Gordon Aubrecht
Remember to put your personal email address, to which I should send the reply, at the top of your journal entry!
Please do not submit the journal the week before it is due, even if it is visible here. Please wait until that week. Also, because the journals are due on Saturdays, please wait until after Friday’s class to write the journal for that week.
Please remember to check the homework for the week the day after our last class for the week for any changes that might be made.
Week 1
Journal Entry 1
Hi, we’re glad you signed up for Physics by Inquiry. We would like to get acquainted. For your first journal entry we’d like to know:
(We expect you to speak with your other group members about the homework, but remember, you must write up your answers yourself!)
Homework 1: Do Supplementary Problems 1.1 and 1.2, starting on page 129 of your Physics by Inquiry lab manual.
homework due 12 January 2011
journal due by midnight, 8 January 2011
Week 2
Journal Entry 2
By the end of this week, you will have finished two weeks of Physics by Inquiry. We’d like to get an idea of what you’ve learned so far, and how you’ve learned it.
Homework 2: Problems 2.2, 2.3, 2.5, and 2.7, pp. 130-131, and Problem AA, below.
Problem AA. Devise an experiment that your group has not done to test something you believe will not affect balance (using the pegboard balance). It should be one you did not discuss with the instructors. Explain how you address Student 2’s complaint “You can’t say that. You did not change just one thing.” Could Student 2’s comment apply to your proposed experiment? If so, fix it so that Student 2 could not say that. (In other words: You are to report on an experiment you did for Ex. 2.3 or Ex. 2.5 that you were not asked about at checkpoints, and make sure Student 2 can not object. Explain how it is that you know Student 2 can not object.)
homework due 19 January 2011
journal due by midnight, 15 January 2011
Week 3
Journal Entry 3
This course is different in many ways from other courses, and we’d like to take this opportunity to ask you how the course is going for you so far.
Group Work: Have you had any experience in working in groups in your other classes? Is the group work in this class any different from the group work in other classes? Does your group help you to learn, or not? What do you like best about your group? What would you change about the group work? Given a choice, would you rather work with your present group, a different group, a smaller group, or alone? Feel free to write what you think. Have you talked about this with your group?
Quiz: The first quiz may have been very different from the types of quizzes that you have taken before. What was different about it? Why do you think we request you explain things in words? Why do you think the course and the quiz are put together as they are?
Predicting: In this class, you’re often asked to make predictions before actually doing an experiment. Why do you think you’re asked to predict things? Do you think it’s useful? Why or why not? What is the role you see for predictions in this class?
In Physics 106 this past week you learned about the rider reading’s meaning. Why do you think this concept is important? Explain how you learned the concept. Was it a gradual process, or was there something that suddenly made you say, “That’s it!”? What things helped you understand the best? What things didn't help increase your understanding?
Suppose you were the teacher for Physics 106 and you wanted to put a
question on the next quiz that would make sure that your students really
understood the experiences they’d had and could reason from them.
Make up a very specific question for the quiz
that would help you be sure that the understanding had occurred and
indicate exactly how it could help you understand how the students
understood. For example, you might write “A tin can filled with
water causes the water level in a beaker to rise from 255 mL to 532 mL.
When the same tin can (but empty of water) is put into the beaker, which
then contained 560 mL of water, the water level rose to 572 mL. What are
three volumes associated with this tin can?” (This is a problem
based on what comes later in the course; it is just an example.)
Make up such a specific question yourself in the detail as
exemplified above and explain how it can help you decide whether your
students understood the concept (for example, what mistakes in answering
you think they might make).
Homework 3: Problems 2.4, 3.2, pp. 131 & 132, and Problem A, below.
