My Conversion to the Arons‐Advocated Method of science Education

Abstract

My present concern with undergraduate science education began in the early fall of 1980 when, being assigned by happenstance to teach a physics class for perspective elementary teachers, I gave the first examination. The results showed quite clearly that my brilliant lectures and exciting demonstrations on Newtonian mechanics had passed through the students’ minds leaving no measurable trace. To make matters worse, in a student evaluation given shortly after the exam, some students rated me as among the worst instructors they had ever experienced at our university. Knowing something of the teaching effectiveness of my colleagues, I was severely shaken.