Chapter 1 blog b

When I was reading the chapter, I almost felt as if the authors wrote specifically with me in mind. There were a lot of quotes from physics teachers and examples about how physics (what I teach) could be taught conceptually. And that students who learned physics through a conceptual framework had a better grasp of the fundamental principles of physics than the students who were taught physics the traditional way (they also did better on tests).

One has to understand the implications of teaching physics conceptually. It is pretty much like teaching mathematics without numbers. I was taught and learned physics the old way: numbers, numbers, and numbers. So when it came for me to teach it, I was surprised that my colleagues were embracing a new style of teaching physics through emphasis on real-world applications and examples.

Which is why I have to mention the name of the professor who started it all: Paul Hewitt (see pic). Before physics was only open to students of high mathematical ability and so closed the doors to 75% (my ballpark estimate) of the population. He had this insane idea that physics could be taught using analogies, imagery, and using plain old simple language. And the floodgates were opened, so to speak. Today, teaching conceptual physics is more the norm than the exception in the middle/high school level. Students understand the concept and so the math part becomes easiER for them to understand. They do not just memorize some random formula but grasp what each part of the formula signifies.

Thank you Mr. Hewitt!