Teaching Definition and 373 Threads

I am teaching summer school this year in math. Our summer school is only 12 days and is only available to students who have failed the class. When looking at the requirements for teachers this year, I noticed one thing was each teacher is going to be required to add in a participation grade. I...

I was wondering if there was any high school teachers here. Have any of you guys gone right into teaching at a public high school after graduating. I've spoken to a couple different people. One of them being an ex-high school teacher (now university instructor) and he told me that with my...

Here is a short (and old) TED talk where a mathematics professor suggests we teach stats and probability in depth before teaching Calculus because it's math that is more relevant to a wider range of people. Have we got our math curriculum wrong? Thoughts?

Hi All, I recently decided to go after a Physics B.A. with a concentration on teaching. This degree takes away some of the upper-level physics courses you need to take for the B.S. or regular B.A., but now requires a minor in education. So, along with the general courses and four physics...

This year I have been doing a BTEC in Engineering, which is equivalent to 1.5 A levels and I am thinking about what to do next year. I have three options, I could carry on and do the second half of the BTEC, which is equivalent to another 1.5 A levels, I could do a foundation year for university...

Hi there, Since Science has a rapidly changing knowledge base and expanding relevance to society. Can you give me suggestions or innovations I can use in my science class to cope up on this.

For AP Physics or Chemistry, how do we explain the origin of magnetism, and diamagnetism? Saying that "Well, it's a quantum mechanical effect" or "it is a relativistic effect" isn't much help in explaining it's origin. Are there semi-classical explanations or analogies, that high school seniors...

I can only think of a handful of places that employ full time Physics researchers with job security that do NOT have to teach anyone (such as the Perimeter Institute). It seems the rest of the research jobs are found at universities where a lot of teaching is required in addition to producing...

Hey everyone, I was wondering if there would be any problem with self teaching myself calculus using Khan Academy as my main resource. I looked at their course and it seems not to have many gaps in it compared to a regular Calculus course. I heard that Khan Academy is not a main resource to use...

There is no longer a history section in PDF, but this is not suitable for any speciality forum. Just yesterday*, as usual a step ahead and with uncanny prescience, I was recommending a student to familiarise himself with Moseley's law as reinforcement and more in the learning of atomic physics...

This is an article I just found out about. It deals with computer science on about half of it, but the most interesting discussions concern educational values. Here is the article: https://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/EWD/transcriptions/EWD10xx/EWD1036.html I would like to know others' thoughts on...

This doesn't seem to me like an accurate characterization of NSA. In a synthetic treatment of the reals, we posit some axioms about the reals, and we simply assume that there exists a systems that obeys those axioms. In a constructive description of the reals, we build them up using Dedekind...

Hello I am self teaching myself AP Calculus BC and the exam is on May 5. I was wondering if there were any good online resources for me to use online and I have a textbook which is James Stewarts Calculus 5th Edition. Do you think this is possible to self teach myself Calculus BC in 3 months...

I have three months of holidays and I want to learn as many languages as possible through websites that teaches languages for free of cost. Is there any such website out there?

Got this for Christmas and its quite interesting to read: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0321942043/?tag=pfamazon01-20 The basic premise of the book is to explore the principles of generic programming, optimization and the mathematical concept of abstraction using traditional mathematical...

I'm teaching advanced undergraduate quantum mechanics in the spring for the first time, using Griffiths' Introduction to Quantum Mechanics. (It's basically "mathematical methods of quantum mechanics: eigenstates, bra-ket notation, ladder operators, WKB approximation, etc). If you've taken or...

I teach a bit of special relativity to non-majors enrolled in the typical two-semester introductory college physics sequence. These are my goals. 1. Have the students develop an understanding of the basics such as length contraction, time dilation, relativity of simultaneity, energy, and...

I want a full 100% information of each and every topic.Want to prepare for going abroad.. So what can i do as a first step towards my journey..where to study?

Considering the enormous number of questions posed on this forum and other places, the concepts seem fundamentally flawed (because both are formally and practically unobservable). The calculations themselves (together with the Lorentz Transform) are highly error-prone and the results misleading...

I got a BS in physics from MIT (high energy particle physics), and now I'm in a graduate program in physics at a mid-tier school, like top 20-ish. I always assumed I would get a PhD in physics, and eventually become a research professor, but I'm starting to reconsider. So the tldr of this post...

It appears that I will be assigned to teach a modern physics course centered on quantum mechanics for those with almost no math background and I am searching for a suitable book. Essentially, this would be the modern physics equivalent of Paul Hewitt's Conceptual Physics book. I thought of...

I want to teach physics and reach out to motivated students with research opportunities in my classes as a career. It seems like every time I tell someone this they comment on how broken the public school system is and that I'd be subject to the parents' whining and whims. They also say the...

I am looking for some advice. I have always been really interested in teaching at a high school level or community college level. I am kind of close to getting my BS. I have ten or eleven classes to go. But they're spread out over the next two years so I have two years to finish. I've done some...

First of all, what I'm citing is an opinion piece, so I don't intend to pass it off as a "peer-reviewed" idea. Still, I think it needs to be addressed because I never realized that this significant difference is present between physics and chemistry/biology. The opinion piece was uploaded to...

As i am physics teacher i am looking for some technical help so i can integarte my knowledge with technical world in more efficient way ( software , gadgets , method , human behaviour integration in teaching , environment in class , structure of classroom and many more points) so please suggest...

