Monthly Archives: September 2021

Last week, I apologized to my students for being so slow to learn their names. I have seventy students in my face-to-face introductory calculus-based Studio Physics class this semester, so learning their names isn’t easy. And if I allow myself … Continue reading →

The number of members of Florida’s high school graduating Class of 2021 who took the SAT was 7.2% lower than in the Class of 2020, according to a report published by the College Board earlier this month. But the results … Continue reading →

One of the most inexplicable things I encounter in my teaching is engineering majors who chose not to take a physics course in high school – so that their first encounter with the subject is in my calculus-based introductory college … Continue reading →

During a Zoom parent outreach session this week about preparing high school students for college STEM majors, a homeschooling parent asked about online science courses at the high school level. I responded that online courses in chemistry and physics are … Continue reading →

Florida does a poor job of preparing its K-12 students for college STEM majors, and as a result the state does a well-below-average job of graduating bachelor’s-level scientists and engineers. This failure gets lost in the state’s bragging about its … Continue reading →

The Studio Physics class I have this semester is the most intensely engaged class I’ve had in my twelve years teaching in this format. While I’ve been surprised by this, I shouldn’t have been. The vast majority of students were … Continue reading →