Why do I make physics videos at all? Why did I do it in the format I did? What should be my format going forward?
This is an important concept that I discuss in greater detail on my wiki page at http://learn.realphysics.info/My_Format. I’ll cover some of the big points here, though.
I often hear comments like, “Great video, but you’re just repeating what’s in the textbook.” Sometimes, like a recent commentator said, “you are not explaining what is in the book.”
The former comment comes from a misunderstanding about what it means to learn physics. Your job as a student is not to make some amazing new discovery, but to catch up with the discoveries already made. Electrodynamics, like many topics in Physics, is a well-defined field with well-defined problems and strategies for teaching. Countless thousands, maybe millions, of people have gone before you to excel at Physics, and they did so by following the format that the great textbook authors (like Griffiths) have condensed down into book format.
Sure, you could follow along as a professor tries to assemble all the bits of knowledge and present it in the form of a course. But without a textbook as the “spine” of that course, you’re going to miss some points, and more importantly, you’re not going to learn what the professor didn’t have time to teach. You know what I’m talking about — the bell rings, and the professor has his chalk midway through a calculation, and he begs you to stay behind for a few more minutes while he tries to show you the entire point of that day’s lecture, only to realize that time is up and there’s nothing he can do to reclaim it. He’ll just have to speed through the next lecture to make up for lost time!
Regarding explanations, there’s a common trope you’ll find in higher level math and physics books: “The proof is left as an exercise for the reader.” There are a number of reasons why authors do this, among them, the lack of space (or time) to spell everything out for you, but more importantly, by explaining absolutely every little detail, you don’t get to think about these things on your own. Oftentimes, the difference between a good physics student and a great one is their ability to fill in those blanks, answering the unanswered questions, not because it’s going to appear on the final, but because of natural curiosity. Such students also ask the unasked questions, taking their homework problems and seeing what happens if you adjust the parameters, or ask the question in reverse, or any number of scenarios.
Naturally, such students do very well on the exams, as there isn’t a whole lot the professor can do to surprise them. They have already thoroughly examined the topic at hand, and are well-prepared to work on it as if it were a solid foundation.
My main point is this: I am not here to teach you physics. No one can do that. You are here to learn physics, and you need to reach out and get access to whatever methods or materials that will help you on that journey. My videos are only one method, and not a very necessary method, on your journey. I can’t promise you that my videos will make all the difference for you, but for some small group of you out there, hearing the textbook, sometimes for the first time, sometimes for the second, will fill in all the gaps that the professor missed during his lectures due to time. Maybe my videos will be your review session before the exam. Maybe it’s a fresh perspective on the textbook. I don’t know how you will end up using them, but I know that some people find them useful.
If I were to proscribe to you a method of learning and mastering this subject, I would probably outline the following:
- Access to the textbook. You need to read and reread the book and work on the problems. You need to do this until you understand everything in the book.
- Access to the real world. You need to connect the topics in the book with the real world. This can only be really done in a lab of some sort. (I can’t give you a lab on YouTube, and demonstrations won’t really help much except to generate some excitement.)
- Access to your inner self. You need to struggle through the understanding until you reach a comfortable position where you gain the self-confidence that can only come from true skill.
Notice that I am not asking you to attend lectures, or turn in homework, or take tests. I’m not even recommending you watch my videos!
Some of you will do just fine reading a textbook; many, if not most of you, will not do so well. For you, you need the lectures. You need the videos. You need a partner to talk these things through with. If you’re that sort of person, I highly recommend you engage that way — but keep the textbook at the center, not on the periphery. In addition to attending lectures, taking tests, talking with friends, watching my videos, take the time to study the textbook. You simply can’t understand this material without mastering that.
Let me know what you think, or if you have comments on my strategy or approach. Thanks for reading!