PHY1600S : Readings

TEACHING(GENERAL):PHYSICS TEACHING:ORAL PRESENTATIONS:WRITING:GENERAL COMMUNICATION:ENGLISH GRAMMAR AND USAGE

While I do not want to add to your already overloaded budget, I do strongly recommend the purchase of at least ONE of the following books. If you are interested in teaching, the text by McKeachie is an excellent reference for more about teaching than you will ever want to know; in physics, the text by Arons is indispensable. For written work, the "Elements of Style' by Strunk and White is a classic, and deserves a place on any bookshelf, as does Michael Alley's text on Scientific Writing (both of these are on the Reserve List in the Physics Library). There are many texts on giving presentations; Michael Alley's new book on the Craft of Scientific Presentations looks promising.

These, and several of the others, may be available in the Text Book store, and some are on the Short Term Loan list in the Physics library. Also see selected papers on Physics Education Research.

Teaching (General):

Wilbert McKeachie, Teaching Tips, 11th Ed.,(Heath and Co.,1994)

Physics Teaching:

• Arnold B. Arons, A Guide to Introductory Physics Teaching (Wiley, New York, 1996)
• L.C. McDermott and the Physics Education Group, Physics by Inquiry (Wiley, New York 1996)
• Lillian C. McDermott, Research on Conceptual Understanding in Mechanics (Physics Today, 2, July 1984)
• I.A. Halloun and D. Hestenes, Common Sense Concepts about Motion (Am. J. Phys, 53(11), 1056,November 1985)
• D. Hestenes, M.Wells and G. Swackhammer, Force Concept Inventory, (The Physics Teacher, 30:3, 141-158, 1992)
• F. Reif, Teaching Problem Solving - a scientific approach (The Physics Teacher 19,310,1981)

Oral Presentations:

• Michael Alley, The Craft of Scientific Presentations (Springer, New York) ISBN 978-0-387-95555-1
• Peter Kenney, A Handbook of Public Speaking for Scientists and Engineers (Institute of Physics, London) ISBN 0-85274-553-2
• W. Brower, D.J. Austen, and B. Martin, The Unpopularity of Physics lectures (Physics in Canada, 55(6), November 1999)
• Joseph Gallian, How to Give a Good Talk (Math Horizons, April 1998)
• James C. Garland, Advice to Beginning Physics Speakers (Physics Today, July 1991)

Writing:
The following books are on reserve in the Physics library.

• Michael Alley, The Craft of Scientific Writing (Springer 1996) ISBN0387947663
• Robert Barass, Scientists Must Write (Chapman and Hall, London, 1978)
• Robert A. Day, How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper (Oryx 1998) ISBN1-57356-165-7
• H.W. Fowler, New Dictionary of Modern English Usage, 1st ed., (Oxford University Press, London 2001).
• W. Strunk Jr., and E.B. White, The Elements of Style 4th ed. (Houghton Mifflin Company, 2001). Available on the Web.
• Alan Lightman, Einstein's Dreams
• Scott L. Montgomery, The Chicago Guide to Communicating Science (University of Chicago Press, London 2003).
• Maeve O-Connor, Writing Successfully in Science (Chapman & Hall 1996) ISBN 0412446308
  
• Finally, the main U of T writing site has a wealth of material for your reading pleasure - in particular check out the 'Advice' link. From there you can reach the link to English as a Second Language and several very useful articles on the use of articles, verb-subject agreement, gerunds and infinitives, etc.

General Communication:

• Ronald B. Adler and Jeanne Marquardt Elmhorst, Communicating at Work - Principles and Practices for Business and the Professions (McGraw-Hill, 5th edition, 1996)
• Arthur H. Bell, Tools for Technical and Professional Communication (NTC Publishing Group ,1995)
• Arthur H. Bell and Dayle M. Smith Management Communication (Wiley, 1999)
• Claus Ascherson and Angela Kickuth, Make your Mark in Science (Wiley, 2005)
  

English Grammar and Usage

The text by Strunk and White listed above is valuable for communicators of English at all levels. However if English is not your first language, you may also want to check out the following texts - both available in the Textbook store.

• Collins Cobuild Series (helping learners with Real English): English Grammar
• Collins Cobuild Series (helping learners with Real English): English Usage. This is a very useful reference volume.
• Also please check out both pages of the list of ESL resources at UofT . The U of T writing site (also referenced above) has links to all sorts of ESL resources; in particular, follow the Advice link for valuable suggestions on the use of the the definite and indefinite articles, often a source of headaches for ESL speakers.