I had a professor in my Masters program who used to like to take every "new buzz word" and trace the origin of the concept behind the "buzz word" back to the ancient Greeks. Recently my son (who is in a graduate program in engineering) sent me an email about some tests he took which required dimensional analysis. He suggested I look into it for some science problems.
I have a good bit more research to do, but it seemed to be the basic strategy was to identify the "unit of measurement" that is relevant for the answer and then use various appropriate thinking skills strategies to get a valid answer in the relevant unit of measurement.
I Googled "Pythagoras and dimensional analysis" and got 54,400 results.
Our school has bought into a literacy program. Over lunch I was discussing with my wife her introduction to the program. (Fortunately as the science teacher I am exempt from the literacy prorgram). She explained a little about it and her concerns about the strategy being developed by a psychologist who doesn't understand whole group classroom dynamics. The program has buzz words like "visualizing" in the strategies.
I just Googled "literacy and ancient Greece". The first thing that popped up was about the high level of literacy in ancient Greece based on "writing". There is a buzz word for you. Have the kids write!!
Of course that is hard tedious work to check the writing, correct it, have them rewrite fixing the corrections, and then you need to check it again. Much more fun to read a story and hold up neatly laminated cards that encourage "visualizing".
Thank goodness I am the science teacher and don't have to deal with literacy. I do have a sink full of test tubes to wash and a mountain of lab notebooks to grade, though.
Happy Friday! Three weeks down and 33 to go!!
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