Classroom
practices
Teaching Introductory Physics- A. B. Arons: This book
may be considered the closest thing the Bible for physics teaching.
The latest edition has sections with suggestion on explaining nearly every
aspect of physics and sample problems. It can be a very helpful book
when searching for another point of view when preparing new material.
Peer Instruction: A User’s Manual- E. Mazur: Lately, this
has become of the more popular books for instructors in the physics department.
The book describes a "new" method of lecturing that was used at Harvard.
Basically, peer instruction relies heavily on instructor- student and student-student
interaction to cover material. There is also a collection of conceptual
physics questions.
Teaching Introductory Physics: A Sourcebook- C. E. Swartz &
T. Miner: Like the similarly named book, this is a reference and
tutorial book that covers all areas of physics. It is extremely complete,
almost to the point of being a physics textbook itself.
Turning the World Inside Out & Why Toast Lands Jelly-Side
Down- R. Ehrlich: The subtitle of one of these books explains it best-
Zen and the art of physics demonstrations. These books are filled
with simple (but elegant) demos you can perform with little prepation.
Physics
Textbooks
Conceptual Physics- P. G. Hewitt: This textbook is very non-calculus
based and can be a nice resource when you have to explain the physics to
students.
How Things Work- L. A. Bloomfield: If you’re ever looking
to make physics more relevant to your student this book may do the trick.
Each chapter covers a different item from everyday life (vacuum cleaners,
CD players, etc.) and examines the basic physics involved.
Academic
Job Market
A PhD Is Not Enough!- P. J. Feibelman: Okay, this one
is kinda depressing. Feibelman feels it is his job to preach to grad
students the message that academia is not the holy land. Some of the
advice is useful, but the book's value comes when it forces the reader
to question their motivations.
The Academic Job Search Handbook- M. M. Heiberger and J. M. Vick:
This one is very handy. It covers every step of the application and
hiring process.
The Academic's Handbook- eds. A. L. Deneef and C. D. Goodwin:
Do you really know everything your advisor does? Do you know
what your really in for when you land a job at a college? This book
will tell you. It presents a fairly complete picture of life
in the ivory tower.
Tomorrow's Professor: Preparing for Academic Careers in Science and
Engineering- R. M. Reis: I'm going to ahve to admit that I haven't
spent enough time with this one to pass judgement, but it looks very apealing.
Like the other books listed here it covers both the application process
and the life of an assistant professor, but focussing only on the sciences.
Misc.
Pedagogy
They're Not Dumb They're Different: Stalking the Second Tier- S. Tobias:
This is a collection of case studies from the students' point of view. Each
student goes through an introductory course and reports one the effectiveness
of the various teaching techniques. It's amazing how the physics chapters
sound like the courses here (and everywhere). The main theme is that not all
students learn the same way, so why should we keep using the same teaching
techniques?
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