We’ve heard you say that all students are not created equal when it comes to reasoning and math skills. Furthermore, we share your belief that the ability to reason in an organized and mathematically correct manner is essential to solving problems. That’s why helping students improve their reasoning skills is also one of Cutnell & Johnson’s primary goals. The following features will help students improve their reasoning skills:
Video Help, available through WileyPLUS, provides 3–5 minute office hour style videos tailored to the more challenging problems that bring together two or more physics concepts. These videos do not solve the problems, rather they point the student in the right direction by using a proven problem–solving technique:
1. Visualize the problem
2. Organize the data
3. Develop a reasoning strategy.
Click here to see how the video walks students through this problem–solving process.
Math Skills appears as a sidebar throughout the text. It is designed to provide additional help with mathematics for students who need it, yet be unobtrusive for students who don’t.
There’s also a math skills module in WileyPLUS (a chapter 0) for students who want even more help.
Explicit reasoning steps in all examples explain what motivates the procedure for solving the problem before any algebraic or numerical work is done.
Reasoning Strategies for solving certain classes of problems are called out to encourage frequent review of the techniques used and help students focus on the related concepts
Analyzing Multiple–Concept Problems prompt students to combine one or more physics concepts before reaching a solution. First, they must identify the physics concepts involved in the problem, then associate each concept with an appropriate mathematical equation, and assemble the equations to produce a unified algebraic solution.
In order to reduce a complex problem into a sum of simpler parts, each Multiple-Concept example consists of four sections: Reasoning, Knowns and Unknowns, Modeling the Problem, and Solution.
Homework problems with associated Guided Online (GO) Tutorials have increased by 45% in this edition. Each of these problems in WileyPLUS includes a guided tutorial option (not graded) that instructors can make available for student access with or without penalty.
* GO tutorials facilitate strong problem–solving skills by providing a step by step guide on how to approach a problem. Multiple–choice questions in the GO tutorial include extensive feedback for both correct and incorrect answers. These multiple–choice questions guide students to the proper conceptual basis for the problem. The GO tutorial also includes calculational steps
Interactive LearningWare, available in WileyPLUS, consists of interactive examples, presented in a five-step format, designed to help improve each student’s problem–solving skills.
Interactive Solutions, available in WileyPLUS, enable students to work out problems in an interactive manner while providing a model for the corresponding homework problem.