Mastering Physics or CAPA, thats the question?

Is it plausible to ask the Physics Department to bring in Mastering Physics in place of CAPA?

Mastering Physics walks you through the problem whereas CAPA is......well its CAPA.

Originally Posted by epikness

Mastering Physics or CAPA, thats the question?

Is it plausible to ask the Physics Department to bring in Mastering Physics in place of CAPA?

Mastering Physics walks you through the problem whereas CAPA is......well its CAPA.

I dont think so, because students have to pay for mastering physics, its just like in Econ 1BB3, she had the term 1 students doing assignments on Aplia (which you had to pay for), but then it got changed for second term because people complained. Im pretty sure the university has a rule that students do not have to pay for something to get marks.

Capa is better trust me . You need to figure out where you went wrong or you will never learn this very important skill. There is no such thing as capa/mastering physic in higher years .

CAPA is easy... you learn best by figuring out and doing deep processing, instead of just applying what step-by-step crap you just read.

They wont ever do that now. Well most likely. Mastering Chemistry is now optional due to the fact you want force students to buy software for marks.
I do see your point. When you got a CAPA question wrong, you tried to figure it out. But there should be some option that if you get it wrong (use all 10 tries) they do tell you the steps to the problem . I remember this one question that I tried so hard on. Even having the answer to another persons problem and just trying to figure out how they come up with that question. Problem was, like alot of other people as I found out later, I was visualizing the diagram completely wrong.

CAPA would be only made better if they offered the steps with the answers once the assignment was due.

It doesn't get any better than CAPA when it comes to first year physics (+ it's free!).

I think students sometimes get lazy and try to do CAPA without learning the material ahead of time. So if you are spending 5 hours on a single CAPA problem, you're doing it wrong. You should realize that CAPA problems test your understanding and are worth like 5% of your overall mark. So if you find that you are struggling, please stop doing CAPA and actually learn the material before trying again. Do some reading and when you have better understanding, you can finish CAPA later, it's not worth much.

You also need to learn how to problem solve and to figure out the flaws in your understanding. I think CAPA does a good job of this by not giving full solutions. When it comes to real life problems, you find that there are no clear cut answers and it becomes an important skill to generate new ideas and to check/validate your work. If you're really stuck on a problem, you can consult with your friends or ask a TA/prof.

Also if you want to figure out how a problem is done you can always ask the prof or go to the phys undergraduate help room in bsb B119 (only operates sept-april). Both are free and great sources of help.

Originally Posted by thedog123123

Also if you want to figure out how a problem is done you can always ask the prof or go to the phys undergraduate help room in bsb B119 (only operates sept-april). Both are free and great sources of help.

Don't forget the Thode basement, where TAs await your questions!

thode guy was extremely unhelpful. We went after the question was closed on capa, no help. But he kinda did seem to either be in a bad mood or that just was his demeanor.

The basement help in Thode did help me, a lot, but I started going there WAY to late to help me up my grades a little. If you stay on par with your CAPA assignments, I don't think achieving a 6/7 should be unrealistic.