Hi everybody.
Thanks for the feedback Thursday. The feedback is very positive. As a group, you largely
express enthusiasm for the learning model we have and find yourselves productively engaged.
Several students put the class in the context of crazy schedules competing with our class for your
time and attention, and expressed priority and concerns about grades.
One person felt cheated by the video questions. I remind you that you are only required to
answer the questions – right or wrong doesn’t matter.
One person didn’t find the calculus in the rotational inertia video useful. Calculus is a required
part of 141 curriculum. However, as you observe, we give it little attention compared to
conceptual development. It will be used more in 132 and more still in 133 and is a part of your
engineering classes, as I can verify having sat in on ME 211 and ME 212 two years ago. In fact,
that moment of inertia integral is the central calculation in determination of beam stiffness (ME
211). Personally, I’d rather draw a good picture to solve a problem than set up an integral.
However, there are some problems that require calculus (I think), and there are some times I find
the calculus breathtakingly gorgeous. I try to share them with you.
One person expressed curiosity about how the final grade will be determined. I think this is well
explained at the end of the posted Syllabus. As we haven’t done much on LON CAPA, video
participation will be more heavily weighted toward the 85% participation.
One student suggested we do more worked problems in class. My preference is to have you work
in groups, but I want to be available to provide direction. Additionally, in the remaining weeks,
we will have some videos providing worked problems.
One person brought up an interesting point: “I’m enjoying the learning style but I am a bit
worried that when I take the other classes in the physics series I will struggle.” My understanding
is that students do miss our method of learning, but find themselves well prepared in subsequent
classes. I am interested to hear from you next quarter/year about your experience. My strong
feeling is that the most valuable asset many will take away from this class is a recognition of
group learning as a powerful tool that is always accessible. At MIT, I got together with two
friends to do my problem sets and found I really liked it, and I learned a whole lot, and I excelled
in the class…. second term senior year in graduate electromagnetics. I thought, “wow, I wasted
three and a half years, but at least I know now.” So, consider yourselves 3.5 years ahead of me.
“A strength of this class is the social nature of it…. It’s normal to be talking with everyone while
waiting to start, where other classes are usually silent.”
“…I felt overwhelmed when we started rotation but I am starting to get it now.”
“I watch the video briefly, paying attention, answering questions. They I go back another day
and watch the video two more times, the second time taking notes.”
“This class has been awesome. This class is my only one that doesn’t cause me anxiety or stress.
I enjoy coming to class and it makes me motivated to learn.”
“I enjoy working in groups in class to get the help of my peers.”
“I watch the videos the night before and take notes, then watch them again before coming to
class. It helps me remember the videos more. I still have trouble solving problem sometimes, but
after I can identify a lens, it helps me get some relevant equations.”
“I find that taking detailed notes on the videos helps me remember concepts in class.”
“The videos are also a lot more helpful when I take notes well.”
“This class is going great. I find that the problem sets really help with studying because it helps
me be confident about the problems and concepts.”
“For being my first physics class I’ve ever taken, I think my experience in the class is great… I
like how you are graded on how you set up and physically understand the problem.”
“I really like how you engage the class, and how passionate you are about physics and your
students. I like how you give us time to work on the problem-set in class, and I also like how you
really value our feedback….”
“Out of all the teachers I’ve ever had you’re my favorite. Keep it up.”