Scott
Your comments below are very interesting raise a genuine issue about the
obstacle to learning that dual measures give rise to.
You may like to consider a slightly broader issue of how things could be
improved if there was better co-ordination between different departments so
that one subject feeds off another. The teaching of metric as the primary
system would make it much easier. Mathematics is one of those subjects that
can suffer from being learned in a vacuum and not enough being done to show
its application. That's why it would be equally important for wider society
to use metric. If people want their kids to do well at school and benefit
from a good education then they shouldn't put up barriers unnecessary with
things like dual measures.
Phil Hall
----- Original Message -----
From: "Scott Hudnall" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, February 06, 2006 5:20 PM
Subject: [USMA:35991] RE: Video Podcast - Request for feedback.
Thanks. The soundtrack is still underway and will be done by somebody with a
better ³radio voice² than I have.
My reasoning for the 12th-grade physics comment is this:
6th-grade math and science contain a few ³givens² that are used, even though
the student in not yet at a skill level where rigorous proofs can come into
play. 6th-graders know how to calculate the circumference of a circle, even
though most do not yet know how the value of pi is derived. Memorizing
simple formulas and material properties are routinely done at this
grade-level, and revisited with more academic rigor with proofs at a later
point.
The points I want to drive home are:
Using the formula Volume = Length x Width x Height and a memorized property
of water are very much 6th-grade skills and are sufficient to correctly
answer the example question.
Answering in imperial units requires that the student have an understanding
of junior-high-level algebra, and the concept of specific-gravity, and how
to look up it¹s value in the CRC manual - topics not usually dealt with in
US schools until high-school chemistry or physics classes.
The summary here is that almost all foreign students enter high school able
to answer the example question. In the US, students that are not
college-bound may not even take chemistry or physics classes, and US schools
graduate a large number of students unable to answer this example question.
--
Scott Hudnall
From: Remek Kocz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Mon, 6 Feb 2006 10:21:32 -0500
To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]>
Cc: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]>
Subject: [USMA:35990] RE: Video Podcast - Request for feedback.
Scott,
Kudos on the video. It does get the point across very nicely.
My comments: How about a soundtrack? :) More seriously, though, I'll
question the need for 12th grade physics. When I took physics in 12th
grade, it was about 90% metric. One comes away from a course like that
seeing very little use for the USC, because all the constants were SI as
were all the calculations. When the problem was presented in customary
dimensions and required an answer in customary, we were taught to convert to
metric, do our calculations, and convert back to customary. Therefore,
physics probably would not apply, but it certainly is a lot of "funny" math,
a lot more room for error, and a lot more work.
Remek
On 2/6/06, Scott Hudnall <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Thanks Jim. This video is still a work in progress, and this kind of
feedback
is much appreciated. I am toning down some of the "spin" to state the lack
of
metrication as part of the educational problem, but not the entire
problem. A
film-maker friend of mine has agreed to help me get some more effective
video
shots and to help with the editing. I think for this video, I will take
out
the oblique references to the FMI et al, and instead focus solely on
difference in skill levels needed to solve the problem using one system or
another.
I have future pro-metric podcasts planned with different target audiences.
I
am thinking for the next video, I want to target at Chambers of Commerce
around the country and show them how a foreign executive might view their
presentation.
An executive from a large multi-national corporation is getting off a
plane
and headed for a presentation given by a local Chamber of Commerce. The
Chamber wants to convince the executive to open a new
office/plant/operations
in their town. The Chamber presenter gives the standard pitch about their
town
being "a world class city". (This seems to be a heavily favored buzzword
these
days). I would like to then cut to a daydream scene of the taxi ride from
the
airport. The executive sees signs in miles and bank thermometers in
degrees F.
The scene fades back in, with the presentation ending, and a
not-yet-sold-on-the-location executive thanking the presenter for their
time.
The final scene would a sign with with distances in miles back to the
airport.
The voice-over and caption would state "There is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING
world-class about miles, pounds of Fahrenheit. Promote metric visibility
in
your community."
Granted, a good executive will base his/her decisions on more factors than
just whether or not metric is used in the community in which they might
expand...but we can not dismiss the power of a first impression.
From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Sun, 5 Feb 2006 11:02:21 -0700 (MST)
To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]>
Subject: [USMA:35978] RE: Video Podcast - Request for feedback.
Scott:
I agree with some of the comments that education and educational
failure is more complex than your video suggests. I also
question if it really requires 12th grade physics to solve the
problem in colloquial units, and, as you probably realize, I am not
in agreement that it is the government's job to metricate the USA.
That said: THANK YOU!!!!! You have taken an important step here in
creating the video, and if it is a bit "overboard" by the
conservative and subdued approach most engineering and techincal
people prefer, it is most definitely NOT extreme by our modern
marketing standards. Sadly, we must yell to be heard, and your video
clip does it in an effective and respectable manner.
And, I congratulate you and doing something to promote metrication,
rather than just complain about it. The USA is going to metricate,
and it will do so as a result of the aggregate effect of many
efforts such as yours.
I wish I could offer some advice on getting more publicity for the
clip, but my experience is in the industrial world, not in mass
marketing.
What I can offer is to post it on my company's web site
(www.qsicorp.com <http://www.qsicorp.com> ). We get lots of visitors, and
many
are the "choir"
since they are engineers, but some people will view it (we can track
how many download it). I would prefer that you put some kind of
contact info at the end, such as a web site or email address. If you
don't want your email address, how about the USMA's?
Thanks again for this great video!
Jim Elwell
