It has been close to half a decade that I have been teaching physics as a subject to students, and all I can state is that with time, ‘’Physics has become difficult even for the physicists!’’ With the increasing influence of various segments coming up in every instance, it is quite difficult to actually ensure that students enjoy each and every segment of the subject.
Making the students complete their homework on time is itself quite a big issue since, most of the students as I have seen from a personal point of view, are not quite interested in knowing details of this subject. Also, post the usual routine at class, and also do not have the tenacity to complete the homework correctly.
Time to bring in a change in perspective of student’s completing their homework.
Physics homework and its set of mistakes:
Being in this profession of being a teacher, I have seen in very many students, simply due to lack of interest or problem in conceptual clarity, do not find interest in completing their homework properly. Not just that, there are certain mistakes that they make regarding completion of homework that needs to be dealt with in a professional manner.
Being a teacher, for whom it is the utmost duty to ensure that such mistakes are avoided in the best possible manner, here are some tips that I suggest for avoiding certain common mistakes made by students in physics. By following these tips, students can definitely ensure that they avoid such mistakes, and make their presentation of homework comparatively better!
Easy mistakes to avoid for a better homework:
So you too are facing same problems regarding the mistakes made in your physics homework? Well, you are not the only student to do so! To give a proper shape to this problem, I specifically kept a session in my class that dealt with such queries. It is in this session that I specifically pointed out the mistakes that most of the students made, and how those mistakes could be avoided.
Here, is a list of such mistakes that as a student you can surely avoid.
- Not having a proper acquaintance with standard values:
This is one very common mistake that students make but are not quite aware. Just a detailed knowing of standard values can actually solve the matter to a great extent, yet this is one area where most of the students make mistakes in.
I have personally seen as to how students at times simply memorise the concepts or are very much into detailing of those concepts. However, standard values do not hold much importance to them unless the last night before the exam or final submission of their homework. Hence, mistakes are inevitable.
So, I would surely advise students that they should memorise these standard values by heart and avoid mistakes while completing their homework. This would enable them to get higher marks in their homework. There are a number of professional websites that are available for your help.
- Correct drawing and explanation of fingers with pencils:
I am simply tired of telling students that figures should never be drawn or explained in pen, since this makes them lose out on a lot of marks as well as shoddy presentation of their homework.
Most of the students even after constant reprimanding still continue to draw figures in ink and that ruins the whole presentation of their homework. This is one mistake that needs to be corrected on an immediate note so that in future such mistakes do not mar the quality of homework.
- Problems in regards to conversion of units:
I have almost lost count of the number of times I have corrected students in terms of conversion of units whenever there arises a need. In most cases, students not being careful of this conversion make them get the wrong answer in their homework.
There have been zillions of times when I have seen students make a mistake in conversion of km/hour to m/sec by multiplying it with 18/5, rather than it’s opposite. How can you define such a mistake apart from mere carelessness?
Once a student becomes aware of such mistakes naturally the number of mistakes would be reduced to a great extent and their quality of homework will also improve. As a suggestion, it is best to make a chart of such standard values and conversion and memorise them to avoid such mistakes.
- Not having a knowledge of angle values:
This has been a problem for most of the students as I have noticed at a personal level. Most of the students have a very lacklustre attitude towards knowing and memorising those angle values that are required for solving physics problems.
Since trigonometric values as sine and cosine are specifically associated with maths, hence, students are quite careless in dealing with this topic when it comes to placing those values in actual physics problems. This is one of the major mistakes that have to be avoided.
In case you are not aware of the connection between mathematics and physics, you can surely check out how Physics can be helpful in doing maths assignments?
- Proper calculations are not made:
Has it not happened with you that you calculate something else and put in the value as something completely different resulting in wrong answers? Well, as I have mentioned in my class session as well, so also, I would mention here that, calculations are to be done in a space that allows a student to check out what that correct answer is and then place it.
This is one of the silliest mistakes that are normally done by students, and it is important that they should avoid it all costs to improve their quality of homework.
Bringing a change in attitude:
On a final note, as a teacher I would like to give some suggestions to the students to help them in reducing such mistakes.
- Students should have a chart prepared that notes down such physical and mathematical data and then sit down to complete their homework.
- While doing the homework, they should bring a certain amount of care in regards to their work. This would naturally reduce the amount of mistakes that they normally do in regards to their homework.
So, make sure that next time you have sat down with your physics homework, you note down these mistakes and correct them accordingly. Do you have any suggestions? Mail them back to us now!