I am teaching high school physics. This month we have been studying Modern Physics. I use a college level textbook because these are classes for gifted students; nevertheless I feel that the subtleties of Modern Physics were not understood.
These are some thoughts on how to do this better.
It is crucial to have interested students, these subjects require thinking, by their nature they are abstract. We do not move at the speed of light nor see quantum objects every day. These subjects are mathematical in nature, and some times even gifted students do not know enough mathematics. My emphasis was conceptual, I had to make analogies to water waves and classical physics concepts, but I felt that the unique character of relativistic quantum objects was not grasped by some students.
All in all I prefer a course in which these notions are presented than one in which they are not. After all we do live in a quantum relativistic universe and we should make an effort to understand it.
Next time around though, I will require more effort on the part of the students to grasp these concepts. I can help, but in the end there is no substitute for good all hard work.
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