Published: May 08, 2008 09:30 pm         

Writing and numbers key students’ interest

Dialogues and counting letters

This is the time that I think about what new ideas I have tried in my classes this spring term. Which ones have failed or fizzled? Which ones have shown some promise? The latter will be continued in my summer and fall classes.

I mainly teach first year college classes, where a few students are interested, some more scared than interested and some students are convinced that they will do badly, no matter how they try. This column is about two new ideas (to me) that I tried this spring; I think that these practices are not just for college classes but could be used in adult education and high school classes.

Two areas where many students need work are writing and using numbers. Naturally, the more frequently these areas are engaged, the better. Some classes lend themselves to writing while the content of other classes often involves numbers. These practices are most effective if used in nearly every class, not just a few times a month.

In my Science and Religion Class, I have had pairs of students writing dialogues in the last 15 minutes of most classes. In the class room where this course is taught, two students sit side by side at small tables, facing the front.

For example, there was a class early in the course where the three great science-religion conflicts were reviewed: the overthrow of the Earth centered model by the sun centered model (Galileo), the idea of a clockwork universe (Newton) where God is seen as a clockmaker and lastly the challenge of Biblical creation by Darwin’s theory of evolution.

A dialogue at the end of this class could be: Imagine that you go back in time five centuries and confront a open minded scholar; what would you say to him to cause him to doubt the Earth centered model of the universe (where Earth is stationary and all heavenly bodies, including the sun orbit us)? In this dialogue, you can’t refer to telescopes or modern techniques as he might regard you as possessed.

So the dialogue would be conversation between the time traveler and the scholar. In these class dialogues, each student in a pair contributes ideas and together they write a dialogue on one sheet of paper with both of their names at the top (as they receive the same credit). The student pairs each turn in their dialogue as they leave class; I grade it and return it to the students at the next class.

The other new practice involves numbers. In my basic physical science class (Cosmic Concepts), the students all fill out a worksheet where they count the number of letters in their first name, their last name and their hometown. The largest of the three counts is called B (for biggest), the smallest of the three counts is called S (for smallest). If by some chance, all three counts are the same, then the tie breaker rule is S = B/2 . (I have had students in my classes who have the same number of letters in all three names, so this tie breaker rule is needed.)

Then during a class, the students are requested to solve problems where their values of B and S are used. So while all students work the same problems, they will likely have different values of B and S, giving them different correct answers. Their solutions are collected at the end of class, graded and returned to them at the next class. For example, Newton’s second law of motion is: Net force = Mass * acceleration. If the net force is B Newtons (metric force unit) and the mass is S kilograms, what is the acceleration?

So if one student has B = 10 and S = 5, then the correct answer would be an acceleration of 2 meters/second2 as 10 = 5 * 2. For a student with B = 9 and S = 6, the correct answer would be an acceleration of 1.5 meters per second2 .

Of course, each student’s solution must list the student’s names, hometown and their B and S stated. I am able to quickly grade the answers and return the solutions the next class. The advantage of this approach is that it discourages copying; the students quickly understand this. I encourage students to help each other out in working these problems.

Moon and Mercury

Tonight, the moon appears half full, displaying its sunlit half on the right and its night side on the left. Along the moon’s straight (left) edge, the sun is rising, lighting up the craters rims and mountain peaks. Both the craters and mountains can be seen in binoculars if held steadily. In mid week, the inner most planet Mercury is at its greatest angle from the sun and visible low in the west northwest about 9 p.m.

Our new public planetarium for May at Frostburg State Planetarium is “Report on Planet Earth”, showing today at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m.. Next Sunday will have our last public showings till next September.

Bob Doyle invites comments and questions from readers; his email is rdoyle@frostburg.edu.