Chemical Education Today edited by Volker B. E. Thomsen Spectro Analytical Instruments, Inc. 160 Authority Drive Fitchburg, MA 01420
Reports from Other Journals
The Physics Teacher by Roy W. Clark The Physics Teacher (TPT ) is dedicated to introductory physics education at the high-school and university levels. Its articles are frequently interesting to chemists. The article by Deacon on graphing is an excellent launching platform for anyone planning to graph experimental data, whether by hand or by computer. Early in the paper Deacon states, “No one underestimates the convenience of graphing software, but the ability to plot and meaningfully interpret a graph is an essential skill that all physics students should learn first, while using pencil and paper, and develop through the many experiments that involve plotting a graph of one form or another.” I can think of no improvement for this sentence other than striking the word “physics”. The paper goes on to give advice about graphing, from small things (the title for the graph) to large things (the inclusion of error bars). The article by Schwartz et. al. is actually the result of a Physics Textbook Review Committee of the American Association of Physics Teachers. It is a nine-page listing of common errors found in high-school physics texts. Anyone setting out to author a physics text would, I presume, wish to read this paper first. As I read it, I wondered why chemists have not done a similar thing for authors of high-school chemistry texts. Of course, this Journal has had a section on textbook errors for years, but have the most serious ones been collected into a single source?
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TPT Featured Articles “The Importance of Graphs in Undergraduate Physics” by Christopher Deacon (TPT, 1999, 37, 270) “Quibbles, Misunderstandings, and Egregious Mistakes” by Clifford Schwartz et. al. (TPT, 1999, 37, 297)
Although the review committee that produced this report consisted of 14 persons, I have listed Schwartz first, followed by et al., because I thought I recognized Schwartz’ writing style. An example: “Our aim here is not to point fingers of shame (the offending texts are not identified), but to provide a tutorial on common mistakes that we all make in teaching physics. This is a tutorial for us, physics teachers at all levels, and not for our students.” (1) Literature Cited 1. Schwartz, C. TPT, 1999, 37, 283.
Roy W. Clark teaches in the Department of Chemistry, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN 37132; email:
[email protected].
Journal of Chemical Education • Vol. 76 No. 9 September 1999 • JChemEd.chem.wisc.edu