Wanda wants to know the mass of her purse. She puts her purse on a pan on her pegboard balance; the pan is at hole 6. How can she measure the mass of her purse? Why will her answer be to the nearest one-sixth of a square nut? Explain.
homework due 26 January 2011
journal due by midnight, 22 January 2011
Week 4
Journal Entry 4
In this class, various methods are used to get input and feedback from you. Some of them, such as homework, quizzes and exams, are used in many courses. Others, such as diagnostics and journals, are less frequently used. We find information from all of these useful for improving the course. However, we would like to know if these help you to learn better in any way. We would appreciate your sharing your opinions with us.
Consider homework, quizzes, exams, diagnostics, and journals. Which of these help you to understand physics concepts better? Although the journal items have not been directly related to physics concepts, have they played any role in helping you with this class? How about the diagnostics? Do you see any advantage of having diagnostics at the start of every section? You have a quiz or exam every other week, in addition to your diagnostics. Do you think there are too many tests, too few tests, or just the right number of tests? Please tell us why.
You’re asked to come up with your own experiments for testing an idea. Why do you think you’re asked to do that? Do you think designing your own experiments is useful? Why or why not?
Last week we studied how to determine uncertainty. What are some of
the ways that the new information has been presented to you? With
specific concepts, are you able to see any structure as far as how the
experiments are ordered? How would this structure help students in their
understanding of, say, measuring mass? How did it help you? In
particular, please answer the following questions:
What were the
simplest examples that initiated your understanding?
What did you or
your group do that increased your understanding? Did you see any
patterns to the experiments you were doing? How did this happen? What
was the role of the experiments, your group, and the instructors?
How did you invent any explanations, build any models, or develop
any hypothesis to account for your results?
Did you eventually
develop a simpler explanation or more abstract or symbolic
representation of what was happening? How did this simplify or clarify
your understanding? Was it verbal or mathematical or both? How did your
level of abstract thinking get increased?
I want you to make up a very specific
question question in your own words that you could use as
a teacher to see whether your students had learned this immediate past
week’s material. What is it about the question you wrote that would
help you be sure that student understanding had occurred (for example,
what mistakes in answering you think they might make)?
[See Week 4
above for a specific example. Your discussion about this question and
its value to you as a diagnostic should be discussed.]
Homework 4: Problems 4.1, 4.2, and 4.3, pp. 132-133, and Problem B below.
Problem B:
John and Buck are arguing about how to reduce uncertainty.
John’s commercial balance has a heavily loaded uncertainty of 0.072
g, while Buck’s has an uncertainty of 0.064 g. They both measured
the mass of five Zip disks, each one in its plastic case.
John
measured the mass as 235.388 g, while Buck measured 235.295 g. John
challenges Buck to get the most exact mass of a single Zip disk. Buck
measures 47.060 g for a single Zip disk, of course with his uncertainty
of 0.064 g.
a. John says they must have disagreed because his
measurement is so much greater than the greatest reasonable value of
Buck’s measurement. Buck says that there is no evidence that there
is any difference, and John needs to go back and think about the
experiments they did in Sec, 4. Discuss this disagreement, and indicate
who (John or Buck) had the better of the argument. Explain why you
answer as you do.
b. John says he can do much better, even though
his uncertainty is larger than Buck’s. What is John’s value
for the mass? Can John do better than Buck? If not, explain in detail
why not. If so, explain how he can do better. Describe his method (as
assumed by you here) in enough detail so that an intelligent but
ignorant person can follow it.
homework due 2 February 2011
journal due by midnight 29 January 2011
Week 5
Journal Entry 5
One of our goals is to give you the tools and confidence needed to teach some physics. To do this you’ll not only have to learn the content, but also think about how to adapt what we’re doing to a different situation. If you plan to teach at the elementary or middle school level, for example, there will probably be one teacher to 30 students, as opposed to the teacher to student ration in our class. What else would be different?
For the following questions, imagine you are an elementary or middle school teacher.
As you’ve probably noticed by now, the author appears to have a structure in mind as the book suggests you do certain things with the materials in class. This last week, by looking at uncertainty in some detail, we experienced directly and viewed indirectly the teaching structures used in this class. This “science of teaching” behind what we do is known as pedagogy. List any that you have actually noticed, direct and indirect.
