to be right. I mean actually doing the work an arriving at the correct answer using whatever tools you have learned throughout your educational process.

CS

You make a good point. At the end of the day, only correct answers (not necessarily the same as exact ones) count. Without knowing you, I believe I would be able to trust your work simply because of your attitude.

 

[mr_coffee]

I remember freshman year in physics mechanics, we would have our whole floor doing the web works and one person would take turns submitting the answers, in the end we almost all got perfects on all the homeworks but it was about 20 of us all working together hah, fun times.

Usually the testers were the kids who didn't do any of the work, but still wanted answers so they would be our test dummies.

Its interesting, it might have been the school or the professor or the fact that I took half the course over again but the first time around I took physics E&M i had a 40% average, then I took it again, with a different professor not using web works, and I had a 98% average after my final, I was #1 in my class. He was a good professor and actually taught us things.

 

[G01]

Mastering Physics is used at my school, and I am not a fan. When I tutor, I realize that many problems students have are with Mastering Physics and not the physics itself. For instance, as mentioned above, rounding errors are common losses of points with mastering physics, but is a point deduction for rounding really called for, especially if you still understood the physics in the problem?

 

[mgiddy911]

I agree with G01's comment, in that the various computer/online grading/homework things like webassign and mastering physics do not do a good job of evaluating the physics that you know. What they do do well is tell you that you rounded wrong or forgot to carry the four. Interestingly enough, my freshmen professor for physics always encouraged us to round things to make calculation easy. In the mechanics portion he said to use g=10 m/s because its simply easier than 9.8. He could do all sorts of math in his head, but he sued a lot of rounding and approximation, rarely did he says the answer is exactly 12.486 ohms..