HOW TO STUDY PHYSICS 1

>For those who study Physics:there is a series of full instructions and councilling on how to study physics: Go to: GETTING AN OVERVIEW Go to: EFFECTIVE PARTICIPATION IN PHYSICS CLASS Go to: READING YOUR PHYSICS TEXTBOOK Go to: PROBLEM SOLVING IN PHYSICS Go to: EFFECTIVE TEST PREPARATION Go to: WEEKLY FLOW CHART FOR STUDYING PHYSICS The following guidelines are adapted from "How to Study Physics" by kassim seif Getting an Overview It's important to recognize that physics is aproblem-solvingdiscipline. Your physics teacher will stress major themes and principles, and one major goal is that you, the student, will be able to apply these principles to understand and solve problems. You should focus on this fact, that in a physics course,you are expected to solve problems. An overview of your course can help you organize your efforts and increase your efficiency. To understand and retain data or formulas, you should see the underlying principles and connecting themes. It is almost inevitable that you will sometimes forget a formula, and an understanding of the underlying principle can help you generate the formula for yourself. Take these steps to getting an overview early in the term so that all subsequent material can be integrated into your overview: 1.Examine the course outline ( syllabus) carefully. 2.Preview the textbook: a.Read the introduction and table of contents. b.Read any notes to the student (or teacher) that are included and the preface. c.Check the course outline to see what chapters are assigned and which are omitted. If they are not assigned in the same order as in the table of contents, can you see a reason for your teacher's decision to alter the order of presentation? Effective Participation in a Physics Class It's important that you be well prepared for class in order to use its potential fully for integrating the course material. To prepare for the class, you should do the following: Prior to each class: 1.Check the course outline or reading assignment to see what will be covered. Prepare by briefly previewing the sections of the textbook that apply to the subjects to be covered. This preview will improve your ability to follow the class, for you will have seen the new terminology and will recognize signposts that will help integrate the classes into an overall picture. 2.Read the introduction and the summary of the relevant chapter and look at the section headings and subheadings. Try to formulate questions in your mind about the subjects to be covered. This question-formulating helps you manipulate and therefore better understand the material. 3.Examine the drawings and pictures. Try to determine what principles they illustrate. 4.Make notes of new words, new units of measure, statements of general laws, and other new concepts. 5.Do not underline or highlight the text, since you do not yet know what will be emphasized by your teacher. 6.Right before the beginning of class, check your notes from the last class. Reading your notes will prepare you to listen to the new physics class as part of an integrated course and will help you to see the broad development of themes. During class: 1.Come to the class on time. 2.Take good notes. It's helpful to draw up a set of abbreviations and use them consistently in taking notes. Keep a list of them for later reference. Leave ample margins for later comments and for questions or write on only one side so that you can use the opposite side for comments and questions (see After Class, below). 3.When you copy drawings, completeness is worth more than careful artwork. You should not only copy what is on the board but also record important points that the teacher makes orally about the diagram. 4.If you get behind in your note-taking, leave a space in your notes and go on. You can fill in your notes later with the help of a classmate or your textbook. 5.Ask questions. Don't be embarrassed to ask your teacher questions. Many teachers depend on feedback from students to help them set a proper pace for the class. And of course it can happen that the teacher does not explain a step she takes, or even makes a mistake when writing something on the board. After class: 1.After class as soon as possible, review and edit your notes. You need not rewrite them. Rather, you should look for important ideas and relationships among major topics. Summarize these in the margin or on the opposite side if you've taken notes only on one side, and at this time you may want to add an outline to your notes. Also, this would be a good time to integrate notes from your textbook into your lecture notes; then you will have one set of integrated notes to study by. 2.As you review your notes, certain questions may come to mind. Leave space for recording questions, and then either ask the teacher or even better, try to answer these questions for yourself with your friends and with the help of the text. Will continue next release....