Student Blogging about Physics

In traditional introductory physics classes, there is often limited opportunity for students to contribute their own ideas, interests, and experiences as they engage with the subject matter. This situation is exacerbated in university lecture‐format classes, where students may not feel comfortable speaking during class. In the last few years, Internet blogs have become a decentralized format for diarists, independent journalists, and opinion makers to both post entries and allow commentary from their readers. Below, I will describe some techniques for using student blogging about physics to engage students from two different classroom environments: a calculus‐based introductory mechanics class for scientists and engineers, and an honors seminar for first‐year students. These assignments required them to make their own connections between classroom knowledge and situations where it might find applications. A second goal of including blogging in the introductory physics course was to induce students to write about the physics content of the class in a more substantive way than was previously part of the class.