There are a few key aspects to consider here: 1 The instructor is an authoritative figure. Students assume the question posed by the instructor is one with merit and that he isn’t playing tricks on them. 2 This is a physics class, not a philosophy class? If it was the second one, students may be inclined to think outside the box. But nobody expects a physics teacher to be playing tricks on the experiments. 3 Students will always try to give their best guess if they’re pressed for an answer. “I don’t know” is rarely an acceptable answer by any teacher.
There are a few key aspects to consider here:
1 The instructor is an authoritative figure. Students assume the question posed by the instructor is one with merit and that he isn’t playing tricks on them.
2 This is a physics class, not a philosophy class? If it was the second one, students may be inclined to think outside the box. But nobody expects a physics teacher to be playing tricks on the experiments.
3 Students will always try to give their best guess if they’re pressed for an answer. “I don’t know” is rarely an acceptable answer by any teacher.