You may have also noticed that the author sometimes will seem to ask a question more than once or revisit a previous situation. For the experiments we’ve done so far, find two examples where she seems to be asking the same question more than once, and talk about possible reasons in each of the two examples for why the author would want us to consider the same thing again.
I want you to make up a very specific
question question in your own words that you could use as
a teacher to see whether your students had learned this immediate past
week’s material. What is it about the question you wrote that would
help you be sure that student understanding had occurred (for example,
what mistakes in answering you think they might make)?
[See Week 4 above for a specific example. Your discussion about this
question and its value to you as a diagnostic should be discussed.]
Homework 5: Problem 5.1, 6.2, and 6.3, pp. 133-134, and Problems D and AD below.
Problem D.
A teacher tells his class that the area of a triangle is
area = 1/2 (base) x (height).
Is this teacher’s definition operational? Explain your
reasoning.
Problem AD.
As we know, an operational definition works to define something by telling someone how to measure, recognize, or make that thing. Write an operational definition for “blackberry pie” (Gordon’s favorite). Explain fully how and why your definition is operational.
homework due 9 and / or 11 February 2011 as Carol explained
journal due by midnight 5 February 2011
Week 6
Journal Entry 6
In your experience as a college student it’s likely that you have had experience with both the standard lecture format classes as well as the active learning format of Physics by Inquiry.
Imagine that you were explaining to your friend Diana, a student just like you (with the same ability and intelligence) who is thinking of taking Physics 106, exactly what was expected and how to understand what is happening in class. She wants you to tell her what to do and how to study for the class in order to be able to learn best. Diana really is thinking of taking this class because she really wants to understand physics and does not care about her grade (as long as she can pass the course).
One important thing you learned in Physics 106 this week was that there are two operational definitions for volume. How did you learn it? WHen would the different operational definitions be used? What techniques for teaching/learning helped you learn? Why/how do you believe what you learned is the correct description of the way nature works? (be specific) How could you use these techniques in your own teaching? (Assume you are or will be a teacher for purposes of your answer.)
I want you to make up a very specific question question in your own words that you could use as a teacher to see whether your students had learned this immediate past week’s material. What is it about the question you wrote that would help you be sure that student understanding had occurred (for example, what mistakes in answering you think they might make)?
[See Week 4 above for a specific example. Your discussion about this question and its value to you as a diagnostic should be discussed.]
Homework 6: Problems 6.5, 7.1, 7.2, pp. 135 and 136, and E, F, and H, below:
Problem E:
Bill and Neil measure the volume of a nickel cylinder by water displacement in the 100 mL and the 250 mL graduated cylinders we use in class. In the 100 mL cylinder, they find that the water level rises from 42 mL to 47 mL. In the 250 mL graduated cylinder, they find the water level rises from 100 mL to 102 mL to the best of their ability to measure it.
Bill asserts that they must have made a mistake because they found different values for the volume. Neil disagrees. Which student is correct? Both, Bill, Neil, or neither. Explain.
Problem F:
Janice and Donita are measuring the volume of two aluminum cylinders. They both use the same graduated cylinder to do the measurement, our 250 mL graduated cylinder. Janice measures the smaller cylinder and Donita the larger one. Donita finds a volume of 64 mL, while Janice measures 30 mL for her volume.
a. Which student has a “more exact” result? Explain what you mean clearly.
b. Could Donita’s aluminum cylinder have been twice the volume of Janice’s? Explain fully.
c. Donita claims that her aluminum cylinder has a mass of 64 g and that Janice’s aluminum cylinder has a mass of 30 g. Is she correct? Explain your answer fully.
