Re: [Phys-l] Unit Conversions (was Mass and Energy)

[Jack Uretsky <jlu@hep.anl.gov>]

Hi all-

On Sat, 27 May 2006, John Clement wrote (in part):

> The second problem is that the mix of students you have has a large number
> of students who do not understand proportional reasoning.
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	This is in Arons' book.  The majority of students not only do not 
understand proportional reasoning, they don't understand "proportion". 
Nor do they understand "ratio".  Ask your students to take the ratio of 
two quantities and see how many come back with the difference.
	Moral:  If you want students to do proportional reasoning, proceed 
slowly and start from scratch.  Talk baby talk, and make sure that you 
only use wards that everyone understands.  Have your students write out 
their understanding before they leave the classroom, so you can deal with 
misconceptions at the next class.
					Regards,
						Jack




--
"Trust me.  I have a lot of experience at this."
		General Custer's unremembered message to his men,
		just before leading them into the Little Big Horn Valley