Presentation of equations (was F=ma)

[Robert A Cohen <bbq@ESU.EDU>]

On Fri, 5 Nov 1999, Leigh Palmer wrote:

> [snip]
> I am worrying that the presentation of equations which
> will initially be parsed as sentences by our students
> may affect their ability to grasp concepts. Should we
> pay some attention to this (I believe utterly neglected)
> question? Any PER folks out there who might know of some
> relevant work? Dewey?

I am also interested in this.  I'd also like to know, if it is indeed
important, how we can effectively get students to master this.

Although I have no research to back up my opinion, I believe that the
ability to distinguish between equations is crucial.  As such, I require
students to identify each equation they encounter as either empirical,
defined, or derived.  If derived, they need to identify the assumptions,
if any, utilized during the derivation.  There is a lot of resistance to
this and I'd be interested to know how others get the differences across
to students. Just mentioning the differences is not enough.  I've been
requiring students to identify the differences all semester and I think
that I am just now getting through to the majority of the class (half way
through the semester).

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| Robert Cohen               Department of Physics       |
|                            East Stroudsburg University |
| bbq@esu.edu                East Stroudsburg, PA  18301 |
| http://www.esu.edu/~bbq/   (570) 422-3428              |
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