Problem H:
You are given a small box of nails, which by the manufacturing process are known to be virtually identical in mass and volume.
a. Using the 10 mL graduated cylinder (which we would call “very small”), you find the volume of one nail to be 0.22 mL. Using your class uncertainty for the 10 mL cylinder, what is the possible range of values for the total volume of one nail? Explain your reasoning.
b. Again using the 10 mL graduated cylinder, you measure the total volume of 50 nails at the one time, obtaining a value of 9.71 mL. What is your possible range of values for the total volume of 50 nails? Explain your reasoning.
c. Using the information that you obtained in part (b), what is the volume of a single one of the nails? What is the possible range of values for the volume of that one nail? How does that compare to your answer in (a)? Explain your reasoning.
journal due by midnight Saturday, 12 February 2011
homework due Wednesday, 16 February 2011
NOTE 1: Do Diagnostic 8 in class when you finish Section 7, but then out of class you should read Section 8 and write out answers to Exercises 8.1. You may--and are encouraged to--work on this with classmates from 106, but you must each write out your own answers in your own book and/or notebook. You will get credit (some of those extra homework points from the syllabus) toward homework for writing this in your book out of class. Your answers will be checked by us during the Section 8 checkpoint (certainly some time during this week) and must be written out in your book or notebook for you to receive the extra credit on the homework. After completing the diagnostic for Section 8 in class, do the diagnostic for Section for Section 9.
NOTE 2: This week, we will be doing Section 9. We expect you will start the handout 9.4 A (A, B, and C), etc., after doing Ex. 9.4. Immediately after completing Ex. 9.4A in the handout, we expect you will be checkpointed so you will know what to do and how to work on the rest of the handout and the remainder of Sec. 9. That will be done at home and be checkpointed during the following class (whenever that is). This also is for extra credit, and we will expect to see your written answers in your book during the checkpoint.
NOTE 3: If you finish the checkpoint for Ex. 9.4A in class and still have time available, make sure you do the Sec. 10 diagnostic and Ex. 10.1 and 10.2 during the class with your group before you leave the classroom. If you start Ex. 10.1 and 10.2 in a new class, or you still have class time after completing Ex. 10.2, do the diagnostic for Sec. 11 and begin work on that section. We are asking you to do Ex. 10.3 through 10.7 (with free consultation with other members of your group) as extra credit homework for that week, depending on how far along you are. Write your answers in your book, and they will be checked in class during checkpoint for you to get that extra credit toward homework. Please remember to do the diagnostics for Secs. 9, 10, and 11 before working on any of these sections.
Week 7
Journal Entry 7
Even if you don’t plan on a career in education, it’s likely that you’ll have to teach another person something at some point in your life.
For this journal entry, pick something that you might have to teach to another; this could be anything from a physics concept, a sport, or tying a shoe.
While you’re encouraged to write as much as you’d like on the topic, focus on a specific aspect of what you're talking about (for example, if you choose baseball, focus on pitching, catching, or hitting) and explain your strategy on teaching that skill or knowledge in detail. Do not say that “I will tell them how to dingle the dangle ...”; tell me what you would actually say to explain to them or show them how to dingle the dangle. That is, I want the specifics of what you would do, not generalities. What, when, where, how? To prepare to explain something to someone is to go over in detail in your own mind (or on paper) the specifics of what needs to be transmitted to them and how that will be done. What criteria will you use to jusge whether you had been successful? That does not mean just describe it, explain what you are going to do and how and why you think your teaching will be successful.
Here are some ideas to get you started:
One important thing you learned in Physics 106 this week was that volumes do not combine as masses do. How did you learn it? What techniques for teaching/learning helped you learn? Why/how do you believe what you learned is the correct description of the way nature works? (be specific) How could you use these techniques in your own teaching? (Assume you are or will be a teacher for purposes of your answer.)
Now, having answered the question last week giving advice to Diana about the course as fully as you could, consider a separate question. If you were to say something to Diana about formulas as used in class, which of the following would you choose--and why?
a. Since formulas are not really what’s tested, they’re not very important, worth under 5% of his study time.
b. Formulas are a little important, but not nearly as important as certain other things such as the problem-solving techniques or the qualitative concepts. They are worth between 5% and 10% of his study time.
c. Being very familiar with the formulas is fairly important, worth 10% to 20% of his study time.
d. Being very familiar with the formulas is quite important, worth 20% to 30% of his study time.
e. Being very familiar with the formulas is very important, worth 30% to 40% of his study time.
f. Being very familiar with the formulas is essential, worth over 40% of his study time.
