Clik here to view.
Theoretical Mechanics big ideas
I’ve taught Theoretical Mechanics before using Standards-Based Grading, but I think I want to make some tweaks to the focus of the standards. Here’s the old list. In this post I want to get my current...
View ArticleClik here to view.
First day plan for Theoretical Mechanics
I’ve been putting some thought into the first “big idea” I talked about for Theoretical Mechanics in my last post (differential equations). Once again, Danny Caballero has really helped me with this,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Spring syllabi updates
Ok, after a month of crazy thoughts, here’s where I’ve (currently) landed for my two courses that start in two days. Modern Physics Still planning on using a free textbook Planning on having fake labs...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Lake ice thickness
OOPS: I posted this late at night and as I laid down to bed afterwards I realized that I was using the wrong . I was using the one for water, not ice. Ice is larger by a factor of 4, so that explains...
View ArticleClik here to view.
What is angular momentum?
I’ve spent some time today preparing for my theoretical mechanics class. We’re slated to go over the angular versions of Newton’s laws, with a heavy emphasis on conservation of angular momentum. And ....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Snails on a triangle
This post got its spark when I read this These challenging physics problems found by @MrHonner are awesome. mrhonner.com/2013/01/24/cha…— John Burk (@occam98) January 30, 2013 John had also mentioned...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Brachistochrone approach
Brachistochrone: The shape of the fastest slide between two points. The Brachistochrone problem is one of the first and most important examples of the calculus of variations. It’s nearly required in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Good week
I really enjoyed teaching this past week, and I thought I should get down what happened to cheer me up for those weeks to come that might not go as well. Brachistochrone The calculus of variations...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Rubik’s cube test development
This week I was inspired by this intriguing post by my friend Ian Beatty. He talks about what it might be like to use a test-driven development process for teaching. Here’s the short version of what I...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Lagrange multipliers
This is a post that builds on my previous notes about the calculus of variations. This week I’m going to teach about modeling constraint forces using the Lagrangian approach, and I wanted to put these...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Imaginary quantum physics
A couple of years ago I wrote about some things I was thinking about regarding the use of complex numbers in quantum mechanics. This past week I got to refer to that post to my Modern Physics students,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Wait! It’s still interesting
A lot of the standards I have in my standards-based grading classes start with “I can do an interesting problem involving . . .” As a class we define “interesting” to mean lots of things, including...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Planck challenge
I was giving an oral exam today in Modern Physics, and I was inspired to write this post. A student was up front doing this standard: “I can compare and contrast the Rayleigh Jeans and Planck...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Rigid body outline
I’m about to teach the dynamics of rigid bodies in my theoretical mechanics class, and I wanted to get down my plan. I developed and used this first a couple years ago, and I think I’m not going to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Creating supplemental texts
I’m nearing the end of a semester where, for one class, there was no official text. That’s going decently well, though I’ll likely have more to say about that in another post. What I want to talk about...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Core physics curriculum
This past weekend I attended the American Physical Society’s Physics Chairs Conference. It was great to meet so many physics edu/administrators. I got a lot of ideas I’m interested in kicking around at...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Dealing with cheating
At the APS Distance Learning conference last weekend there was a session on dealing with cheating. We heard from Dave Pritchard from MIT and Gerd Kortemeyer from Michigan State. Both of them have run...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Engineering projects to research
Well, it’s that time again. Time to start posting a bunch of things here to capture my thoughts about upcoming courses. This fall I’m teaching two major things: a so-called “First Year Seminar” or...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Sound and Music SBG
I’m teaching “the physics of sound and music” in the fall, along with the labs. I really want to do that using my Standards-Based Grading with Voice approach, but I recognize that having 40 students...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Teaching article reading
Today my research students and I did a fun activity. We’ve found several papers that are connected to the work we’re doing, and I wanted to sit with my students to pore over them to see where the gaps...
View Article
