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Help a teacher out :) (1 Viewer)

darkchild69

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Well, us physics teachers help you students out, so now it's your turn to help us (In particular... ME!)

My school is going into it's first year 12 cohort starting next year (HSC course begins next term)

I am just wondering, what are some of your best memories of the HSC Physics course? Or preliminary course for that matter.

What are some things that you found/find interesting? Some good demo's or experiments, discussions etc...

What do you find most helpful? Do you like lots of calculation questions? Or understanding theories? Discussions? Research tasks?

In my class, I often drift off topic and talk about the universe, drakes equations and even implications of relativity (I love modern physics, stars and flashy thingys) and during electrical energy in the home i could not shut up about my sub woofers, lmao.

My class is fantastic, a good bunch of students, most of whom are very willing to work hard and their aptitude has shown, where their avg mark was about 15% ahead of chemistry and 10% ahead of Biology, a statistic I am very proud of, this being the first time anyone has taught preliminary physics at the school (and first time I have ever taught it)

I would like to make it as engaging as I can for them and want to take tips/suggestions from you guys with regards to some interesting things you have done in your class or would like to do

Cheers
 

Aerath

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I've always been a fan of minor quizzes at the end of each topic. It ensures that I've understood what I've learn, and gives the teacher an indication of class weaknesses, as a whole.
 

Forbidden.

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darkchild69 said:
Well, us physics teachers help you students out, so now it's your turn to help us (In particular... ME!)
ok.

darkchild69 said:
My school is going into it's first year 12 cohort starting next year (HSC course begins next term)
*its


darkchild69 said:
I am just wondering, what are some of your best memories of the HSC Physics course? Or preliminary course for that matter.
Too many to remember.

darkchild69 said:
What are some things that you found/find interesting? Some good demo's or experiments, discussions etc...
Random jokes and stories.
We watched a video where a young German couple were stranded in bushland.
They have a car but there is a river with no bridge but a ramp, they wish to cross it.
The guy starts doing projectile motion calculations but then FAILS as he attempts to launch his car over the river because he does not take into account wind resistance.

darkchild69 said:
What do you find most helpful? Do you like lots of calculation questions? Or understanding theories? Discussions? Research tasks?
although frustrating, we do some syllabus dot-points as homework to reinforce what we learnt.
And yes yes calculations and trying different problems because they will be useful for the budding scientists and engineers in your class
hsc physics is a joke.
thanks board of studies.

darkchild69 said:
In my class, I often drift off topic and talk about the universe, drakes equations and even implications of relativity (I love modern physics, stars and flashy thingys) and during electrical energy in the home i could not shut up about my sub woofers, lmao.
Well that's if anyone in your class wants to be a Physicist or Engineer.
(I'm the only one who decided to become an engineer out of my entire Physics class)

darkchild69 said:
My class is fantastic, a good bunch of students, most of whom are very willing to work hard and their aptitude has shown, where their avg mark was about 15% ahead of chemistry and 10% ahead of Biology, a statistic I am very proud of, this being the first time anyone has taught preliminary physics at the school (and first time I have ever taught it)
ok just hope they dont end up like us when we failed our half-yearlies keep it up.
if you want to give them harder problems get them to think critically and develop problem solving skills.
(see whats given, whats the problem...is the answer reasonable...)

darkchild69 said:
I would like to make it as engaging as I can for them and want to take tips/suggestions from you guys with regards to some interesting things you have done in your class or would like to do

Cheers
be friendly.
thats what i can say so far.

one question id like to ask,
how many girls and boys are there in your class?

because how you teach also depends on that too.
my physics teacher uses the equation F = l I B sin x instead of F = B I l sin x
because apparently girls can associate F = l I B sin x with libido.
(i use x, cant be bothered using theta)
(our class didn't have any girls but this year's class does)
 

Darrow

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What I would have liked my teacher to do:
Explain the concepts, then show how it is asked in exams, and the correct way to answer it
Pracs whenever possible (though physics isnt big on pracs)
Random Demonstrations are always fun
 

darkchild69

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Forbidden. said:
be friendly.
thats what i can say so far.

one question id like to ask,
how many girls and boys are there in your class?

because how you teach also depends on that too.
my physics teacher uses the equation F = l I B sin x instead of F = B I l sin x
because apparently girls can associate F = l I B sin x with libido.
(i use x, cant be bothered using theta)
(our class didn't have any girls but this year's class does)
14 Boys, 1 Girl :)

Exphate said:
Physics teacher...who hates maths...



