I rejected my student’s brilliant answer! Here's what happened next.

I instantly rejected my student's brilliant answer!
A few years ago, I asked kids to give examples of
'negative work'. Negative work is when you put force
one way but the object moves the opposite way
This seems odd at first. So, there was silence.
Then a shy girl raised her hand and said,
"What about a wind-up spring car toy?
We pull it back, but it moves forward.
It was a wrong example. I instantly rejected it.

Did I do the right thing?

================================================
Follow me at
================================================
Support me and learn more physics at the same time by enrolling in my Udemy course
================================================

[stephen]

I remember Mahesh sir teaching me in 2015 at Mahesh P U college. What a realistic class it was. He is one of the best teachers in physics. I completed mechanical engineering from St Joseph's and then advanced mechanical engineering from the University of Liverpool and I now still enjoy watching his videos. He is our true inspiration.

[aryanraj]

You really care about the learning of students!! THANKS A LOT!

[mglsj]

During the lockdown, I used to watch your physics videos together with my friend on google meet or discord. We kept MS Whiteboard open in the background. And everytime when you asked the viewers to think over something, we used to discuss it and try to solve it on our own on the Whiteboard app. It helped us a lot to understand concepts.
(The first video we tried this on was wave optics: reflection)

[GodSahil]

You're learning about pedagogy a lot and even making us understand that.. if somehow every teacher knew this technique our country would have been at the top level, KEEP DOING THAT GREAT WORK👍

[tizazualemu]

Sir, you are the best teacher I ever seen. The way you explain things, the words you used, even the reaction you showed when you describe things, the questions you ask and the way you answer it, all are amazing. Thank you!
From Ethiopia.

[UDHAV]

I just wanted to say thank you for all the amazing videos you make on Khan Academy and YouTube. I've been following your teachings for a while now and I'm really impressed by how much effort you put into your lessons. Your love for science is so contagious and your teaching skills had me hooked on watching the lectures for hours.
I've learned a lot from you but the most important thing I've learned is that being a scientist isn't just about getting good grades on tests, it's about being curious and actively engaging in the process of discovery. You've taught me that it's okay to be wrong and to think about why I was wrong, and how to find the right answer. Your teaching has helped me understand that science isn't just about getting the answer, it's about the process of finding it. I'm really grateful for how you've helped me understand and appreciate the beauty of science on a deeper level. Your videos have inspired me to want to pursue a career in science and I'll always be thankful for the impact you've had on my life.
I hope more people get to see your videos so they can also rediscover their love of science.

[kanishkagadiparthi]

Woah, this builds us as a better learner who actually seeks knowledge than Mark's . This literally is an awsome process to engage everyone in the calss sir .

[Spear]

sir, if I had a teacher like u, I would have been the next Einstien. these brainwashing institutions took my curiosity and passion for science away.

[RishiVaish-ymnr]

Sir, I really like the way you analyze the situation and try to improve your teaching methods. You are such an excellent teacher! Keep growing 🌱

[sonicstorm]

Mahesh i have watched your videos on khan academy for more than 2 years now and you have been a huge help to me and most likely many others it is because of you i love science today thanks again for being one of the greatest science teacher of this generation!

[me_neutron]

Wow!! Love it. Thanks for sharing this. This video would help a lot of us. Keep making more

[NAMITADALAL-pzwj]

I think the blunder in your previous explanation is that— the car can't move forward if it doesn't feel any force. Where that force comes from? I think it's the potential energy that was saved while pulling the car backward and it's the cause that the car moves forward and has a kinetic energy. So, the work we had done turned into potential energy. Is it positive work or negative work?

[TheRandomQubeofficial]

As a teacher, your videos are absolutely amazing for me. I've learnt a lot. And please, make more videos regarding your teaching experiences, since surprisingly there is not a lot of content on youtube which could help teachers improve.

[shrutisharma]

Absolutely well said Sir! This intent of urs certainly explains ur impeccable pedagogy👍🙌

[PhyMan-xuiz]

Sir, it is a humble request from my side to make a video on Catenary questions. I am finding the concept pretty challenging

[hugomiranda]

Saying Science is not about right or wrong does not sound good at all to me. Science is about searching for the Truth. So whether you're right or not IS extremely important, to the point where we build huge experiments like CERN's LHC just to test whether or not our theories are right. Being wrong oftenly is a consequence of the nature of the whole process and it is not a big deal, is something which you should be used to and will often lead into designing better theoretical models but at the end of the day: In Science we want models which correctly predict something or theories which describe a phenomenon as closely to the truth as we know it (and at School, at a level where the students will understand it, however the models should be as aproximate to the known truth as possible). Another point which I would like to make is that even though putting her on the spot is bad, the best way for her to grow out of it (at least partially, because nobody likes to be wrong in front of an audience even though most of us should be able to tolerate it), is for her to be exposed to situations like such. So maybe it is important for a teacher to ease their students into situations where they are indeed wrong. When they grow up and they are wrong/mess up in their working environment (or even in a University setting), their superiors wont necessarily have the same consideration that you would (and they shouldnt because mistakes can lead to all sorts of problems for clients, company...)

Thanks for the video :) I agree when you said that a teacher job is to make their students think and provide them with the tools to validate their thinking/learn. I also loved when you mentioned acknowledging her thinking process and to pull the rest of the students into the discussion which was not something I saw happening too often in my school days.

[MedED]

is scored 95 percent just bcoz of u my class 12
thnx a lot u literally let me know the deep concept for each i mean the real thanks a lot for ur efforts make more vidios

[Rosetulippp]

Education is not the learning of facts but the training of mind to think.
-einstein

[AmanDesai]

Hi Mahesh, I don’t know if it’s just me but the thumbnail to your discussion with 3rd grade students does not show up on my phone. Could you please look into it and maybe also include a link in the description?

Thanks for putting up great content about teaching techniques!

[viddoofficial]

Please make a video on fundamental topics in physics like : force, gravity, velocity, work, acceleation etc.

Please please please 🥺