Redish Colloquium

The main take-away message from the colloquium was that as physicists the math we use is infused with all kinds of physical meaning. In physics we do lots of math to get our answers but the way we check if our answers make sense and the way we help ourselves get started when we're confused is by thinking about the physical meanings associated with the math.

Variables in our equations represent physical quantities that often have units. Checking that an equation or an answer has the correct units is an example of thinking about the physical interpretation associated with the math. Often the physical meaning associated with an equation is treated implicitly. As "experts" we have all kinds of physical "intuition" that we use when doing our math (checking units, thinking about symmetry, checking if the solution blows up as x goes to infinity etc.). As "novices" our students haven't yet developed this intuition. Often problems we think of as simple are quite difficult for students because all these implicit steps are automatic for us but must be explicitly thought about for students. Trying to write down what these implicit steps are can help you look at a problem from the perspective of a student and better gauge how difficult a student will find the problem.

A presentation similar to the one given at colloquium is available here. In particular look at slides 15-25 to see an example of the implicit knowledge an expert brings to a problem that a novice does not.

A book by Redish, Teaching Physics with the Physics Suite, is available for free in its entirety on Redish's website.