Interesting.



100% practical. That's what science is about.

Oh, I love Maths! I think a good understanding of Maths is key to the understanding of major physical concepts!

That is basically a personal joke about how i think the BOS lack of mathematics in the physics syllabus is beyond a joke (hence the little yellow rolling fella after it)

I'm sure just about all teachers agree
 
Last edited:

katie tully

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Always found if you use anecdotal stories to apply physics to everyday situations people retain the info.

Like when I give chats at work to kids about inertia and what happens to your internal organs when you hit a tree at 100km. Visually stimulating. They sure remember what inertia means at the end of it.
 

Aaron.Judd

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Have 1 lesson every 2 weeks dedicated to revision/going over what you'vew already taught.
 

Aaron.Judd

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Go over every dotpoint and teach it. I.e do not make students 'research' on the Internet or complete for homework dotpoints (such as those research ones in third column of syllabus). If you make them do this, they will be disadvantaged, as you can be sure other teachers actively teach this.
 

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darkchild69 said:
14 Boys, 1 Girl :)




Oh, I love Maths! I think a good understanding of Maths is key to the understanding of major physical concepts!

That is basically a personal joke about how i think the BOS lack of mathematics in the physics syllabus is beyond a joke (hence the little yellow rolling fella after it)

I'm sure just about all teachers agree
physics isnt much without calculus sadly ....

and once again physics is a male dominated subject!

CaptainNemo said:
physics related hangman - revision made interesting
hahahahaha.
 

Riet

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Aaron.Judd said:
Go over every dotpoint and teach it. I.e do not make students 'research' on the Internet or complete for homework dotpoints (such as those research ones in third column of syllabus). If you make them do this, they will be disadvantaged, as you can be sure other teachers actively teach this.
Fuck you. You're meant to learn, not be told the answers to every dot point.
 

Riet

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CaptainNemo said:
also, many just won't be bothered.
Teach them to understand the answers, not just remember something off by heart. Today I had a 2 hour fluid dynamics lab, none of the people knew wtf was going on even though they have all done physics and university level maths. Why? because they don't understand the concepts, they just remember shit.
 

sam04u

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I think the best and most memorable part of any physics lesson, or physics lecture, (of which I've seen many due to the advent of new technology) are real life scenarios related to the course material.

Physics concepts can best be understood by relating them to something we understand in the real world. Ofcourse time is scarce, so only when it's a more difficult concept perhaps? Ofcourse they shouldn't be improvised because that usually ends in disaster. Good luck.


now for the joke
My favourite part was being touched on my private parts after class.
 

sam04u

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babikakez said:
My maths teacher does this, and its really helpful.
I agree. The more revision, the better.
 
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darkchild69 said:
What do you find most helpful? Do you like lots of calculation questions? Or understanding theories? Discussions? Research tasks?

Cheers
I always enjoyed demonstrations and pracs in high school physics, because showing something (such as the creation of beakman's motor or use of eddy currents in braking) makes it much easier to understand the theory behind it all.

Calculation questions are also good, except HSC physics tends not to focus so much on the maths (as opposed to physics at uni), but I reckon it'd be a good idea to give a taste of the mathematical side of physics as well, and don't chuck formulas! Try to derive them if possible and explain why certain formulas are used for certain calculations and not others.

Discussions are always good! Especially when someone cracks a joke! :lol:
 

samwell

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I loved the mathematical nature of physics principles. My most interesting topic is Quanta to Quarks and ideas to implementation. History and science and their interelationships. Ideas to implemantation was also pretty interesting. Basically everything for physics HSC course was interesting bcoz i love maths in physics.
I think pracs would be an interesting tool to help students and internet research on the pracs on the pracs and finding animations to explain the concept of physics
 

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