Understanding or Memorization: Are we Teaching the Right Thing?

Signs that introductory physics course can lead to frustration (both for students and faculty) abound. A major problem is that traditional lectures in introductory science frequently fail to stimulate students to further study. Many (if not most) students concentrate on problem-solving without paying sufficient attention to the underlying concepts. Physics is then reduced to a set of recipes, or "problem solving strategies" are they are called in text books. The remaining, purely mechanical material is uninteresting and the apparent lack of any underlying consistency or logic leads to frustration. Is there something we can do about all of this? Yes, and it is a straightforward approach. This program will show you how!