Angels on a Pin - раздел Философия, School years — Speaking At School Alexander Calandra Is A Professor Of Physics At Washington University In St. ...
Alexander Calandra is a professor of physics at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. In the following essay he shares an experience with a college student who refused to give the expected answer to a question on a physics examination. Instead, the student insisted on giving a number of answers other than the conventional one.
Some time ago, I received a call from a colleague who asked if I would be the referee on the grading of an examination question. He was about to give a student a zero for his answer to a physics question, while the student claimed he should receive a perfect score and would if the system were not set up against the student. The instructor and the student agreed to submit this to an impartial arbiter, and I was selected.
I went to my colleague's office and read the examination question: "Show how it is possible to determine the height of a tall building with the aid of a barometer."
The student had answered: "Take the barometer to the top of the building, attach a long rope to it, lower the barometer to the street, and then bring it up, measuring the length of the rope. The length of the rope is the height of the building."
I pointed out that the student really had a strong case for full credit, since he had answered the question completely and correctly. On the other hand, if full credit were given, it could well contribute to a high grade for the student in his physics course. A high grade is supposed to certify competence in physics, but the answer did not confirm this. I suggested that the student have another try at answering the question. I was not surprised that my colleague agreed, but I was surprised that the student did.
I gave the student six minutes to answer the question, with the warning that his answer should show some knowledge of physics. At the end of five minutes, he had not written anything. I asked if he wished to give up, but he said no. He had many answers to this problem; he was just thinking of the best one. I excused myself for interrupting him, and asked him to please go on. In the next minute, he dashed off his answer, which read:
"Take the barometer to the top of the building and lean over the edge of the roof. Drop the barometer, timing its fall with a stopwatch. Then, using the formula S = 1/2 at2, calculate the height of the building."
At this point, I asked my colleague if he would give up. He conceded, and I gave the student almost full credit.
In leaving my colleague's office, I recalled that the student had said he had other answers to the problem, so I asked him what they were. "Oh, yes," said the student. "There are many ways of getting the height of a tall building with the aid of a barometer. For example, you could take the barometer out on a sunny day and measure the height of the barometer, the length of its shadow, and the length of the shadow of the building, and by the use of a simple proportion, determine the height of the building." "Fine," I said. "And the others?"
"Yes," said the student. "There is a very basic measurement method that you will like. In this method, you take the barometer and begin to walk up the stairs. As you climb the stairs, you mark off the length of the barometer along the wall. You then count the number of marks, and this will give you the height of the building in barometer units. A very direct method.”
"Of course, if you want a more sophisticated method, you can tie the barometer to the end of a string, swing it as a pendulum, and determine the value of 'g' at the street level and at the top of the building. From the difference between the two values of 'g,' the height of the building can, in principle, be calculated."
Finally he concluded, “There are many other ways of solving the problem. Probably the best," he said, "is to take the barometer to the basement and knock on the superintendent's door. When the superintendent answers, you speak to him as follows: 'Mr. Superintendent, here I have a fine barometer. If you will tell me the height of this building, I will give you this barometer.' "
At this point, I asked the student if he really did not know the conventional answer to this question. He admitted that he did, but said that he was fed up with high school and college instructors trying to teach him how to think, to use the "scientific method," and to explore the deep inner logic of the subject in a pedantic way, as is often done in the new mathematics, rather than teaching him the structure of the subject. With this in mind, he decided to revive scholasticism as an academic lark to challenge the Sputnik-panicked classrooms of America.
School years... Speaking... At School v When did you go to school v When and what school did you finish...
Если Вам нужно дополнительный материал на эту тему, или Вы не нашли то, что искали, рекомендуем воспользоваться поиском по нашей базе работ:
Angels on a Pin
Что будем делать с полученным материалом:
Если этот материал оказался полезным ля Вас, Вы можете сохранить его на свою страничку в социальных сетях:
Exercise 4
Here are some school subjects, but the letters are mixed up. What are the subjects?
Example: TREPCUMOS ……………computers
1.
TAHM
Exercise 5
Were there any rules for attending your school? What were they?
These are the rules for attending school in North America. Indicate whether they are also true
about your school by
Exercise 7
What were your most frequent grades? What did it depend on?
Grades are often calculated differently, not only in different countries, but also in the same country. Generally, in the United
Exercise 8
Schools in the United States and Canada use their own grading system. However, most grades are either letter grades (A, B, C, D, E, F) or number grades. (In some schools the letter or number grade
Exercise 10
Here are some idioms commonly used by students in school. Match each idiom with its meaning.
Idiom
Definition
Exercise 11
Translate into English
Я закінчила школу 20 років тому. Я досить добре пам'ятаю свої шкільні роки. Це були щасливі дні. Звісно учбовий рік починався 1 вересня і тривав аж до кінця травня,
Active vocabulary
educationn. освіта
college of ~учбовий заклад, що готує вчителів; twelve-year compulsory ~ дванадцятирічна обов’язкова освіта;
higher ~ вища освіта;
Polytech
At the age of eleven
all children go to SECONDARY SCHOOL. There are four types of secondary school
Public school (a private school where parents pay).
Grammar school.
Secondary modern school.
The Open University.
At any age after eighteen, and even without qualifications, people in Britain can study for a degree with the new OPEN UNIVERSITY. They work at home and are helped by postal courses, and radio and
Points of view
Give me a school where we can talk on equal terms with our teachers on sex, morals, religion, etc.; a school where personality and brain-building come first and diplomas and certificates last. Afte
Active vocabulary
ENTRANCE INTO UNIVERSITYвступ до університету
breakn. перерва; to deserve a ~ заслуговувати на перерву, відпочинок
careern.кар`єра; take up a ~ братися з
Choosing a university
Look at the list below.