I want you to make up a very specific question question in your own words that you could use as a teacher to see whether your students had learned this immediate past week’s material. What is it about the question you wrote that would help you be sure that student understanding had occurred?
[See Week 4 above for a specific example. Your discussion about this question and its value to you as a diagnostic should be discussed.]
Homework 7: Problems 6.4, P. 134 and G, I, L, and M below.
Problem G:
Explain the similarities and differences between the class Experiment 7.1 that Gordon did and your group’s Experiment 7.1. Were your results the same or different? Why, in either case, did that occur? If the results are different, which result could be correct, and why do you say that?
Problem I:
Recall the problem with Donita and Janice? After reading the solution to problem F, Donita measured the mass of her (supposedly) aluminum cylinder to be 166.32 g on your balance. She also measured Janice’s (supposedly) aluminum piece and found a mass of 78.4 g. (So she was right that her cylinder had more mass than Janice’s.) Recall that they both used our class 250 mL graduated cylinder to do their volume measurements. Janice measured the smaller cylinder volume at 30 mL while Donita measured 64 mL.
What is the mass-to-volume ratio for Donita? What is that ratio for Janice? Could the two women possibly both have materials made of aluminum? Explain your reasoning.
L. A nut and bolt that look like they are brass are given to you. The nut and bolt volumes are both measured in the 100 mL graduated cylinder; the nut’s volume is 1.4 mL, and the bolt’s is 6.3 mL. The nut’s mass is measured on your balance to be 10.1 g, and the bolt’s mass is 54 g. Are nut and bolt made of the same metal? Could either one be brass? Explain.
M. You have a system consisting of a nut and bolt. The nut’s volume is 1.2 mL, and the bolt’s is 6.4 mL, both measured in the 50 mL graduated cylinder. The nut’s mass is measured on your balance to be 3.10 g, and you measure the bolt’s mass to be 16.60 g. What are the mass and volume of the combination of nut and bolt? Should mass be conserved? Should volume be conserved? Explain and justify your answers.
homework due 23 February 2011
journal due by midnight Saturday, 19 February 2011
NOTE 3: You have finished the checkpoint for Ex. 9.4A in class. Make sure you do the Sec. 10 diagnostic and Ex. 10.1 and 10.2 during the class with your group before you leave the classroom Monday. After starting Ex. 10.1 and 10.2, do the diagnostic for Sec. 11 and begin work on that section. We are asking you to do Ex. 10.3 through 10.7 (with free consultation with other members of your group) as extra credit homework for next week. Write your answers in your book, and they will be checked in class during checkpoint for you to get that extra credit toward homework. Please remember to do the diagnostics for Secs. 9, 10, and 11 before working on any of these sections.
Week 8
Journal Entry ?
Due to the snow day, there will be no journal assignment this week.
Homework 8: Do Problem 9.1 (p. 136) and problems K, N, and O below.
K. Work this problem using diagrams to illustrate what you are doing.
a. Twenty rows of 10 vinifera (grapevines used for making wine) each fit into each 1.00 hectare of Martha’s vineyard. Martha’s vineyard has an area of 20.50 hectares. Find the number of vinifera in Martha’s vineyard.
b. A piece of wax has a mass of 8.20 g and a volume of 11.8 cm3. What is the mass of 1.00 cm3 of the wax?
N. Use whole and package reasoning as explained on pp. 46 and 47 (and your checkpoints) to answer the following question: A block of wax has a mass of 14.2 g and a volume of 20.6 cm3. What is the mass of 4.12 cm3 of this kind of wax?
O. Give three examples each of objects for which the mass is distributed homogeneously and for which it is distributed inhomogeneously.
