I realize that this class can seem frustrating at times. My goal is to teach in a way that is alive and enjoyable, and in a way that can help you learn and remember. The fraction of material that students tend to remember a year or two after a typical physics class has been studied and is surprisingly low. Here is a letter from a former student which I received a few years ago which addresses this point. It is one of a number of communications along these lines I have received from former students.
"Hi, ... I'm at Cornell and I'm finally settling back into school again now that I'm in the second semester. Anyway, I was inspired to send you this greeting right now at this very moment because I'm currently taking Stat Mech and as I was working on my homework for his class, I looked up my old homeworks from Stat Mech back in Santa Cruz. Well, you were my teacher for Stat Mech at UCSC, and of course my teacher for Quantum II, and also my waves teacher for 5B, long, long ago. It just keeps coming up over and over again that those topics are the ones I understand the most! I mean, it just can't be denied that I my understanding is WAY better in those subjects compared to others.
When I was in Quantum last semester and we got into Zeeman effect, changing basis stuff, I had this wonderful, familiar feeling of understanding, and all I had to do was go back and read some of my old homeworks from your class, and then I had it all at my fingertips again. In fact, most of the time at Cornell, I've been feeling pretty far behind all my classmates, but when it comes to the subjects that I studied with you, I actually feel like I am helping them!
When I think of Stat Mech or Quantum II or even 5B, there are only about two or three problems that I really remember from the course, but each of them involved a
serious revelation on my part. I don't actually remember any problems from any other class at UCSC!
... (two paragraphs of examples, etc deleted)...
Wow, you really had a serious impact on my
understanding of physics! Thank you."
Here is one more, that discusses a student's attitude and response, and how that changed over the quarter for this student:
"The first time I took a class from Zack it took me a long time to warm up to his teaching style. He forces kids out of their standard class comfort zone ... of regurgitative lectures and by making them participate and think in class, both of which students really seem to hate. I know i did [hate it] for the first 3/4 of Phys 105. ...
Zack has a very unique teaching style that ... gets to the fundamentals, the very foundations of what he is teaching. ... Student's who take Zack's courses do not just know the material at the end, they have a deep understanding of it...."
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I remember thinking at the beginning of the quarter that this was going to be a different class, BECAUSE Zack was teaching it. That's O.K., it just means you have to adjust your expectations and outlook.
ReplyDeleteI have two quotes in mind that seem particularly suitable here, I'd like to attribute them both to my sprint coach in Junior College, but I'm not sure he said them both. He definitely said the second one.
- You only get out as much as you put in.
and
- Mediocre effort yields mediocre results.
Over the course of the quarter, I feel I've not put in as much effort as is necessary to do really truly well in this class, but I have put in more than usual BECAUSE Zack doesn't just give answers. You have to work a bit for your results, and the process is what makes you gain a better understanding.
So in one respect, I dislike Zack's style for indirectly causing me to get stuck for hours on end. On the other hand, I like Zack's style for directly causing me to do a lot of research on my own, and later with confirming my thoughts with others.
I definitely appreciate this original style of teaching. It's great for getting students really involved with the subject matter. I'm just in a different boat than most (last undergrad quarter with no physics grad school desires), and in no way do I want to bring the class down.
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