Teaching Physics at School (1 Viewer)

[dr baby beanie]

How do you get taught physics at school?

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[alcalder]

As a teacher of physics and one who has observed many different ways of teaching Physics these are some that come to mind:

- Hand out the syllabus, get the students to research the entire thing and read the notes in class (the way I was taught and it was hard hard work)
- Hand out photocopied sheets from various text books that cover the dot points and read them together in class (observed a teacher who was not primarily a Physics teacher but a Chem teacher - obviously not very comfy with the material)
- Chalk and talk lessons - everything written on the board and students to copy it down, no student interaction
- Specialist notes written by the teacher that cover the dot points exactly giving examples that help with HSC questions (a fellow Physics teacher who liked to have well-prepared students)

My personal style is a mix of all of these BUT I prefer a lot of interaction with students giving input and explaining and working it through in their head. Mixing up the lessons. I would prefer to do practical of some sort in every lesson but the syllabus is chocka-block and sometimes you have to do theory lessons, especially since the syllabus does not allow for prac lessons.

 

[airie]

We get photocopies of the syllabus, some notes from a range of textbooks (most of which we're supposed to read in our own time), and the teacher talks to us...about stuff. And sometimes he goes through some of the sheets. ... Yeah.

 

[ditto.]

With a blackboard?


PS: Hi Arial :wave:
PPS: Fall Out Boy, rprznt.

 

[dr baby beanie]

omgosh Ashton? If so do u miss premium?

Blackboard more like white board now.

 

[ditto.]

omgosh Ashton? If so do u miss premium?

Blackboard more like white board now.

:uhhuh:

 

[alcalder]

omgosh Ashton? If so do u miss premium?

Blackboard more like white board now.

Not in every school. Two I taught at this year still had blackboards!

 

[dr baby beanie]

Not in every school. Two I taught at this year still had blackboards!

We still have blackboards, mainly use white boards, except with one teacher who's a lefty.

 

[+Po1ntDeXt3r+]

As a teacher of physics and one who has observed many different ways of teaching Physics these are some that come to mind:

- Hand out the syllabus, get the students to research the entire thing and read the notes in class (the way I was taught and it was hard hard work)
- Hand out photocopied sheets from various text books that cover the dot points and read them together in class (observed a teacher who was not primarily a Physics teacher but a Chem teacher - obviously not very comfy with the material)
- Chalk and talk lessons - everything written on the board and students to copy it down, no student interaction
- Specialist notes written by the teacher that cover the dot points exactly giving examples that help with HSC questions (a fellow Physics teacher who liked to have well-prepared students)

My personal style is a mix of all of these BUT I prefer a lot of interaction with students giving input and explaining and working it through in their head. Mixing up the lessons. I would prefer to do practical of some sort in every lesson but the syllabus is chocka-block and sometimes you have to do theory lessons, especially since the syllabus does not allow for prac lessons.

I found that the more I got interested and i did better when i learn it in context..
i carry some of it till uni.. and i still remember physics to this day.. and value it .. =)

hahah especially arguing about how traffic light/ fixed speed cameras work ..

didnt do too badly in physics too.. cos i did reading at home lik new scientist too hehe..

 

[dr baby beanie]

Thanks Alcalder.

Ok, now about practicals: How much focus is given on skills?
Bcoz for phys pracs all we do it get a sheet, read it in 5 mins, do the prac, write the results and answer a couple of questions from the sheet, which is done within a lesson and takes less than two pages, then it gets marked by the teacher.

Whereas notes I got from another school, it seems every time they do a practical they do at least 6 pages on skills relating to the syllabus eg "justifies the appropriateness of a particular investigation plan: predict possible issues that may arise during the course of an investigation and identify strategies to address these issues if necessary" etc. We don't really seem to address the criteria and I suppose these skills are tested within the HSC somehow.

 

[alcalder]

Ok, now about practicals: How much focus is given on skills?
Bcoz for phys pracs all we do it get a sheet, read it in 5 mins, do the prac, write the results and answer a couple of questions from the sheet, which is done within a lesson and takes less than two pages, then it gets marked by the teacher.

Whereas notes I got from another school, it seems every time they do a practical they do at least 6 pages on skills relating to the syllabus eg "justifies the appropriateness of a particular investigation plan: predict possible issues that may arise during the course of an investigation and identify strategies to address these issues if necessary" etc. We don't really seem to address the criteria and I suppose these skills are tested within the HSC somehow.

