The petition
The function of an outside project is to teach students concepts that they would not learn as effectively in a classroom. The Rube Goldberg project, as with any class assignment, must therefore be judged not by whether or not students learned, but by whether or not it was the most effective way for students to learn, over the time period required for completion.
Though parts of the Rube Goldberg Project provide valuable learning experiences, they are concentrated in the initial thought process behind the design, and the final explanation of each step and its energy transfers. The majority of the work put into the project is involved in building, a process that can easily take more than 20 hours, especially for Physics 1A students.
This entire portion of the project relies less upon principles of physics than trial and error, and can be enormously stressful, especially for students with little building experience. Though some principles of physics do become clearer as they are experimented with in the real world, so much time and energy is involved that the net project cannot be considered completely valuable.
The Rube Goldberg Project, as well as the Solar Power Project, would be far more legitimate if taken out of the context of a Physics 1 class, which is often taken during junior year. 11th grade is the last full year students have to build a resume for post-high school life, and many students have extremely tight schedules, not to mention a full class schedule – assigning projects like these creates the illusion of a staff which does not recognize its students’ stresses. These projects would be far more cohesive in a higher or more specialized physics class, which unlike Physics 1 is expected to teach more than preliminary concepts. Students in an engineering class, for example, would presumably be more familiar with the building process, and find the projects less stressful and more enjoyable. The fact that the project is intrinsically required dulls the amount of fun students might have during its construction and adds an unconscious level of stress – creating an elective will eliminate this psychological effect.
Therefore, the building portion of the project should at the very least become simpler. Perhaps a work period can be added to the schedule, devoted to tips and suggestions, gathered from the science department’s years of experience. Few students have used physics in the real world in such a hands-on manner before, and this lack of experience can seriously challenge their projects. This class period would give the teachers a chance to review individual ideas in depth, and their comments could be invaluable in eliminating hours of trial and error. The building portion could be optional, as it is not involved in understanding the energy transfers, which are planned out beforehand. Or, an alternate activity could be created, involving the many concepts that we had been learning about in class, or Physics 1A students may choose to take a final.
Despite the learning experiences, which do occur, the Rube Goldberg Project is not entirely viable. Considering the time, energy, and stress involved in the project, it is not an entirely effective learning tool, and ought to be amended.
Though parts of the Rube Goldberg Project are valuable learning experiences, they are concentrated in the initial thought process behind the design, and the final explanation of each step and its energy transfers. The majority of the work put into the project is involved in building, a process that can easily take more than 20 hours.
This entire portion of the project relies less upon principles of physics than trial and error, and is enormously stressful. Though some principles of physics do become more clear as they are experimented with in the real world, too much time and energy is involved for the net project to be considered truly valuable.
Therefore, the building portion of the project should at the very least become simpler. Perhaps a work period can be added to the schedule, devoted to tips and suggestions, gathered from the science department’s years of experience. Few students have used physics in the real world in such a hands-on manner before, and this lack of experience can seriously challenge their projects. This class period would give the teachers a chance to review individual ideas in depth, and their comments could be invaluable in eliminating hours of trial and error. Or, the building portion could be optional, as it is not involved in understanding the energy transfers, which are planned out beforehand. Perhaps an alternate activity could be created, involving the many concepts that we had been learning about in class.
Despite the learning experiences, which certainly do occur, the Rube Goldberg Project is not entirely viable. However, considering the time, energy, and stress involved in the project, it is not an entirely effective learning tool, and ought to be amended.
Sign the petition
Fields marked * are required.