Teaching and Learning Physics
week 11 assignments

Tues 11/4: Social, Political and Economic Backdrop to physics education Day 19
note: these first two articles are controversial.. and explicitly political (we'll examine the question of whether educaiton is / can be apolitical)

Mahajan, "Physics Education Research: Or it's so hard to find good help these days" a paper from the AAPT 2004 national conference (5 pages) - Note: this paper is from a talk that Mahajan did not deliver in person because he was busy teaching a physics course (at Cambridge University)

Fish "Why We Built the Ivory Tower " an editorial from the NY Times, May 21, 2004 (2 pages)
[btw, Fish won the Best Should Teach Award from CU in 2007]

Albert A. Bartlett- Thoughts on Long−Term Energy Supplies: Scientists and the Silent Lie or link
The world's population continues to grow. Shouldn't physicists care? — Physics Today July 2004 (3 pages) [if you're not a Physics Today subscriber use this link]

Rosenberg, "Questioning Assumptions about the Role of Education in American Society: A Review of Schooling in Capitalist America", (optional) a paper from the Physics Education Research Conference 2003.

Paul B. Weisz -(optional) Basic Choices and Constraints on Long−Term Energy Supplies - or link here, Physics Today July 2004

Undergrads 4 postings (3 by Monday eve; 1 response or more by Tues late AM);
Grads 6. -

Thurs 11/6: Rotation / Rigid Body Motion - Knight Chapter 12 ---- Day 20
Framing physics problems in a socially relevant context.

Design or critique 3 order of magnitude physics problems that relate physics, students, and the world at large. Describe why these problems achieve their goal. You may use materials from any text or from Sanjoy Mahajan's Order of Magnitude Physics Site - Select the "Approximation Tab" . You may use either this week's content (rotation / ridig body motion) or prior weeks' (energy momentum etc)