S. P. Goldman † , R. F. Hallett ‡ , and W. E. Harris ††
† Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 3K7 ‡ Department of Physics, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1
†† Department of Physics & Astronomy, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON L8S 4M1
In this paper we would like to share our perspectives as well as our personal experiences while teaching physics to students that are not enrolled in a physics-related program and, in many cases, students that are not enrolled in a program in the faculty of science. Teaching physics to these audiences is a challenge: In a typical class some students are fascinated by physics but they are intimidated by the subject; some students just don’t care about physics; some say they will never be able to learn it and some are excellent at physics and mathematics even though they pursue a career in another faculty. How do we approach such a diverse audience? How do we motivate a class? How do we help students overcome their fears and bring to them the Beauty of Physics? In this paper we present three perspectives: Ross Hallett’s experience teaching physics to biological science students, Bill Harris on his exciting and fascinating course “The Big Questions” and Pedro Goldman on his experience teaching physics to students in the faculty of music.