>>>I have worked my way through college tutoring math and physics to people who
>>> were afraid of word problems. One-on-one, of course, is very different than
>>> classroom settings, but perhaps some of what I have learned can help you.

>>>I've found, for one thing, that taking time to exlpain the simple technique
>>> a.) write down what you know (v=3m/s, t=2s)
>>> b.) write down the variable representing what you are looking for followed
>>> by a question mark (d=?)
>>> c.) look for a formula relating the known to the unknown (d=vt)
>>> d.) plug and crank.
>>>which we do automatically, works wonders for the first-timer.

Educational research has shown that most students who can work the end of the
chapter problems do not understand the concepts upon which the problems are
based. Your prescription works for the LIMITED goal of solving SOME end of
the chapter problems and your tutored students "see an improvement".

You are teaching them only to be "happy pluggers".

However, they probably don't understand the concepts in the problem anymore
than they did before they "became successful".

I add FOUR steps(the MOST IMPORTANT STEPS OF ALL) before listing your step "a.)"

Step I. Classification: What kind of problem is this?
i.e., constant velocity, constant speed, constant acceleration,
a combination of these, etc., vector or scalar,
force, energy, momentum, etc.,(This list goes on and on
AND is longer after each new topic covered in physics.)

Step II. What FUNDAMENTAL principles of physics APPLY here? i.e.,
Newton's (1st,2nd,or 3rd)laws, conservation (energy, momentum,
charge/current, etc.) laws, independence of horizontal
and vertical components, etc. ("Ditto" about this list
getting longer and longer.)

STEP III. Draw a "picture" to visualize the problem.

STEP IV. Draw a "DIAGRAM" of all the VECTORS in the problem USING A
DIFFERENT section AND SYMBOL FOR EACH KIND OF VECTOR.
(I distinguish between a picture and a diagram because
students are not used to using diagrams and think any
picture is a diagram. Students often lump all vectors
into one concept and try to add velocity vectors to
force vectors, etc. Each kind of vector must be
treated separately.)

STEP V. Make a list of all known variables with their units in the
same SYSTEM [MKS,CGS, or British] (List those GIVEN or
IMPLIED in the problem; i. e., "from rest" means Vo=0,
"heavy" means include mass, Is friction and air
resistance to be neglected? Can we assume that gravity
is acting? a=g? etc., etc.,("Ditto" this list increases
in length as the student progresses)

STEP VI. FROM THE LIST OF PRINCIPLES listed in step II, think about
or write down all the appropriate formulae.

STEP VII. Using the list in step VI mark each known variable with a
check-mark and circle each unknown.

STEP VIII. PLAN A STRATEGY FOR FINDING THE ANSWER TO THE QUESTION
BASED ON YOUR SURVEY OF THE AVAILABLE EQUATIONS AND PRINCIPLES.

STEP IX. If necessary (many problems are solved in step VIII),
translate step VIII into equations with all the numbers
inserted. Rearrange algebraically for a solution.

STEP X. Pick up your calculator and start plugging and cranking.

STEP XI. Does your answer make sense to you? Are the units
consistent and correct? If not, go back to step I.

It is my observation that most students start at my "step X" and don't bother
to do any of the preceding steps. As long as the students can be
successful on tests using the "happy plugger", approach, they will learn no
physics and only have a poor opinion of the whole subject. "What can a
physicist do?" The general populace does not understand why the physicist's
approach is better since they can get along perfectly well using their own
model of the "way the world works". Why should they adopt our way of thinking
since their way works?

Our challenge is to present problems to the students which FORCES them to see
that their way cannot solve all the problems. We need to design problems that
force the student to use LOGIC steps like those I have listed.

Your points about anxiety, skipping algebraic steps, and boring problem
applications are all important to keep the students' attention. However,
attending JUST to these points does NOT solve the more FUNDAMENTAL problem of
students not understanding concepts and basic principles of physics.

Louis (Lou) R. Bedell PHBEDELL@MERLIN.NLU.EDU
Physics Department Northeast Louisiana University
Monroe, LA 71209-0580 (318)-342-1941 (office) (318)-325-4103 (home)