A widely cited blog post talks about “pseudoteaching” in connection with his courses: everything looks perfect (energy, spectacular demonstrations, immaculate board work), but students remain too passive and genuine understanding is not always there.
The author notes, for example, a strong drop in attendance over the semester and non‑negligible failure rates, despite the ongoing “show”.
His style is described as theatrical and highly demonstrative, with an avalanche of experiments and equations that make physics feel alive, but that can hide the conceptual work students must do themselves.
Several discussions point out that his lectures inspire and fascinate, but they do not replace personal work on physical intuition or more interactive, research‑based approaches (such as PER/teaching by questioning) needed to really dig into the concepts.
Many self‑taught learners or high‑school students see his videos as a revelation and praise his ability to make people want to do physics.
On the other hand, among education researchers and teachers who emphasize active conceptual appropriation, the criticism you formulate (show + formalism but little simple articulation of the “deep why”) appears quite frequently.
[1](https://fnoschese.wordpress.com/2011/02/21/pt-pseudoteaching-mit-physics/)
[2](https://news.mit.edu/2011/walter-lewin-lecture-book-0518)
[3](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiEHVhv0SBMpP75JbzJShqw)
[4](https://orangenarwhals.com/2014/12/discussion-about-lewin/)
[5](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJG-rXBbmCc)
[6](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/mohamed-el-shazly-a4272318_teachers-who-make-physics-boring-are-criminals-activity-7380137913361174528-BWBi)
[7](https://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/comments/35fsku/cmv_the_mit_should_not_have_removed_walter_lewins/)
[8](https://thetech.com/2015/02/06/coffee-v135-n2)
[9](https://www.myanalysis.in/analytical/the-skilled-but-morally-dubious-teacher-problem/)
[10](https://news.mit.edu/2014/lewin-courses-removed-1208)
[11](https://www.saylor.org/2014/12/why-our-physics-courses-had-to-change/)
[12](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1t0egTZY44)
[13](https://lunanotes.io/summary/understanding-electricity-and-magnetism-walter-lewins-802-lecture-summary)
[14](https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRxFOa3DPQH/?hl=th)
[15](https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/comments/mfir7v/practical_demonstration_of_angular_momentum_by/)
[16](https://www.facebook.com/groups/basicphysics404/posts/313765772572338/)
[17](https://www.instagram.com/reel/DR0nRewju7H/)
[18](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Lewin)
[19](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gitR_ikNOfM)
[20](https://www.reddit.com/r/math/comments/ql2nmi/walter_lewin_physics_professor_mit_claims_to/)