HL Physics Dilemma

[AstroJens]

     Currently it feels like I am at an impasse. I felt like I needed advice and some help, so sorry if I don't do something right considering this is my first post. Currently my classes are HL Physics and History, SL Spanish, Chem and Math. What I'm having trouble with is my HL Physics class. The teacher does not teach. He is simply more of a facilitator and has even said himself he is a facilitator.  

     It is halfway through Semester 1 of my Junior year and we are only on Dynamics and Projectile Motion. Previous HL students have said they had to self teach the entirety of the HL topics. My class is also a mix of SL and HL students since there wasn't enough HL students to warrant a new class (only 5 of us). It seems that I am going to have to self study a large amount of topics and I don't know what to do. I want to do HL Physics, but at the same time I also want to get my IB Diplomma. Does anybody have a 2 year lesson plan of what HL Physics students should be covering every quarter or every semester or something? Any advice as to what I should do? Two of my classmates have considered dropping out of Physics all together because of the teacher. 

     I want to resolve this issue before I am in my senior year and have only covered 3 topics. Are there any online self study guides or places I can have resources to teach myself? Are there any youtube channels I can benefit from? Anything. if anyone can give me advice in any way, please do.  

Thank you 

  

Edited October 15, 2016 by AstroJens
grammar

[kw0573]

As SL student who had a very experienced IB physics teacher, we covered in addition the HL mechanics and fields topics. We spent about 1/4 of our 2 years time on mechanics. In addition to your IB (non-official, such as Haese, Cambridge, or Oxford) textbook(s), I recommend problems from the AAPT PhysicsBowl: http://www.aapt.org/Programs/PhysicsBowl/printexams.cfm,as well as questions from the Canadian national exam: http://outreach.phas.ubc.ca/exams-and-competitions/cap-high-school-prize-exam/cap-english/previous-exams-and-solutions/. Password to solutions is "dowager" without quotes. AAPT is good because it offer brief explanations to multiple choice questions, unlike IB. CAP is good because it is based on the IB Physics HL curriculum. Disclaimer: even a level-7 HL student may get only 20 out of 30 multiple choice questions on CAP, and that's already a very very good score. As much as these cannot replace your IB past questions, it provides enough for you to be familiar with the content but not necessarily the IB question styles. 

Here is the IB Physics syllabus: 

So my plan is to read a bit of textbook and do lots and lots of practice questions. I heard @Vioh likes to rewrite notes so he can help you with that (but my final SL notes were like only 10 sides of a page). Also, at this point in my studies in physics, I was watching KhanAcademy videos before lectures while we were doing mechanics but ceased to do so in later topics. A friend asked me how did I do so well on the tests I said KA. Later in year 2 she had a higher average than me for the better part of the year. 

[Vioh]

@AstroJensHave you considered dropping HL physics to SL if you think it's too hard? Maybe switching it with some easier subject? Your teacher is bad, and that's unfortunate. But this is actually very common. I have seen so many people trying to self-study physics HL, including myself, and still get 7 in the end. What I think you need to do is to stop being so dependent on "helps" from like the teachers, tutors, youtube channels, or some ridiculous expensive online education services. From my experience, all you need is a good textbook. I've heard that the Tsokos Physics HL textbook is an excellent one, so I'd truly recommend that.

You also need to have a good study technique. As kw0573 has said, I like to go through the textbook from beginning to end, taking notes chapter by chapter using my own words and then do every single question in the textbook. In this way, my learning activity is very active compared to just passively watching some youtube videos without actually thinking about why physical phenomena behave the ways they do. I don't know who said this (maybe it was Richard Feynman), but one of the great ways to study maths/physics is to go through the textbook, but when you meet a challenging concept that you don't understand, don't look at the textbook explanation right away. You should close the textbook first, and try to understand the concept by yourself. Of course, if you still can't understand it, you can open the textbook again and get some hints and then continue thinking about it. Similarly, when you solve a difficult question, don't just look at the worked solution right away, try to solve it by yourself first. This may take a couple of hours, or even a couple of days. If you still can't solve it, try to get some hints from the worked solution, and then continue working with the problem until you can solve it. I have always used this method, and it works great.

Having said all of that, i don't mean to say that youtube videos and other online educational platforms are bad. However, they are only useful when you have a specific question in mind or a specific concept that you can't understand just by using your textbook. You can go to online forums and ask for help for a specific question or a specific concept that you're struggling with. But youtube videos or forums (and perhaps, even teachers) should never be your main educational resource for your study. The main resource should always be your textbook.

 

Edited October 15, 2016 by Vioh

[AstroJens]

I don't know how to reply directly to both of you (Vioh and kw0573), but thank you. I guess I just needed to change my perspective and take an active approach to learning and not complaining. We currently use the Giancolli textbook and the Oxford one and I will try to form a study plan from them and take the advice of both of you.

Thank you