Chapter 1

Preliminaries, Science,

Measurement, Estimation

Introduction: Our approach

• Preliminaries– Welcome– Subject matter– Organization of Course

• Nature of Science

• Measurement

• Estimation

• Wrap-up

Welcome/Subject matter

•Welcome•Subject matter•Physics (def) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcR7U2tuNoY&feature=related •Historical context (quote)

Organization

• Syllabus and Class document (quick questions, more later)– Reading question

• Class management software– reading questions, other– Forums, issue of identity

• Mastering Physics introduction– Reg. code & the first assignment Friday

• Homework reviewing (more later)

…Organization

• Journals– packets distributed next time– first topics (handout)

• Science Study– First Forum topic (see)

• physics x announcement

• PER in our class (survey/more later)

• “First Day Exercise”

Nature of Science• Comments (quote from Physics Today)

• Science Card Sort activity

• Science Resource packet– Reading question

• Skip to Measurement (next slide)

• A comprehensive view of science– introduction

• Science-Dogmatism exercise

• Relation to our class (summary)

Measurement

• Measurement exercise with circles and meter sticks (go to)– units– measurement ≠ one value– significant figures

• Collective data analysis– proportional reasoning

• Final “note(s)” at http://pi.ytmnd.com/

Estimation

• High-level thinking & minimal precision (one order of magnitude)/valuable practice

• estimation exercise (sample)

Mathematics assessment

• Your Algebra/Arithmetic starting point– pre-test (optional)

Physics assessment

• Basic mechanics concepts– pre-test

Wrap-up

• Chapter 1 questions/discussion– outstanding questions?

• Language clarifications– theory– law– model– representation

• Homework exchange for review (ref.)

the end

What is science?

► A human activity; a process in contrast to a body of knowledge 

► A means of producing useful knowledge;

involves generalizing

► A process centered in the relationship of

concepts (ideas) and experience (action)

What is science?

• Aspects of the relationship of concepts and experience:

 – Ideas guide actions

– Ideas shape perceptions

– Experience affects ideas

What is science?

Key questions about the nature of science:

►What makes science what it is?

►What is the opposite of science?

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Whenever I ask nonscientists whether they have ever before heard a mature discussion of what science is about, what we require of a theory, and how we recognize right science, I find few have. I myself have never been in a classroom, either as student or teacher, where those issues were discussed. We were too busy with pulleys and levers or Hamiltonians. We need to do better.

-- Murray Peshkin, theoretical physicist

in Physics Today July 2006

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physics

• The study of matter and its motion in its most fundamental forms

• (NYT usage)

• Public Editor in first column (Why I would do this), Arthur Brisbane:

“The acceleration of the news pace,” Mr. Keller said, “increases the risk that we will fall short of our standards. That calls for greater vigilance, not lower standards.”

This sets a huge challenge for the organization. News delivered digitally in rapid cycles – with much less time for editing and oversight – will create more lapses. It is simply physics.

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Of all the intellectual hurdles which the human mind has confronted and has overcome in the last fifteen hundred years, the one which seems to me to have been the most amazing in character and the most stupendous in the scope of its consequences is the one relating to the problem of motion…

– Herbert Butterfield (1957) back

 

What to look for in reviewing other students’ homework

We will use the scoring rules (commonly called a rubric)developed by the Physics Education Research group at the University of Minnesota and presented by Jennifer Dockter in Summer 2008. (See last page giving credit.)

Rubric Categories (based on research literature)

• Useful DescriptionUseful Description – organize information from the problem statement symbolically,

visually, and/or in writing.

• Physics ApproachPhysics Approach – select appropriate physics concepts and principles to use

• Specific Application of PhysicsSpecific Application of Physics– apply physics approach to the specific conditions in problem

• Mathematical ProceduresMathematical Procedures– follow appropriate & correct math rules/procedures

• Logical ProgressionLogical Progression – (overall) solution progresses logically; it is coherent, focused

toward a goal, and consistent

Rubric Scores (in general)

4 3 2 1Complete & appropriate

Minor omissions or errors

Parts missing and/or contain errors

Most missing and/or contain errors

0 NA Prob NA SolverAll incorrect

or all missingNot

necessary for this problem

Not necessary for this solver

Instrument at a glance (Rubric)

4 3 2 1 0 NA (P)

NA (S)

Physics Approach

Specific Application

Math Procedures

Logical Progression

Useful Description

SCORE

CATEGORY:(based on literature)

Robust Assessment Instrument for Student Problem Solving

Jennifer L. DocktorJennifer L. DocktorKenneth Heller, Patricia Heller, Tom Thaden-

Koch, Jun Li, Jay Dornfeld, Michael Forte

Physics Education Research & Development Group

http://groups.physics.umn.edu/physed

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Measurement Exercise

• Work in group

• Get a meter stick and a circular disk

• Measure the circumference of the disk and the diameter of the disk

• Calculate the ratio of the circumference by the diameter

• Report your result

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Estimation exercise

• Estimate the number of hairs on a medium sized dog.

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summary• The class will be about Newton’s mechanics,

but it’s open to questions: – How do we know?– Has physics gone beyond this? How?– Why is this idea important?– What are still “open questions”?– Is there an opportunity to talk about other physics?

(Yes, physics x, questions in class.)

• Effective problem solving will be aligned with science, not dogmatism.

summary…• Effective problem solving will be aligned with

science, not dogmatism.– You move first to the physical situation not

formulas.– The solution comes out of representations you

create.– Typically you create formulas for calculations, and

not given formulas to plug in numbers.– You test your solutions and process for

consistency, internally and with your estimates of the physical situation. back

The first forum topic• Look in ILT>Handouts>Study Help• Look at the “Science Study Techniques”

document, identify one thing to endorse based on your past experience and give your reasoning, OR identify one thing you think is worth giving more attention to in PH 211 and give your reasoning.

• OR watch the videos from Samford and identify one thing you think that applies to study in PH 211 and give your reasoning.

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set up video

• http://online.itp.ucsb.edu/plecture/franklin/

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