Jim: This... For me, this has been a productive conversation, like, going right down to the subatomic [inaudible]. It also was a bit confusing, switching gears between models and... I guess my purpose for coming here was to improve my skills in teaching concepts to my students, starting with the most basic and right here, inter- interacting forces and energy is something that you don't always [inaudible], and you don't always do in school. Right? Especially at the middle school introductory level, which I think is great. Uhm... Once we have a good conversation [inaudible] then, fine, I like going everywhere, we can go subatomic [inaudible]. It's been a good conversation for me. But, the past couple days have been more productive because I've had to actually think, yeah? Deeper than just the conceptual association with energy.
Why did I choose to share this clip? Well, first of all, I think that Leslie and Stamatis will find value in this statement (OK, they were sitting at the table but maybe they can't remember). Also, this is in general good advertisement for E2, I guess ;-)
But then, there's one statement that really caught my attention: "The past couple days have been more productive because I've had to actually think." And I think he means that he had to think deeper about things. His understanding was challenged. I feel exactly the same way. I thought I knew quite some stuff about forces and energy, being a physicist and all. Turns out, I actually don't. As soon as I am forced to explain a mechanism, I'm stuck. What do forces have to do with energy? Uhm... Nobody ever taught me that!
I like that he thinks that the past days have been productive for him because his thinking was challenged.
I've never had the chance to really think through this stuff either -- I really don't think I knew most of these ideas before this summer.
ReplyDeleteI've also been challenged, not only about ideas in physics (I'm still trying to figure out what energy theater would look like for magnetizing a ferromagnet in a strong magnetic field), but also about instruction.
ReplyDeleteI noticed that Jim seemed much more engaged in his group's conversation today than I observed before. Maybe I just caught some good moments, or maybe he's energized by what's been happening.
I'm also curious about what Jim thinks it looks like to "improve [his] skills in teaching [basic?] concepts to his students." Like what does that mean? He was looking for content knowledge, for instructional skills, both?
Hm.-- is magnetizing a different story (energy-wise) from, say, polarizing or from inducing a field using a current? ... I'm still thinking about this Amy. Let me know when you can explain it :)
ReplyDeleteAs for Jim, he's a strange case - I find his comments to be either kind of left field (considering way more detail than we need, or a comment along the lines of "well, if the universe is our 'system' we no longer have any external forces") or really great. No in between. And the "great" has come online somewhat late in the course. Anyway, I agree that he's having some energized moments towards the end and really adding a lot to the class.