New approach to teaching college physics
concepts! Giambattista/Richardson/Richardson:
College Physics was developed from the notes and experiences of the
authors sitting next to students in a Learning Center, explaining physical
principles. The authors found that students were able to grasp physics
principles much more easily, completely, and remember those principles, if they
were discussed with-in the context of something students were already familiar
with and could relate to. The "Conceptual Framework" approach was developed to
do just that and is implemented throughout the
Giambattista/Richardson/Richardson text.
Because of the conceptual framework approach, the
authors have integrated kinematics with forces in chapters 2-4.
This
presentation uses force as the central theme and presents kinematics as a
natural extension that is necessary to provide a mathematical description of
motion that results from a force being applied. This prevents the material from
becoming compartmentalized and viewed, as something to memorize instead of
understand how the two work together. This approach allows for a gradual
exposure to one-dimensional forces, two-dimensional and then multi-dimensional
forces. Students also benefit from being exposed to vectors and their
terminology much sooner, allowing them to sharpen their skills on simpler
situations and then gain confidence as they continue through the force chapters.
Chapter 8: Torque and Angular Momentum is another
great example of how the “conceptual framework” approach has influenced
presentation. Rotational kinetic energy is now introduced first since it
usually is the easiest of the rotational quantities for the student to
understand. It also leads in a very natural way, to the necessity of rotational
inertia. Torque, one of the most difficult concepts for many students, is
introduced after the student already has some understanding of other rotational
concepts.
Problem Solving Approach:
Giambattista/Richardson/Richardson employs a consistent approach to the
presentation of examples. Every example includes: strategy, solution,
discussion, and practice problem (with answer at end-of-chapter). Care is taken
to make sure that students are equipped with tools to solve problems and that
they do not just MEMORIZE STEPS to solve that one example problem.
Unparalleled Illustration Program: Giambattista
offers an incredible visual program that combines "showcase" pieces with
diagrammatic pieces to aid student understanding. Showcase pieces are used with
concepts that tend to be difficult for students to understand. These showcase
pieces allow students to visualize more difficult situations. The integrated
diagrammatic art helps to break that difficult situation into a simple model.
Extensive End-of-Chapter Material which includes:
* Master These Concepts (summary of CONCEPTS as well as the integrated
equations)
* Highlighted Figures and Tables
Problems --clearly, one of the most closely
scrutinized portions of any college physics textbook is the end-of-chapter
material including but not limited to the quality and quantity of problems. The
Giambattista/Richardson/Richardson problems have consistently reviewed very well
and have been quadruple checked for accuracy. The various problem types are as
follows:
* Conceptual Questions
* Multiple Choice Review Questions (with
more on the website)
* Problems by Section (featuring paired problems)
*
Comprehensive Problems
* Combination Problems (quantitative and conceptual
problems combined)
ALEKS for College Physics! This tremendously
successful math tutorial system will be available with the Giambattista text.
This program designed to deal only with the math operations needed for college
physics, is designed to work with students current knowledge base, see where
they need help, and then supply that additional information and problems to help
students master those math concepts once and for all!
Interactive Applets! These "Interactives" offer a
fresh and dynamic method to teach the physics basics by providing students with
applets that are completely accurate and work with real data. The Interactives
allow students to manipulate parameters and gain a better understanding of 15 of
the more difficult physics topics by watching the effect of these manipulations.
Each Interactive includes: • Analysis Tool (interactive model) • Tutorial
describing its function • Content describing its principle themes • Related
Exercises • Solutions to the exercises.