Get Ready for Physics helps you quickly prepare for your introductory physics course, either algebra-based or calculus-based. It provides useful tools for future success in the course. The booklet gives you tips on recognizing your individual learning styles and helps your maximize your study time. It helps you review the basic mathematics you will need for the course, including ratios, proportions, and graphs. It gives you a bird’s-eye preview of the major concepts and physical models so you start the course with a broad perspective of the key physical ideas and the knowledge of important terms that give students most trouble. The booklet concludes with a strong chapter on solving physics problems, replete with practice problems and examples, and with insights into answering conceptual and estimation type questions.
Table of Contents:
KNOW YOURSELF
Tips on how to study, and organizing study time; moving past memorization
USING MATH
Review of basic algebra, solving linear and quadratic equations, simplifying complex fractions, right angle trigonometry, logs and exponentials, significant figures and scientific notation, interpreting graphs
PHYSICS CONCEPTS
Models of physical systems–mechanical, thermal waves, optic, and nuclear models–with an emphasis on the basic concepts, and the ideas and terms that most often give students difficulty
SOLVING PROBLEMS
Tips on quantitative and conceptual problem solving with numerous practice problems and examples
About the Author :
Dr. Adelson received his M. Sc. and Ph. D. degrees at The Ohio State University. Before concentrating on teaching, Dr. Adelson worked for 13 years in X-ray and neutron diffraction and in X-ray spectroscopy at Battelle Memorial Institute in Columbus, Ohio.
After assisting a former Ohio State Physics Department Chair in managing the calculus-based course for science and engineering majors, and similarly assisting a former vice chair in a summer course for teaching assistants on teaching physics, Dr. Adelson taught the Ohio State summer course for many years and still continues as manager of the calculus-based introductory courses. After teaching short summer courses for minority students in the 1980s, he became concerned with the deficits in preparation of all non-traditional students. In 1989, he then started a “Preparation for Physics” course, which is still offered at Ohio State University.
Dr. Adelson has followed the progress of Physics Education Research since its early years. He has co-taught with Alan Van Heuvelen in consultation with Eugenia Etkina, been fortunate in visiting and observing Lillian McDermott’s Physics Education group at the University of Washington, has worked together with Leonard Jossem at Ohio State University, and has attended almost all Physics Education workshops given at American Association of Physics Teachers meetings. He has given many talks documenting the progress of the Preparation for Physics course at AAPT meetings.