For the same reason, the homework will be due Friday 4 March 2011.
Week 9
Journal Entry 8
In Physics by Inquiry, the midterms and quizzes are probably different from those in your other courses. How do you find them different, if they are? What changes would you make in the quizzes and midterms if you were in charge? Explain.
In Physics by Inquiry, the instructor behaved differently and interacted with you differently from those in your other courses. What do you think about the checkpoints? How do you find the differences useful, if they are? What changes would you make if you were in charge? Explain.
Has a question on a midterm or test been unfair, and why? If you thought all of them were fair, what would make a question unfair, and why?
What strategies do you use personally to answer questions asked in the checkpoints and on exams and quizzes?
What has surprised you most about how you personally have reacted to this course? Were there any surprises about other aspects of the course, such as
In this class, input and feedback are obtained from you through diagnostics, journal entries, homework, questions of the day, essays, quizzes, and exams. On a scale from 0 (least useful) to 6 (most useful), please rate each of these.
diagnostics
journal entries
homework
questions of the day
quizzes
exams
Do you have any examples from this course (or any other course) to support your opinion? Please give any.
How is your group functioning now as compared to the beginning of the quarter?
In Physics 106 this week, you found that gases have much smaller densities than liquids. Did you learn it effectively? How? What techniques for teaching/learning helped you learn? Why/how do you believe what you learned is the useful description of gases? (be specific) How could you use these techniques in your own teaching (assume you are or will be a teacher for purposes of your answer)?
I want you to make up a very specific question question in your own words that you could use as a teacher to see whether your students had learned this immediate past week’s material. What is it about the question you wrote that would help you be sure that student understanding had occurred?
[See Week 4 above for a specific example. Your discussion about this question and its value to you as a diagnostic should be discussed.]
Homework 9: Problems: 10.2, 10.5, 11.1, 11.2, p. 138, S.6, p. 142, and Problem S:
S. Two objects are similar in shape and size. I give the objects to Bob and Suzy and ask them to find the mass and the volume of the objects. The objects are made of two different substances. Bob says to Suzy “Let’s save time and just find the mass and volume of only one of the blocks, since they look the same they will have a similar volume and mass.” Suzy says, “We should do them separately and do the measurements of the volume and mass for each separate object.” Who is right and why?
journal due midnight, 5 March 2011
homework due Wednesday, 9 March 2011
Week 10
Journal Entry 9
This is the last journal entry. Please make sure all your journal entries you have sent to Gordon have been received (check the listing on the door).
In Physics 106 this week you learned about conditions affecting sinking and floating. What techniques for teaching/learning helped you learn this topic? Why/how do you believe what you learned is the correct description of the way nature works (be specific)? How could you use these techniques in your own teaching (assume you are or will be a teacher for purposes of your answer)?
I want you to make up a very specific question question in your own words that you could use as a teacher to see whether your students had learned this immediate past week’s material. What is it about the question you wrote that would help you be sure that student understanding had occurred?
[See Week 7 above for a specific example. Your discussion about this question and its value to you as a diagnostic should be discussed.]
Homework 10: Problems 10.1, 10.2, p. 136, 12.2, p. 139, A.2, A.5, p. 141, 13.2, p. 143, and Problem Y:
Y. Jenny takes the 55.0 g lead cube and attaches a very thin thread to it. She attaches the thread with the lead cube at one end to a piece of wood of density 0.65 g/cm3 and mass 1.00 kilogram. What will happen to the system of lead cube and wood? Is it a sinker or a floater? Explain.
This is extra credit homework, due by Tuesday in Carol Bowman’s hands. There is no group grade, as you may decide not to do the homework. Solutions will be posted Tuesday after the reviews.
journal due by midnight Saturday, 12 March 2011.
By clicking the highlighted text, you can send me email directly: aubrecht@mps.ohio-state.edu
Created by: aubrecht@mps.ohio-state.edu [revised 9 March 2011]