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To me it seemed as well, that my physics teachers mindset was unchanged and frozen to the classical deterministic physic mindset of prequantum discoveries. It w
by hutzlibu 5y ago
To me it seemed as well, that my physics teachers mindset was unchanged and frozen to the classical deterministic physic mindset of prequantum discoveries.
It was actually believed in 18xx), that theoretical physics was allmost solved.
But somehow this very wrong idea prevailed and made it to my school as well.
- codeulike 5y agoIt's deliberate, you get taught different models of the atom etc the deeper you get into physics/chemistry. In that way you also learn about models and the scientific method and how the advances have been made. In the same way that Newtonian physics is still useful for a lot of stuff, the circling balls model of the atom can still be useful in some areas
- UncleSlacky 5y ago"All models are wrong, but some are useful".
- 52-6F-62 5y agoI don't think it's the process so much as the outlook that's taught to younger students that the disapproval comes from. It's presented as a much smaller frame of study than it really is. And often it's treated so mechanistically, that rather than teaching you how understanding is important and will feed into your very worldview it's presented as something you study if you want to build assembling machines or something. My and OP's gripes might be more endemic to underfunded midwestern rural schools like I attended, but I'm sure it wasn't that rare, unfortunately.
- jorgesborges 5y agoIt would have been nice to know there were super advanced and interesting contemporary models. That would be inspiring. Do they even mention quantum mechanics at that level, if just to say hey look this is only the beginning. It was comical discovering in my early twenties that my understanding of physics and chemistry was outdated by a hundred years. Isn’t this the future?! Kids should be walking around the enterprise complaining about their calculus classes.
- chii 5y agoa good way to teach these physics to students is to lead them through the ages by teaching the old models, then let them find out in experiments those models' incorrectness, and then teach them the new discovered models that more correctly predicts reality, and continue. You can do this with the atom, you can do with with Newtonian physics (and teach relativity as a result). You can do with classical physics of matter, then teach the double slit experiments, and then teach quantum mechanics as follow ups etc .
- user-the-name 5y agoWhy is that good?
- hutzlibu 5y agoBecause this way, the students learn our concept of physics from the ground. How it was developed and the limitations each time and struggle, to make further sense of it. If done right, this leads to much better understanding, than just presenting the latest model.
- user-the-name 5y agoBut that is not "from the ground", it's just repeating the same mistakes people did in the past. It's just putting a lot of effort into learning something, only to be told over and over that it's wrong. That can be very demoralising.
- s1artibartfast 5y agoEach model has different applications and prerequisites to understand. For example the ball model is already more than most students will ever use and widely applicable college level Chem and power transmission.
- user-the-name 5y agoSure, it's good enough to use for some things. But the question was, is that actually a good way to teach?
- naasking 5y ago> classical deterministic physic mindset of prequantum discoveries This model can extend into the quantum realm as well if approached correctly, like with Bohmian mechanics.