These skills should be, essentially, tested during in-school assessment tasks. The teacher should be setting the practical tasks in order to assess these skills and should also be observing you as you do the practical in order to check certain other skills.

There may also be written questions in the HSC exams that test these sorts of skills as well, where you describe experiments and methods etc.

However, how these skills are assessed is up to the skill of the teacher and their own experience in doing such assessment tasks.

Unfortunately, a lot of physics teachers are firstly Chem or Bio teachers and then Physics and are not 100% comfy with the Physics syllabus (and this is not a criticism just a fact, I witnessed my own supervisor when doing my DipEd - she was firstly a Chem teacher and was teaching Physics because the Physics teacher had gone and she was far more relaxed and knowledgable in the Chem classroom).

 

[Roobs]

We got Chapters of about 4 textbooks thrown at us for whatever topic we were doing, and told to read them. occasionally our teacher would make everyone sit down and he would lecture for the period, and then in doubles he usually gave us prac sheets and equipment and was like "Go".....ie teach yourself

 

[vulgarfraction]

We don't.

We get a copy of the syllabus. The teacher announces that he's going to start on Moving About first, and then every lesson this year, he goes up and describes some moving object (rock, car, rabbit, etc), poses a few questions and gets us to do graphs. Plus a few experiments.

It'd be okay if he didn't sound so miserable and always insult us.

The course doesn't seem that hard, though, so I've given up on the teacher, spent lessons doing other stuff, and I'll just skim the textbook.

 

[airie]

Jesus, it is imperative that one should acknowledge how Ruse is so good, and others are not.
We don't, too. At best, most of us are learning a new concept (meaning, some of us are too thick to understand and/or others have already learnt it); at worst, the teacher reiterates what he said the lesson before for the Anglos, and, surprisingly (I guess), some Asians, incl. 'Curries'.

We also get a copy of the syllabus, which serves as a "time plan", which we work from (or, in the case of most people, do not work from - lazy - boys - bludge - sport - important - blahhh). Anyhow, the teacher announces that he's going to start on Moving About (Chap 5 & Chap 6) first, and then every lesson this year, he goes up and describes some moving object (rock, car, rabbit, etc), poses a few questions and gets us to do graphs; plus a few experiments.

It'd be okay if he didn't sound so pleasant and !insult (not insult) us.

The course doesn't seem the least bit difficult, though, so I've given up on the teacher, spent lessons doing other stuff, and I'll just skim the textbook/napping.
OH, and doing practice HSC's, too.

Frankly, I don't see your point of mimicking someone else's post

 

[Forbidden.]

How do you get taught physics at school?

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Back to the topic.

Our homework consists of syllabus dot points and questions from textbooks.
Problem solving in class is from textbook(s) and given by teacher.
Written practical work is due the day after practical work has been performed.

Today the teacher failed to make sparks fly from the van de Graaf generator, if that's how you spell it.

 

[Teddy Lee]

Our teacher talks about concepts, mostly using the board and we write notes as he speaks but there's heaps of q&a going on so lots of student interaction. sometimes he makes really cool models to help us understand. we don't really use textbooks, he gives us notes from various sources and we fill them in/read them at home. prac lessons are fun and usually take all lesson though he's not very strict with marking the experiments. as for h/w, he gives us exercises when relevant though he doesn't really mark it.

love the way he teaches! unlike my maths teacher, he can operate without a textbook glued to his hand.

 

[Forbidden.]

Our teacher talks about concepts, mostly using the board and we write notes as he speaks but there's heaps of q&a going on so lots of student interaction. sometimes he makes really cool models to help us understand. we don't really use textbooks, he gives us notes from various sources and we fill them in/read them at home. prac lessons are fun and usually take all lesson though he's not very strict with marking the experiments. as for h/w, he gives us exercises when relevant though he doesn't really mark it.

love the way he teaches! unlike my maths teacher, he can operate without a textbook glued to his hand.

A good teacher operates without a textbook glued to his hand.

 

[Bank$]

Well out teacher will give us a sheet then the next day put the answers on the over head lol

 

[twilight1412]

hmm physics made fun ^^
random outbursts of "strangers in the night" in a horrible singing voice
jokes dropped here and there

as for the content
we go through the theory and more XD
goes into a bit too much detail sometimes but i guess it will raise our standard of answers
we ourselves have to do the dull society questions as its a waste of class time
and sometimes we are told to reseach a dot point and present it to the class to see how capable we are at expressing our ideas