[Postdocs-visitors] Reminder: Physics and Astronomy Colloquium Today, Friday 3/4/11

["Grant, Gayle" <Gayle Grant tufts edu>]

Good morning:

There is a Physics and Astronomy Colloquium today.  Please note it is at 
the Science and Technology Center, Room 136 at 3:00 pm.



3:00 pm
Friday, March 4, 2011
TUFTS UNIVERSITY
Physics and Astronomy Colloquium
Science & Technology Center, Room 136
4 Colby St., Medford Campus
"What do the Students Need?"
David Hammer
Tufts University
The instruction we offer students, at any level, presumably reflects what 
we believe will help them understand physics.  But we don't often subject 
our beliefs to scrutiny.  Most physics instructors work from common sense 
assumptions about what students need-clear explanations, demonstrations, 
motivation and practice.  As in physics, however, common sense ideas (e.g. 
'objects move because they are pushed') aren't always correct.  I will 
present evidence that these usual assumptions are insufficient and offer 
an expanded set of possibilities, focusing in particular on how students 
understand knowledge and learning.  In some cases what students most need 
is help taking a different approach to learning, a "refinement of everyday 
thinking" (Einstein, 1936) rather than a reception of information.
Refreshments served at 2:30 in STC, Room 124