- [laughing) Physics is a tough subject to learn,
but not for students at Tidewater Community College
in Virginia.
Their professor went vital
for his crazy and outlandish classroom experiments.
Take a look.
(swish)
- One, two, three
(fizzing then inhaling)
- [Female] Oh. (laughs)
- (mumbles) One, two, three
(scrapping on floor)
(laughing)
(bangs)
(laughing and clapping)
(light clacking then a squeak)
- Ah.
(laughing)
(squeaky springs and thumping)
(laughing)
(running footsteps)
(laughing)
- Oh my God, so that video was seen nearly 30 million times.
Please welcome Erica and Kiarra,
the students who uploaded the video,
along with their professor, Dr. David Wright, yeah.
(applause)
- So, Erica and Kiarra, what inspired y'all
to make the video?
Like to film everything?
- So we're both students at the
Tidewater Community College and we're studying sonogram
and one of the requirements for the program
is you have to take physics.
I was dreading it, I was not excited at all.
- Not at all.
- I thought I was going to fail, I needed an A,
but I walk in and then I see this really cute old man.
He's adorable.
(laughing and clapping)
I was so excited and then I see that
he brings out a bed of glass
and I'm like what is going on?
And then he just starts walking on it.
- We were so confused - Barefoot, it was crazy
- Wait, like a bed of broken glass?
- [Erica And Keira] Yes, broken glass, barefoot.
- Well, (mumbles) what is that, Tony Robbins.
- didn't it, that guy that does all that crazy stuff?
Yeah.
- Yes, we were so confused
because most professors on the first day
are reading out syllabuses
and I'm like "where's the syllabus, what is this man doing?"
- [Kelly] You're like, "Oh my god, I need pass."
- I know, like when's the test gonna be?
And no this man is walking on glass,
and I was just like, it is just a one day thing,
he's doing this to get our attention.
- [Both] No, every day.
(laughing and clapping)
- Every single day, like every day was something new,
a new video, a new demonstration,
like every day it was something new.
So we just got out our phones like it was second natural
and we just started recording him and at the end
we had so many videos.
And we were like, we should make collage.
So I did and I sent it to Kairra and she was like,
"Girl, if you do not post that right now."
(laughing)
And so, I posted it on Twitter and just blew up.
- [Kelly] Boy it did.
- Yes, it blew up like crazy.
- And some of your experiments blew up.
(laughing and applause)
- Yeah.
- So, I mean, this is amazing,
this is how science should be taught, I feel like.
Physics, everything should be taught.
- I think so.
- It makes (speaks over) people.
Yeah, I think so, he's telling me.
But you must have a unique teaching strategy, right?
Cause its different, I've never had a.
I had some pretty cool science teachers
but I never had anybody pogo sticking in the room,
or walking on broken glass.
- Yeah, well, I got my bachelors and masters
and my PhD in physics.
And when I got my masters, I sent out 543 resumes
across the country and I got one job interview.
And that was Tidewater Community College.
I've been there for 45 years now and I love it.
- Wow.
(applause)
That's awesome.
So when you pull your ideas for physics from everywhere?
From every walk of life?
- Oh, we do I started out with traditional education.
not much in the way of demos.
I had to pull them from various sources,
from conferences, from colleagues.
I like to use use real world examples.
- [Student] Yeah.
- Make it relevant to the students, so for example
if I'm teaching physics and this class right here.
- Go for it.
- I would use the jib camera over here.
- [Kelly] Okay.
- Because the jib camera is a great lever system.
It's got a counterweight on one end,
and a camera on the other and it is like being on a seesaw.
If you're an adult sitting on a seasaw with a kid,
has to sit closer to the middle, right?
So the same thing happens here,
here's the adult, here's the kid.
Here we go, and it balances like this.
It is kinda strange, it's the principle of torque.
- Yeah.
- So watch what happens, if you do this now,
you make the boom move up and down like this.
Look how far the camera moves and it's so balanced,
there's no effort at all to make it go around in a circle.
- That's so cool, I like how you're using just real things
that people can show their friends to.
Like, dude look what I learned.
Nobody usually goes around like,
"look what I learned in physics today."
But like I would do that in your class.
- I'm gonna impress all my friends on set
and be like, "Well this jib camera, over here."
(laughing)
Everyone gather around.
- Here's the weighted (applause drowns words).
- It's some um.
- It's called torque.
- It's called torque, but no big deal.
So what have been some of your favorite experiments
in his class?
- There's been so many, he's.
- [Kelly] I imagine.
- Rolling balls down the hallway.
- [Erica] Jumped on Pogo sticks, which is my favorite.
- I actually really enjoyed that.
- Skateboard, Yep.
- 'Cause I can't even do that, I mean, come on.
- Oh my God I'd fall and break something.
- I can't even do it, I can't even do it myself.
So disappointing. - Yeah.
- Sounds like exercise yeah.
- But, really, even (laughs)
- Yeah. - Even though.
- Which we know they both hate.
- Which we're like we're in for like three days,
and then it's like bye bye (voice over drowns out).
- I'm dropping out, bye, yes.
(laughter)
- Even though, we did end up both
getting As in the class.
At the end of the day it wasn't even about the grade,
it was about like how his heart
just radiated through the classroom
and he will be in our hearts forever.
This experience has been amazing.
- And taught you in a life way
using real life things.
- Yes. (applause)
- That's so cool
- [Erica] It has been amazing.
- Is that cool that you touch students like that?
- It is so. - I mean for 45 years?
- So Kelly I love physic, wooo.
(applause)
- And I also love my students, they're terrific,
and they really energize me in class,
it makes a big difference to have students.
I got a new crop of students every year.
I've been teaching for 45 years
and it's so exciting for me
because my students are brand new at this.
They're afraid to be there,
I've got to somehow soften that a little bit.
Get them (mumbles) with excitement.
- It's gonna be fun.
Revive physics.
- We were both scared
- I would be terrified
if someone said you have to pass the physics class.
- Yeah
- It was rough, it was (speaks over).
- Unless I got to go to your class.
(laughing) You're fun.
- Well thank you, thank you.