Decide which things are important to you in choosing a university, and which things are important to your partner.
Write V(Very Important)
Exercise 1
Translate into English.
Всі випускники після закінчення школи турбуються про своє майбутнє та починають вибирати кар’єру. Деякі з них є природженими лікарями, тому обирають цю професію, а
Vocabulary and key concepts
Write the word or words you hear in the blanks provided in the following sentences.
1. ________________ education in the United States includes _____________ as well as senior colleges, mo
X Postlistening
A. ACCURACY CHECK
Listen to the following questions and give the best answer.
B. ORAL PRACTICE
Discuss the following questions in small groups and then report to the clas
Active vocabulary
Examinations екзамени
answern. відповідати; the ~ was at the tip of my tongue відповідь крутилась у мене на язиці;
exam n. розм. ( скор від examin
Exercise 1
Translate into English.
Вступні іспити
Ось історія про мої вступні іспити. Минулого літа я вирішила вступити до КНЛУ і досить швидко подала заяву про вступ
Six rules for coping with exam stress.
Read the text and describe how you revise for the exams.
1. In the weeks to come before the beginning of exams, give yourself plenty of time to revise. Most students perform best by revisi
Exercise 4
Fill in the gaps with the necessary prepositions.
When my grandmother was at school, she had to learn everything (a)................heart, and even years later she could recite countless p
Exercise 5
Translate into English.
Екзаменаційний стрес
(Поради психолога)
Коли б не приходив час іспитів я завжди стаю нервовою. Мені стає важко заснути і я на
Exercise 3
Translate into English
а) Майже 90 відсотків американських студентів відвідують державну початкову та середню школи, які не стягують плату за освіту, а існують за рахунок місцевих та держа
How Ruth made history at Oxford
Read the text and answer the questions that follow.
Child prodigy Ruth Lawrence made history yesterday when she came a clear first out of the 530 candidates who set the entrance ex
Exercise 6
Translate into English.
Хочеш знати який секрет успішного навчання в університеті? Ще школярем я турбувався про своє майбутнє, вирішуючи, яку професію обрати. Вчителі казали, з мене б вийш
X Listening
Experts measure intelligence in many different ways. One of the best-known tests used is the Stanford-Binet Test, popularly known as the "I.Q." (Intelligence Quotient) Test.
List
Active vocabulary
University studiesнавчання в університеті
abilityn. здібність; communicative ~ комунікативна здібність
absent v. бути відсутнім; Syn. to be away from бут
Exercise 1
You will read a text about places to study. Look at the following list of words. Check their meaning in a dictionary and practice saying them. Which words do you think you will meet? Why? Discuss y
Exercise 5
Read the sentences below. Write the correct forms of the words in the blanks. Words from number one on the list go with the sentences in number one below, words from number two with the sentences i
Active vocabulary
be in low/high spirits бути в поганому гарному настрої;to lift/raise one’s spiritsпіднімати настрій
catch v. ~ ловити, спіймати; ~ a bus / trolleybus сісти на ав
Exercise 1
The following words are from the text. Use your dictionary to find the other parts of speech. Check the pronunciation and meaning.
noun
verb
Exercise 6
Insert prepositions or adverbs where necessary:
1.The trouble... the book is that it’s boring me... death. 2. It will take me a month to catch...... the group. 3. You’d better keep still a
Exercise 8
Translate into English using the active vocabulary:
Студентський день.
У неділю я, як правило, маю обмаль часу, тому в понеділок я встаю удосвіта і
Exercise 13
Translate the following into English:
У лінгвістичних університетах України курс навчання п’ятирічний. Їх випускники отримують дипломи. У лінгвістичних університетах є декілька факультетів
Exercise 14
Insert articles where necessary:
Now let me give you some idea of what you would see if you were to walk around Cambridge. Let us imagine that I am seeing ... sights for ... first time. It
Exercise 15
Translate into English:
1. Ви повинні наздогнати групу, як би багато не довелося вам працювати.
2. Він до смерті набрид мені розповідями про свої пригоди.
3. У нього прин
Exercise 17
Insert articles where necessary:
Dear Daddy-Long-Legs,
You never answer any questions, you never show...slightest interest in anything I do. I haven’t...
Exercise 18
Translate into English:
1. Студенти повинні відвідувати всі заняття, лекції, семінари та практичні заняття, тому що відвідування в нашому університеті обов’язкове. 2. Заступники декана пер
Pre-listening Activities
a) Read through the sentences, trying to imagine which words would fit in the blanks. Then listen to a dictation of the full sentences, and write the missing words in the blanks.
1. The
Notetaking Preparation
1. Deciphering Notes
Sometimes you may for one reason or another miss a lecture and have to ask a classmate to share his or her notes. If your classmate has taken good notes, you may be ab
Exercise 4
Translate into English.
а) Джейн - першокурсниця. Вона старанна студентка й працює постійно. Вона захоплюється навчанням і тому їй дуже легко вчитись. В минулому місяці вона захворіла й то
Exercise 5
Translate into English
a) На відміну від освіти в державних початковій та середніх школах, навчання в державних коледжах та університетах, як правило, платне. Проте сума оплати часто значн
Хотите получать на электронную почту самые свежие новости?
Подпишитесь на Нашу рассылку
Наша политика приватности обеспечивает 100% безопасность и анонимность Ваших E-Mail
Новости и инфо для студентов