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Re: Enrichment
Posted:
Aug 22, 2012 9:32 AM
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Well, Bob, although this presentation is within the grasp of high school physics students, I think you will also agree that it is rarely, if ever, presented in the manner I showed above. Many people don't grasp the significance of connecting theoretical calculations with measured quantities. They take both as having the same status. And this adds to all the confusion in science teaching.
My effort has been to eliminate, where possible, mathematical complications where they are not needed, or to simplify presentations in ways that make the mathematics less formidable, and therefore more within the reach of the student who has not taken calculus. But it is, of course, more than this. It is about intellectual honesty. If we say there are atoms and molecules, which cannot be individually seen or felt, we must make a case for it, not just carelessly force it down students' throats.
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