Hello! Here's the deal: It seems for me, after researching through these and other forums, that one have two (and I'm strongly generalizing here, but you get the drill) career prospects as a teacher in Physics; either to teach at High School, or to teach AND RESEARCH at a Research University. I...

I've been tutoring for chemistry and someone asked me to clarify the difference of spin angular momentum and orbital angular momentum without math. I was trying to think of a metaphor, but I wanted to make sure it's a fair one--the spin angular momentum is like Earth rotating on its own axis...

Hello everyone, Head of our Physics department has asked me to teach a programming course for a few of their PhD candidates (mostly theoretical) who unfortunately are very bad in programming. He has shortage in his department and he wants someone from CS to do the job. I looked around and it...

Let me first clarify that I am not going to expose which country I am talking about, not yet! So, about four and a half months ago I was a fresh high school graduate and for the last two years I dreamed about becoming a physicist and had planned to get a Bsc/BS degree in Physics. Sadly, In my...

What is the best way to introduce Pell’s equation on a first elementary number theory course? Are there any practical applications of Pell’s equation? What are the really interesting questions about Pell’s equation? Are there any good resources on Pell’s equation.

I want to teach myself Assembly language, so I downloaded the next text: http://www.ic.unicamp.br/~pannain/mc404/aulas/pdfs/Art%20Of%20Intel%20x86%20Assembly.pdf and the next software: http://flatassembler.net/ Do I need to download anything else? in the first link it says the packages that are...

I'm planning to write about analytical geometry, but I'm unsure about where to start. The course that I've taken begins with the definition of a vector, it then proceeds to develops all the vector algebra and all properties. After it reaches the cross product and triple product it begins to...

Wildcats are getting more and more endangered every day. The ones suffering the most are the cheetahs with only 10% of cheetah cubs on average surviving to adulthood and then who knows what % of adult cheetahs die from non-human predation. The least endangered are the smaller wildcats like...

what challenges do science teacher face in teaching science.

Hi everyone, Im from India, a country where the general line careers won't fetch luxury or good financial stability. After doing bachelors in Physics, what are the options open for me other than the teaching profession or Ph.D.? I also need to keep in mind about the financial security while...

Why bother writing a given integer as the sum of two squares? Does this have any practical application? Is there an introduction on a first year number theory course which would motivate students to study the conversion of a given integer to sums of two squares?

Hi, I will be graduating soon and its time to start thinking about what I want to do with my life. I will have a bachelors degree in "math & physics" and a masters degree in physics by June 2016. I've been considering, more and more strongly, to go to the developing world (Africa or the Middle...

Hi all, I am currently a second year physics student who has started thinking about his third year project, I am hoping to do teaching upon completion of my degree and have been advised to link my final year long project to teaching in some way. The issue I am having isn't thinking of a...

What is the most motivating way to introduce LCM of two integers on a first elementary number theory course? I am looking for real life examples of LCM which have an impact. I want to be able to explain to students why they need to study this topic.

So i did fairly well in both calc I and II, both being proof based (for math majors, and I got an A in both). I am working a job that allows me to read at work this summer, and would like to teach myself some multivariable/vector calc. I am a physics major, but my school requires me to take the...

Hi guys, So, I'm a high school senior about to graduate, and because of reasons, I most likely will not be attending a college next year. However, I will apply to colleges next year for a Physics major. In the meantime, I would like to use my time wisely, and I was thinking that the smart thing...

In the light of this policy https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/what-is-the-pfs-policy-on-lorentz-ether-theory-and-block-universe.772224/ , is it now considered acceptable to teach relativity by starting out with Lorentz Ether Theory (LET) and its Newtonian time which appears to be...

Why do most mathematics literature use 2L for the period of a function? Is it related to heat equation with a rod of length L?

If we have a standard function like x or x^2 defined between 0 and pi. Then why should we be interested in extending this function to give a Fourier series which resembles this function between 0 and pi? What is the whole purpose of this process? Does it have any real life application or is it...

Hi all I've recently begun developing short (~1 minute) physics animations and would appreciate any constructive feedback. I'm currently uploading them to my Youtube channel here. The purpose of these animations is to work alongside existing teaching. They are not designed or equipped to teach...

If we have a simple periodic function (square wave) which can be easily written but the Fourier series is an infinite series of sines and cosines. Why bother with this format when we can quite easily deal with the given periodic function? What is the whole point of dealing this long calculation?

I am fifteen and I attend High Tech High International and I have to teach a hour long lesson on Black Hole Buoyancy. And I was wondering how to do that. Can I have some suggestions or help?

Ahoy there. I am twenty years old, and have (as a result of my interest in cosmology and astronomy, and the natural sciences) developed a keen appreciation for mathematics (in physics, primarily). I have always had an interest in the sciences, but lackluster teachers and personal disinterest...

http://www.aapt.org/Conferences/sm2015/ "The 2015 AAPT Summer meeting will take place on the campus of the University of Maryland, College Park. College Park, Maryland is also the home of the American Association of Physics Teachers." Abstract submissions are now open... until Feb 25...

Are there any real life applications of Fourier series? Are there examples of Fourier series which have an impact on students learning this topic. I have found the normal suspects of examples in this field such as signal processing, electrical principles but there must be a vast range of...