Comments for Pedagogue Padawan

Comment on Holometer: Holographic Noise by Kim

Kim — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 01:40:34 +0000

Let me see: As I understand it, the core of the holographic principle is that the shortest distance anything can move is the Planck length (or a similarly small value). Therefore, continuous motion does not exist; everything must move in quantum jumps. This is a nice explanation. I think I understood it very well. Your writing style is friendly – I’m reminded of what-if.xkcd. I do have some questions, though. How does this work in the real world? It makes sense in one dimension, but in two, must we move in tiny increments in one of two directions on some arbitrary grid? Or can we move to any spot on a circle of a tiny radius? It only gets more complicated in three dimensions. Also, I’m having trouble making a connection between your pixel analogy and what others are saying about the two-dimensional nature of space-time. One more helpful addition to this post might be a comparison of the Planck length to something “familiar,” like the diameter of a proton or electron. I can’t wait to read about your experiment!

Comment on Computational Modeling with VPython by Arpan Rau

Arpan Rau — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 01:57:47 +0000

That certainly is a nice FEA model.

Comment on I Like Reading Lab Reports by uniformaccel

uniformaccel — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 17:51:32 +0000

I almost cried reading this post. I HATE grading labs, but I have found myself distractedly reading, and that I love -- until I realize that I have to go back and assign numbers... Then I feel punished for the "wasted" time.

I have got to get off my kiester and implement SBG/SBAR.

Comment on AP Physics B Assessments by Alwaysme

Alwaysme — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 10:58:27 +0000

Hey! I just stumbled upon your website, and I wanted to know if you had a compilation of previous ap multiple choice questions by topic. I'm trying to prepare for my AP exams and am really struggling in the class. Thank you!

Comment on Preparing for New AP Physics B Course by Scott Lenhart

Scott Lenhart — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 17:05:42 +0000

You are doing outstanding work. I'm very interested in iPad integration into the new AP Physics curriculum

Comment on Questions to Ask During Whiteboarding by Doug Smith (@bcphysics)

Doug Smith (@bcphysics) — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 14:48:22 +0000

Hi Geoff,

I've been using whiteboards more this year. I notice that most of my groups end up with having very similar data and presentations. Do you only present one or two whiteboards at the end of a lab, or do you go over all of them? I typically have 30 students with 8 to 10 groups...

Secondly, do you have a list of labs that you have the students to in physics? I've read in a few places on your blog this year that you may be putting more focus on labs. I haven't done this, and many of my labs are described as "activities". In 2nd year physics we don't do many at all, since many topics are repeated from 1st year.

thanks

Comment on Questions to Ask During Whiteboarding by bgoeckner

bgoeckner — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 02:57:03 +0000

Thanks for sharing this! I plan to share something similar with my students!

Comment on Help! SBAR Challenges! by geoff

geoff — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 03:08:02 +0000

Matt, thanks for reminding me of your post; it is great. While we do have conversations in class about assessments and grading, they are probably too infrequent. Near the beginning of each semester, I always share my high level goals: which provide the rationale for the SBG methodology:

http://pedagoguepadawan.net/37/whysbg/

I should also share, that the situation was not a dire as I thought when I wrote this post. Some of the feedback I received later was more positive and enlightening:

http://pedagoguepadawan.net/188/sbar-and-mastery-student-survey/

While the challenges with deferred effort still exist, I am now aware of other factors (e..g., need for additional formative assessments that also need to be addressed). An additional challenge, especially when having the “homework without points” conversation is that the conversation is significantly harder when you are the lone voice in the wilderness. As more teachers adopt SBG and stop motivating students to do homework with points, it becomes easier for students to prioritize how best to spend their time. Several of my students simply cannot do all of the homework that is assigned with the time that they have. (Another problem unto itself.) Unfortunately, homework for points, pollutes the prioritization by these students.

I like your idea of another SBG carnival focused on student conversation (there hasn’t been one in quite a while). John Burk shared a video of his conversation last year which was fantastic:

http://quantumprogress.wordpress.com/2011/08/25/my-grading-sales-pitch/

Comment on Help! SBAR Challenges! by Matt Townsley

Matt Townsley — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 13:58:24 +0000

Geoff, You said, “I still believe our methodology is philosophically sound. However, I fear that this deferred effort approach will result in less understanding and less retention.” You also alluded to culture in your classroom. From my experience, the question raised about students taking ownership of the first assessment (and any future assessment, for that matter!) comes down to the classroom culture and the relationship between teacher and student – the “art” of teaching, if you will.

What types of conversations do you regularly have with your students related to assessments & grading? Here’s an example of how I attempted to change the conversation in my classroom a few years ago: http://mctownsley.blogspot.com/2010/11/not-for-grade-homework-whats-point.html

Maybe we could start some sort of SBG-student-conversation-carnival or something like that, I think we could all learn from each other’s culture-building conversations (even though our contexts may be different).

Comment on Holometer: Interferometer by geoff

geoff — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 02:21:16 +0000

My mentor at Fermilab, Chris pointed out an error I had made regarding the difference in the length of arms necessary to result in destructive interference. (I had forgotten that the light travels down the arm and back!) It is now corrected.

He also passed along a link to an excellent simulation of an interferometer: http://www.gwoptics.org/processing/michelson01/michelson01.php