Poor Explanations

A poor explanation provides descriptions without insight. It fails to gives us any sense of why things work the way they do.

In the Springy Machine, if we pull up on Control A, it makes the spring higher from top to bottom. If we push down on Control A, it makes the spring shorter from top to bottom. If we pull up on Control B, the machine compresses the spring. If we push down on Control B, the machine stretches the spring.

Does this explanation give any insight into the machine?No.

Compare the above with this explanation of the behavior of f(x)=a(sin(bx)).

In the function f(x)=a sin(bx), if (a) is greater than one in absolute value the amplitude will increase. If the absolute value is less than one it will decrease the amplitude. The (b) term will affect period. If absolute value of (b) is larger than one it will make more oscillations within a given interval. If it is negative, it will flip the graph.

Does this explanation give any insight into asin(bx)? No.