Helping out

[Sparks]

Sitting here waiting for class to start in a hour (the lab is my life) thinking about a few of my classmates who just don't seem to get it. I've tried to help them during class, but they just cant grasp the basics. They are having a problem with series/parallel resistance and can't breakdown a simple ladder circuit. I've spoken with a friend of mine who teaches shipboard electromechanical systems and his advise was to basically let them go. Some people just don't get it.
Does anyone out there have any ideas of how I can help them? Their basic math is pretty much shot but they refuse to give up.

[Zero999]

Sometimes helping others can help you to understand it better.

If it gets to the point when you're feeling frustrated and are just dragging them a long, then it's time to stop but if you're making progress and it's not holding you back, then go for it.

[rsjsouza]

I agree with Hero999, explaining to others does not hurt (if it does not drag you) and sometimes it helps you understand things from different perspectives.

Try analogies such as the water pipes - sometimes people simply have a different way to visualize things.

[Sparks]

It's not holding me back at all, had to start with the most basic class  . As far as analogies go, we've been through the water method, relating various values to money, and for the parallel/series we had part of the class hold hands in various ways. Some of them kinda get it, a few are still completely lost.

[tautech]

Try and indentify the ones that can grasp some of it and spend time with them. If others want to be part of it then fine. Remember many do not have the passion to progress and are only there because they think(or mum & dad do) that the course is what they should do. Sometimes it takes a few turns of direction before students find their vocation.

[daqq]

Does anyone out there have any ideas of how I can help them?

It depends: Are they honestly interested in it, or is it for them yet another boring subject they just wish to sit through with a passing grade?

If it is the later, you can just give up right here and now.

If they are honestly interested, well, there are analogies - the water analogy ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydraulic_analogy ) that might help them with the abstract-ish concepts of currents and voltages. I'd start out very simply and try to avoid math alltogether in the beginning, rather using logical analogies - "Here you have a tube splitting into three pipes - one is very thick, one is less thick, the third is very very thin. There's 5 liters/sec going into the tube. How much will be flowing out of the tubes when they combine again? Also, where will the most water flow?". Giving people a ton of (even simple) math will (at first) NOT make them see the why's and the how's only the final result.

edit: Sorry, missed your last post about already trying the water method.

[AndyC_772]

Their basic math is pretty much shot but they refuse to give up.

Refusing to give up is a great attribute which will get them a long way, so that's an excellent start.

I've found when learning many new subjects, that the course texts seem to be missing about the first five pages. They launch straight into the details of whatever it is they aim to teach; that vital introduction which explains what the rest of the book is on about, is missing.

A couple of years ago I started writing a book, which aimed to address this for electronics students. It was deliberately very light on maths, but was going to include a lot of illustrations, analogies (mostly involving beer), and explanations in plain English. Sadly real work took over after I'd written the first couple of chapters, and it'll probably never see the light of day.

[sean0118]

The one thing back in high school that worked for me was that two resistors in parallel is like having two doors next to each other, the electrons have more space to move through so the equivalent resistance has to be lower. 


edit: But anyway, some people don't want to learn, there were people in my last year of uni who couldn't use scopes. I remember someone was really panicked that their 3V circuit was 300V, they didn't understand what the x100 did! So don't waste too much time trying to teach them lol. oh, and someone asking what a 'for' loop was after they had already failed programming once!   

[sean0118]

I've found when learning many new subjects, that the course texts seem to be missing about the first five pages. They launch straight into the details of whatever it is they aim to teach; that vital introduction which explains what the rest of the book is on about, is missing.

+1

University subjects are pretty rushed in general now days, mine had only two 12 week semesters per year. Another problem I found, is the practical applications are nearly never explained when learning new topics. 

[Sparks]

Today the AC circuitry began, even the guy who joked every DC lesson since he already knew it is finaly shutting up and paying attention. The sad thing is, this class moves so slow that we dont have a textbook. The teacher is trying to explain what an inductor is and I just happened to be  winding toroids for one of my own projects durring class. One month left, betting on a lot of calls for help coming up.