Is this the right path?

[bjjb99]

Re: Physics

I'm sorry to hear that your physics class wasn't more interesting than it was. Physics is one of those subjects that really needs to be taught right. Simply presenting the material and expecting students to absorb it is perhaps the worst way to teach a physics course... it just puts folks to sleep. The teacher really needs to get the class asking "why do things work this way?" and then provide a means for the students to figure out the answer. I suppose I was fortunate in that my high school physics teacher really got people thinking about how and why the world behaved as it does.

In my work, I am asked all sorts of questions spanning several different fields of study. I am happiest when I have to answer "I don't know, but let's go figure out why." I know that I'll be doing some physics in such situations. :)

BJJB

[Donnyluv]

Anybody remember "assume a solution"? You gotta love it! Too many variables to solve, yet you still get an answer.

[deded]

Physics rules!

It's too bad that you don't like your physics class, I really love mine right now. (but I'm on an independent study program, so there's less possibility of teacher error)But anyway, just keep at it. When I was a freshmen, sophmore, and junior, all of my math classes were interesting in their own little ways, but no really exciting at all. Once you are a senior (or once you are taking "college" level courses) You get to do the fun stuff. On the first day of my physics class, we got to calculate exactly where a ball would land when rolled off of a table. It was crazy to finally utilize all of the math I had learned to do something so concrete.

Now I'm starting to really notice that kind of thing... numbers really mean something. Like... the derivative of acceleration is speed, and the derivative of speed is position. Calculus is thought of as so complex but it actually makes things so simple.

I personally am going to be an astrophysicist, go to the moon and play paintball there. Imagine the accuracy with lower gravity and no air resistance! Who needs elves anyway?!

And for studying outside of school: check out MIT's website. They recently released almost all of their coursework to the public for free! This sometimes includes as little as a reading list, but sometimes as much as an entire course, including textbooks in pdf format.