Ask HN: Do you want an App that teaches you Physics?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22983601

by JabavuAdams • 6 years ago

4 4 6 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

I'm concepting an app to teach Physics. Rather than a collection of free resources, this would be a curated, somewhat opinionated adaptive learning system. The eventual goal would be to be able to take a motivated high-school student all the way to graduate-level physics. Initially, I'd consider aiming for the content covered in a standard full-year introductory university physics course (Mechanics + Electricity & Magnetism).

I know that there are developers and engineers out there who would like to learn more physics, but either need the structure of courses, or don't have much time.

Would you pay for this? I'm thinking a Netflix-ish subscription fee. iOS, Android, PC, Mac, Linux.

myridium2• 6 years ago

You have described a system of learning consisting only of pre-manufactured content. I feel like the success of this venture is based on an improbable premise: that an education in physics is possible by listening without the opportunity to ask.

You have deigned to ask this very question on the forum. Presumably because finding a good answer by searching for existing content was not likely to address your question.

Now don't you think graduate-level physics is a little bit more hard and complicated to learn?

JabavuAdams2• 6 years ago

I'm imagining adding content based on the most common questions, and providing a low-friction way for students to ask questions about the content. Good teachers typically modify their future delivery and presentation in response to student questions. This would be no different.

So far, I've done pretty well learning from textbooks and videos. It's rare that a live professor adds much value for me vs. some of the best professors online. That said, I'm a mature student so I have an approximate knowledge of many many things. Usually they're not able to answer my questions better than StackOverflow, Physics Forums, or HyperPhysics, etc.

I would be starting with bread and butter 1st year physics. Getting to graduate level is aspirational, but I don't see any obvious obstacles.

Most University teaching is not that good compared to the best teaching available online. Frankly, outperforming random profs at random schools is a pretty low bar. I've already done this just by tutoring.

Obviously 1-on-1 is better and distorts any tutoring vs. group class comparisons. But I'm envisioning this app as being more customized than a group class, with the aspirational goal of approaching individual tutoring once I have enough student data.

EDIT> I should correct: the real value-add I've had from professors is when they've done the content-development work to put together organized course materials and/or well-thought-out problem sets well-curated suggested readings.

myridium2• 6 years ago

I feel that you do not understand the magnitude of difficulty behind what you are attempting. You seem to think it's going to be a breeze; that you can solve all the problems that the MOOCs around haven't been able to solve. And you think you can do this because... well for no particular reason as far as I can tell. You haven't proposed any idea that is distinct from what is already out there and is evidently not working. E.g. Udacity.

adding content based on the most common questions, and providing a low-friction way for students to ask questions about the content

My criticism was about individuals asking questions. "the most common questions" are not the best ones, and don't help those students aspiring to learn to a higher level, who tend to ask better and more personalised questions. In fact the better part of science is asking the right questions! It is a talent to do so. What you will receive is a sampling of the lowest common denominator. And most of those questions deserve a more tactful version of "RTFM". This is my experience from tutoring-- students mostly ask questions that were answered in the lectures, because they've been procrastinating and not watching them. Especially a problem when the students don't commit themselves to attending class in person. In fact the best low-friction way for students to ask questions is... to be present during the lecture and put their hand up.

Frankly, outperforming random profs at random schools is a pretty low bar. I've already done this just by tutoring.

What you are proposing is nothing like 1-on-1 tutoring. Feedback is part of this process. Try asking a "medium" to tell you about your relative as you hold shut lips and a poker face. Similar to a professor trying to give a lecture to a room full of mice.

It's rare that a live professor adds much value for me vs. some of the best professors online.

In that case you aren't asking the right questions, or you aren't going to a very good university. While my experience of in-person classes was sometimes astoundingly poor, I would never exchange them for an online lecture series. You can talk with a professor and learn from their expert way of thinking-- not just the content itself but the way they think about problems. You learn through interactive dialogue-- people in the real world call this "conversation". In addition, the collegiate atmosphere of study among the pupils is in my opinion an extremely important component in students keeping up with the content. Only the most disciplined people can sit down and complete all exercises from a MOOC without interaction with others.

the real value-add I've had from professors is when they've done the content-development work to put together organized course materials and/or well-thought-out problem sets well-curated suggested readings.

I agree, being organised does help. This applies to many things in life. Many professors at universities are not organised because of the pressures put upon them by the university administration, and other such factors. Also the pressure to push through any mediocre students to pump the university's finances and public image.

You must understand that, while it isn't impossible that you could create such a platform that is as successful as you want it to be, the a priori knowledge around previous similar ventures tells us something about how that might turn out. If you believe your idea is different, then how? You have not identified any key differences between your approach and those that have failed...

Ask HN: Do you want an App that teaches you Physics?

Related Stories