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Each participant is encouraged to develop an understanding of the methods associated with phenomenological or sense-based science. Comparisons between the methods of sense-based science and the more classical approaches are investigated. Emphasis is placed on developing understanding through individual experience so that later presentations in the classroom are rich and authentic. The physics curriculum in all four grades is briefly surveyed but major emphasis in the second year is on the 10th and 11th grades.
The class has two central themes. The first is to work with various phenomena associated with the curriculum to illustrate the methods used in the classroom while also giving the participants an active experience of how to demonstrate the phenomena. Most of these examples are drawn from the more challenging topics associated with the 11th grade Electricity and Magnetism blocks as well as some of the finer points that need to be understood for a successful approach to the 10th grade Mechanics block.
Secondly, the class focuses on related themes in The Marriage of Sense and Thought: Imaginative Participation in Science by Stephen Edelglass et al, as well as Rudolf Steiner's Light Course so that a deeper appreciation for the importance of these methods becomes apparent. If time permits, an investigation of Georg Unger's Forming Concepts in Physics is also included, since the relevance of a clear concept of matter is essential for a successful understanding of how to approach electrical phenomena.
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