teaching materials
On this page I have gathered some samples of lecture presentations, out-of-class reading material, handouts and quizzes that I have used in the past. These are not to be regarded as fixed, but as works in progress - with every class and every course, I try to adapt to the students, try new methods of instruction, and improve both their experience and mine. And these samples do not contain blackboard work, discussions with neighbouring students or demonstrations, and so only offer a small portion of what students experience in my courses. I gratefully acknowledge the help of Dr Eric Hudson, Dr Steven van Hook, and Dr Kirstin Drew of the Pennsylvania State University Physics Department, who supplied many of these questions, either directly or through suggestions.
phys 211 mechanics: pre-lecture reading material (descriptive)
introduction to newton's laws
web_lec_4.pdf | |
File Size: | 444 kb |
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This was material provided for students to read before the lecture. It highlighted and explained the main concepts, and provided a few questions to ponder.
phys 211 mechanics: lecture questions
questions on newton's laws (slides with answers are only provided after the lecture)
2012_lec_4_ans.pdf | |
File Size: | 608 kb |
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These were the questions used during the lecture period in the Think-Pair-Share activities. As mentioned above, the questions came from a variety of sources, but were carefully chosen by me to test the students' understanding, uncover their misconceptions, and illustrate the different ways certain concepts and principles were used. There were almost always more questions than could be comfortably covered in one lecture session; from the class responses to various early questions I would choose which later ones to focus on. All the questions with their solutions were made available to the students later.
PHYS 211 MECHANICS: VIDEO REVEALING WHY YOU NEED A CENTRIPETAL FORCE
A picture's worth a thousand words--and a well chosen video will capture attention, provoke questions, and hopefully lead to a better, visual, conceptual understanding. This video was use to indicate the reality and necessity of a force to provide the centripetal acceleration. And if you watch closely, you will notice that once he leaves the merry go round, the subject moves along a tangent to the circle.
phys 211 mechanics: quiz
questions on rotational motion and gravity
labqz9.pdf | |
File Size: | 117 kb |
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These quizzes were 20 minutes long and were administered during the beginning of the lab period, once a week. They covered material that had been presented the previous week.
phys 237: Handout on the Doppler Effect
doppler_effect.pdf | |
File Size: | 56 kb |
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