Learning Physics in Easier Method

Reading

Of course you should read actively, but that is easier said than done. Write questions in the margins about things you don’t understand. Don’t bother highlighting — highlighting is useless for reading science textbooks. One good active reading exercise is to take some general principle and try to find your own example of how to apply it. This is especially helpful if you can find an example where it seems surprising or wrong, or where you’re not sure whether the assumptions behind the general principle are valid. Research has shown that many of students’ conceptual problems with physics occur because the principles of physics are surprising and counter-intuitive, so when the principle is encountered in a new situation, they don’t even think to apply it because it wouldn’t seem to make sense. In Class the most important thing is to ask questions. The class of my dreams would be one where the students set the agenda with their own insightful questions.

Doing the Homework

Problems: Staring at a blank page and not knowing how to set up a problem is a very inefficient use of your time. If you get stuck, try calling your lab partner on the phone and discussing the problem, or come to Al’s Place. Often we learn best by example. However, many students try to solve homework problems by looking for an example in the book that will provide a cookbook recipe, so they can just plug different numbers into the same procedure. The problem with this method is that it doesn’t work. For instance, you may find an example that uses a certain equation, but that equation might not be true in the physical situation described in the problem you’re working on.

Rather than learning problem-solving as a long list of recipes (which you’re sure to forget soon), you’re better off learning more general problem solving skills that can be applied in many different areas of physics, and also outside of physics. The MOB skills on ??, for instance, can be applied over and over again. A good way to learn by example is to compare examples from different chapters, and look for similar techniques that pop up more than once. For instance, problem 11 in chapter 1 of Newtonian Physics and problem 15 in chapter 10 deal with completely different topics in physics, but they both require the same technique, ratio reasoning, which is one of the MOB skills.

Method for Studying for Exams

(1) Start by doing the things you should have done but didn’t have time for. Read any parts of the book you didn’t have time to read when they were assigned. Study any of the homework solutions handouts that you haven’t studied carefully.

(2) Before dealing with problem-solving, try to firm up your conceptual understanding in any areas where you feel weak. If you have bought one of the suggested supplementary books, read the relevant sections.

(3) Write up a concise, organized set of notes. Next to each equation, write the definitions of the variables and the physical situation that the equation describes, and notes on under what conditions the equation would or would not apply. I don’t think more than one page of notes is necessary for the whole course; if you find yourself writing more notes than that, you are probably overestimating the amount of memorization that is required and writing down a lot of equations that can be derived from more fundamental principles. Comparing notes with another student or going over them with me can be very helpful.

(4) Once you feel fairly firm on the concepts, focus your effort on any particular problem-solving techniques with which you are having trouble. Look at the homework solutions and figure out what was going on in any cases where you were unsuccessful in applying the technique in question. Then work a new problem for which you have access to a solution. If you faithfully apply these methods for studying but find yourself completely confused on a certain point, it is not an efficient use of your time to keep on staring at the same thing.