New Book Reveals Secrets to Intro Physics

LANCASTER, Pa. - Aug. 27, 2013 - PRLog -- Dr. Teman Cooke, physicist and educator, has a passion to revolutionize how physics is taught. Cooke wrote the First Semester Physics Survival Guide: a Lifeline for the Reluctant Physics Student to push back on the common misconception that physics is a discipline only for geniuses. “Anyone can do physics,” Cooke says. “It’s vital that students understand that.”

Based upon his experience teaching introductory physics at a junior college, the book focuses on helping students carefully think through how they go about solving problems. Cooke introduces practice frameworks in the book (called “conceptual scaffolds”) to give readers a leg up on the process. "The hard part [of physics] is learning how to think about it," Cooke says. “Once you've learned to be methodical and systematic it's actually straightforward.”

Cooke's techniques have successfully helped students in the past. "His approach prevented me from getting overwhelmed," Kassandra Boswell, one of Cooke’s former students, explains, “and proved invaluable to my success in the course.” Cooke is hoping that a new generation of students benefits from these techniques as well. As more and more professions require knowledge and skills from STEM (or Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields, Cooke believes that more and more students will be required to pass a basic physics course. “Over one third of graduating high school seniors take physics each year,” Cooke says, quoting an American Institute of Physics study. “That number is only going to go up.” If it does, Cooke and his book will be available to help them be successful.

About Teman Cooke: Dr. Cooke's firm belief that science can be both accessible and fun permeates his research and undergraduate teaching. He taught undergraduate introductory physics for a decade, and holds a PhD in theoretical physics from the Georgia Institute of Technology.