Tips for Cramming Physics Definitions & Concepts

[shawrix]

I don't see why practicing using past papers has no merit. They exist and are published for a reason. Many large universities publish past papers extensively for students to learn. Now if we are talking about memorising past papers and their solutions blindly, then that is problematic.

Exactly. Atleast 40 to 45 percent of the paper is based on old papers and even some questions are repeated again and again. This encourages cramming...

Just to confirm, I am talking about the India in South Asia.

This comment made me recheck on google if there are other countries in world called 'India'.
How many India's are there in the world?
I am residing in India now and i know well what i am saying.

"Cramming up derivations" is not possible without understanding the concept by the way.

I don't agree.

tell any topper (someone who received 90% approx. on the exams) that you can do well on senior secondary board exams by studying for 3 months.

Not talking about toppers, you can easily score 75 percent and above by studying for last three months. I did that and its no miracle, the question papers and the 'high' quality checking makes it simple.

 

[Alpharup]

i think he is from tamilnadu...

 

[Alpharup]

l have already posted and it was discussed here https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=700489

 

[tiny-tim]

l have already posted and it was discussed here https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=700489

I had difficulty memorizing tough definitions like these …
…
There is very less of problem(Plug and chug type) solving involved in my textbook which too I didn't like. The same problems are asked for the exams without even changing the numbers!
You may take a look at my school textbook;

http://www.textbooksonline.tn.nic.in/Books/11/Std11-Phys-EM-1.pdf

For mathematics, many definitions are used exactly. … Will memorizing the definitions do much help in physics, if not in classical physics, atleast in higher physics like relativity and quantum mechanics?
…
My high school physics textbook …
For example, the definition of "force" in physics textbook is,
"Force is defined as that which when acting on a body changes or tends to change the state of rest or of uniform motion of the body along a straight line."

hi sharan swarup!

a definition like that may not be easy to remember, but it is easy to reconstruct:

you start with Force is defined as that which when acting on a body changes the state of motion of the body

you then think "but sometimes the body isn't in motion, its at rest" so you add "of rest or" …
Force is defined as that which when acting on a body changes the state of rest or of motion of the body

you then think "but sometimes a force doesn't change anything, it keeps it as it is" so you add "or tends to change" …
Force is defined as that which when acting on a body changes or tends to change the state of rest or of motion of the body

you then think "but a torque fits that definition, and i don't want it to, so how do i exclude that?" and you add "along a straight line" …
Force is defined as that which when acting on a body changes or tends to change the state of rest or of uniform motion of the body along a straight line.

(but I'm not sure what the word "uniform" is supposed to do )

the point is: if someone presented one of the intermediate definitions to you, you should be able to see something wrong with it, and if you can't then you don't understand what you're reading as well as you think you do!

a question that requires you to reproduce the definition is not testing your ability to write, but your ability to understand ​

(of course, i agree with you that more problem-solving is also needed)

(i'm not necessarily saying i support this rote learning, but i do see the point of it, and if properly taught it should not be a mere memory exercise

btw, does it have anything to do with the indian culture of learning ancient texts?)

 

[Alpharup]

hi sharan swarup!

a definition like that may not be easy to remember, but it is easy to reconstruct:

you start with Force is defined as that which when acting on a body changes the state of motion of the body

you then think "but sometimes the body isn't in motion, its at rest" so you add "of rest or" …
Force is defined as that which when acting on a body changes the state of rest or of motion of the body

you then think "but sometimes a force doesn't change anything, it keeps it as it is" so you add "or tends to change" …
Force is defined as that which when acting on a body changes or tends to change the state of rest or of motion of the body

you then think "but a torque fits that definition, and i don't want it to, so how do i exclude that?" and you add "along a straight line" …
Force is defined as that which when acting on a body changes or tends to change the state of rest or of uniform motion of the body along a straight line.

(but I'm not sure what the word "uniform" is supposed to do )

the point is: if someone presented one of the intermediate definitions to you, you should be able to see something wrong with it, and if you can't then you don't understand what you're reading as well as you think you do!

a question that requires you to reproduce the definition is not testing your ability to write, but your ability to understand ​

(of course, i agree with you that more problem-solving is also needed)

(i'm not necessarily saying i support this rote learning, but i do see the point of it, and if properly taught it should not be a mere memory exercise

btw, does it have anything to do with the indian culture of learning ancient texts?)

If the system can't support problem solving method, it should support atleast the freeedom of expression...ie... The students should have the liberty to express what they have thought and are thinking in their own words. If I blindly write the definiion given in the textoook(without changing the words), would the teacher know that I have understood? Only when I express myself in own, will someone know that I have understood the material or not.

If a question does not allow us to express ourselves as an induvidual , how can that question be said to test our understanding and not our writing skills? In fact the question neither tests our understanding and writing skills, but tests only our memory.

I believe that proper teaching and the ability to retain exact words have no correlation. Proper teachinng will infact make you understand more, it will make you express the same material by using different "words", it can infact make you a good teacher. It can also make you a problem solver.

 

[Alpharup]

Some in India attribute the present system to Indian of memorising ancient texts. Others say that it was introduced by British a century ago. But whatever it is ,the authorities in my state should change and know what is happening around the world. I do doubt whether the educational officers are in online forums(like physics forums)..

 

[tiny-tim]

hi sharan swarup!

(btw, there's no need to quote the whole of a previous post )

If a question does not allow us to express ourselves as an induvidual , how can that question be said to test our understanding and not our writing skills? In fact the question neither tests our understanding and writing skills, but tests only our memory.

i] how do you prefer to define force?

i ask in order to test whether you show fresh insight (which is good), or creativity (which is bad)

ii] you were only in high school, and you were being prepared for proper learning

it may be frustrating to have to wait until university before you can apply your knowledge and understanding by solving problems and finding new insights and ways of describing things …

but pre-university exams and grades are (partly) designed to make sure that lecturers will be able to give lectures which assume that everyone present has a knowledge of certain basics

(and if you're getting bored in physics classes because physics is too unchallenging, then spend the time reading history or some other subject you find difficult!)

iii] ok, rote memory can be accompanied by no understanding at all

eg memorising a list of dates of emperors or battles, or a list of all the bones in the wrist or the muscles in the leg, does not imply that you know anything about those emperors or battles or bones or muscles at all …

but it does mean that when you read about a particular battle or bone or muscle in future, you'll (literally) know where it fits in with everything else

 

[smart_worker]

Exactly. Atleast 40 to 45 percent of the paper is based on old papers and even some questions are repeated again and again. This encourages cramming...This comment made me recheck on google if there are other countries in world called 'India'.
How many India's are there in the world?
I am residing in India now and i know well what i am saying.I don't agree.
Not talking about toppers, you can easily score 75 percent and above by studying for last three months. I did that and its no miracle, the question papers and the 'high' quality checking makes it simple.Some in India attribute the present system to Indian of memorising ancient texts. Others say that it was introduced by British a century ago. But whatever it is ,the authorities in my state should change and know what is happening around the world. I do doubt whether the educational officers are in online forums(like physics forums)..

why is this thread turning out to be a different discussion