The NEXUS Physics class, in addition to being interdisciplinary in flavor, connecting with students' work in biology, chemistry, and math, follows a pedagogical philosophy that stresses Active Engagement.* In a lecture environment, a useful way to get students engaged is with student remote response devices, or Clickers.** Links to the clicker questions we used in our Physics for Biologists I class (Fall 2011) are given in the table below.
Scaling, dimensions, and estimation
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9/2 (units, scaling, estimation)
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Kinematics
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9/9 (position and velocity)
9/12 (position and velocity)
9/14 (velocity and acceleration)
9/16 (motion graphs, consistency)
|
Dynamics
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9/21 (force and Newton's laws)
9/23 (forces and Newton's laws)
9/26 (forces and free body diagrams)
9/28 (springs)
10/3 (gravity and projectile motion)
10/12 (electric charge and forces)
10/17 (Coulomb's law)
|
Momentum |
10/19 (momentum)
|
Macro description of matter |
10/21 (Young's modulus)
10/26 (pressure)
10/28 (buoyant force)
10/31 (buoyant force, fluid flow)
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Energy |
11/2 (work, energy, and energy conservation)
11/4 (work, energy, and energy conservation)
11/7 (momentum energy comparison),
11/18 (atomic binding)
11/21 (heat and temperature)
12/5 (force-energy connection 1D and 2D)
12/7 (force-energy connection 3D)
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Diffusion, Thermodynamics, and Kinetic Theory |
11/28 (kinetic theory)
11/30 (kinetic theory, first law of thermo)
12/7 (second law of thermo)
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* For a detailed discussion of the motivation underlying this pedagogical philosophy and detailed descriptions of a variety of physics curricula that implement this approach in different environments, see Teaching Physics with the Physics Suite, by E. F. Redish (Wiley, 2003).
** An excellent resource for understanding the ways to use clickers is provided by the Clicker Resources Page from the Science Education Initiative at the University of British Columbia.
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