Monthly Archives: January 2013

What is angular momentum?

Posted on January 31, 2013 by Andy Rundquist

I’ve spent some time today preparing for my theoretical mechanics class. We’re slated to go over the angular versions of Newton’s laws, with a heavy emphasis on conservation of angular momentum. And . . . I’m stuck. This actually happens … Continue reading →

Posted in physics, teaching | 6 Comments

Lake ice thickness

Posted on January 28, 2013 by Andy Rundquist

OOPS: I posted this late at night and as I laid down to bed afterwards I realized that I was using the wrong . I was using the one for water, not ice. Ice is larger by a factor of 4, … Continue reading →

Posted in mathematica, physics | 5 Comments

Spring syllabi updates

Posted on January 28, 2013 by Andy Rundquist

Ok, after a month of crazy thoughts, here’s where I’ve (currently) landed for my two courses that start in two days. Modern Physics Still planning on using a free textbook Planning on having fake labs help with tangential math material. … Continue reading →

Posted in syllabus creation | 5 Comments

First day plan for Theoretical Mechanics

Posted on January 23, 2013 by Andy Rundquist

I’ve been putting some thought into the first “big idea” I talked about for Theoretical Mechanics in my last post (differential equations). Once again, Danny Caballero has really helped me with this, you should really check out his stuff. I … Continue reading →

Posted in physics, syllabus creation | 4 Comments

Theoretical Mechanics big ideas

Posted on January 17, 2013 by Andy Rundquist

I’ve taught Theoretical Mechanics before using Standards-Based Grading, but I think I want to make some tweaks to the focus of the standards. Here’s the old list. In this post I want to get my current thoughts down about where the … Continue reading →

Posted in physics, syllabus creation, teaching | 17 Comments

Fake data labs to support big ideas

Posted on January 16, 2013 by Andy Rundquist

I’ve written about my fake data labs before. The gist is that each student in Modern Physics chooses from a list of famous labs and figures out how you could redo them using modern techniques. They’re graded on how they … Continue reading →

Posted in physics, syllabus creation | 5 Comments

Set the standard at the end

Posted on January 6, 2013 by Andy Rundquist

Another in my series of cockamamie posts leading up to my spring semester. This one is another about Modern Physics (see my last one that talked about building and using a map for that course). I’m still on my kick … Continue reading →

Posted in sbar, sbg, syllabus creation, teaching | 13 Comments

What do we know, want, and need

Posted on January 1, 2013 by Andy Rundquist

It’s syllabus writing time again for me, and so I’ll likely have a few posts this month with some cockamamie ideas. They’ll be crazier here at the beginning of the month, most likely. Today’s is just such an example of … Continue reading →

Posted in physics, syllabus creation, teaching | 12 Comments