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    Assessment: The silent killer of learning, at Pearson Author Event, Ohio State University (Columbus, OH), Thursday, April 2, 2015:
    talk_2448.pdf
    Why is it that stellar students sometimes fail in the workplace while dropouts succeed? One reason is that most, if not all, of our current assessment practices are inauthentic. Just as the lecture focuses on the delivery of information to students, so does assessment often focus on having students regurgitate that same information back to the instructor. Consequently, assessment fails to focus on the skills that are relevant in life in the 21st century. Assessment has been called the "hidden curriculum" as it is an important driver of students' study habits. Unless we rethink our approach to... Read more about Assessment: The silent killer of learning
    Teaching Physics, Conservation Laws First, at Pearson Author Event, Ohio State University (Columbus, OH), Thursday, April 2, 2015:
    talk_2449.pdf
    The Principles and Practice of Physics is a groundbreaking new calculus-based introductory physics textbook that uses a unique organization and pedagogy to allow students to develop a true conceptual understanding of physics alongside the quantitative skills needed in the course. The book organizes introductory physics around the conservation principles and provides a unified contemporary view of introductory physics. In this talk we will discuss the unique architecture of the book, the conservation-laws-first approach, and results obtained with this book.
    Flat space, deep learning, at Pearson Author Event, Ohio State University (Columbus, OH), Thursday, April 2, 2015:
    talk_2451.pdf
    The teaching of physics to engineering students has remained stagnant for close to a century. In this novel team-based, project-based approach, we break the mold by giving students ownership of their learning. This new course has no standard lectures or exams, yet students’ conceptual gains are significantly greater than those obtained in traditional courses. The course blends six best practices to deliver a learning experience that helps students develop important skills, including communication, estimation, problem solving, and team skills, in addition to a solid conceptual understanding... Read more about Flat space, deep learning
    The scientific approach to teaching: Research as a basis for course design, at Ohio State Academy of Teaching Conference, Ohio State University (Columbus, OH), Friday, April 3, 2015:
    talk_2452.pdf
    Discussions of teaching -- even some publications -- abound with anecdotal evidence. Our intuition often supplants a systematic, scientific approach to finding out what works and what doesn't work. Yet, research is increasingly demonstrating that our gut feelings about teaching are often wrong. In this talk I will discuss some research my group has done on gender issues in science courses and on the effectiveness of classroom demonstrations.
    The Tyranny of the Lecture, at College of Pharmacy, Ohio State University (Columbus, OH), Friday, April 3, 2015:
    talk_2454.pdf
    Most -- if not all -- of the important skills in our life are acquired outside the traditional classroom setting. Yet we continue to teach using lectures where students passively take down information. Instead, we should really focus on the assimilation of that information and shift the focus from teaching to helping students learn. Over the past 20 years, instructors world-wide have begun to adopt Peer Instruction to get students to think in class. With the advent of new technology the process can be significantly improved. A new data-analytics driven audience response system does away with... Read more about The Tyranny of the Lecture
    Assessment for and not of learning, at Ohio State Academy of Teaching Conference, Ohio State University (Columbus, OH), Friday, April 3, 2015:
    talk_2453.pdf
    Why is it that stellar students sometimes fail in the workplace while dropouts succeed? One reason is that most, if not all, of our current assessment practices are inauthentic. Just as the lecture focuses on the delivery of information to students, so does assessment often focus on having students regurgitate that same information back to the instructor. Consequently, assessment fails to focus on the skills that are relevant in life in the 21st century. Assessment has been called the "hidden curriculum" as it is an important driver of students' study habits. Unless we rethink our approach to... Read more about Assessment for and not of learning
    Flat space, deep learning, at Purdue University (West Lafayette, IN), Friday, April 10, 2015:
    talk_2456.pdf
    The teaching of physics to engineering students has remained stagnant for close to a century. In this novel team-based, project-based approach, we break the mold by giving students ownership of their learning. This new course has no standard lectures or exams, yet students’ conceptual gains are significantly greater than those obtained in traditional courses. The course blends six best practices to deliver a learning experience that helps students develop important skills, including communication, estimation, problem solving, and team skills, in addition to a solid conceptual understanding... Read more about Flat space, deep learning
    Teaching Physics, Conservation Laws First, at Purdue University (West Lafayette, IN), Friday, April 10, 2015:
    talk_2457.pdf
    The Principles and Practice of Physics is a groundbreaking new calculus-based introductory physics textbook that uses a unique organization and pedagogy to allow students to develop a true conceptual understanding of physics alongside the quantitative skills needed in the course. The book organizes introductory physics around the conservation principles and provides a unified contemporary view of introductory physics. In this talk we will discuss the unique architecture of the book, the conservation-laws-first approach, and results obtained with this book.
    Confessions of a converted lecturer, at IMPACT and Transformative Education Conference, Purdue University (West Lafayette, IN), Friday, April 10, 2015:
    talk_2408.pdf
    I thought I was a good teacher until I discovered my students were just memorizing information rather than learning to understand the material. Who was to blame? The students? The material? I will explain how I came to the agonizing conclusion that the culprit was neither of these. It was my teaching that caused students to fail! I will show how I have adjusted my approach to teaching and how it has improved my students' performance significantly
    Flat space, deep learning, at Interface 2015, University of Florida (Gainesville, FL), Friday, April 24, 2015:
    talk_2455.pdf
    The teaching of physics to engineering students has remained stagnant for close to a century. In this novel team-based, project-based approach, we break the mold by giving students ownership of their learning. This new course has no standard lectures or exams, yet students’ conceptual gains are significantly greater than those obtained in traditional courses. The course blends six best practices to deliver a learning experience that helps students develop important skills, including communication, estimation, problem solving, and team skills, in addition to a solid conceptual understanding... Read more about Flat space, deep learning
    Flat space, deep learning, at NES APS Spring Meeting, Boston Univeristy (Boston, MA), Friday, April 24, 2015:
    talk_2472.pdf
    The teaching of physics to engineering students has remained stagnant for close to a century. In this novel team-based, project-based approach, we break the mold by giving students ownership of their learning. This new course has no standard lectures or exams, yet students’ conceptual gains are significantly greater than those obtained in traditional courses. The course blends six best practices to deliver a learning experience that helps students develop important skills, including communication, estimation, problem solving, and team skills, in addition to a solid conceptual understanding... Read more about Flat space, deep learning
    The Principles and Practice of Physics, at Webinar, University of British Columbia (Vancouver, BC, Canada), Wednesday, April 29, 2015:
    talk_2403.pdf
    The Principles and Practice of Physics is a groundbreaking new calculus-based introductory physics textbook that uses a unique organization and pedagogy to allow students to develop a true conceptual understanding of physics alongside the quantitative skills needed in the course. The book organizes introductory physics around the conservation principles and provides a unified contemporary view of introductory physics. In this talk we will discuss the unique architecture of the book, the conservation-laws-first approach, and results obtained with this book.
    Making light go infinitely fast, at RCC Workshop on Nanomaterials, Real Colegio Complutense at Harvard University (Cambridge, MA), Friday, May 1, 2015:
    talk_2477.pdf
    Impedance-matched metamaterials with zero refractive index can be achieved by exploiting a Dirac cone at the center of the Brillouin zone. We present an in-plane Dirac-cone metamaterial consisting of low-aspect-ratio silicon pillar arrays in an SU-8 matrix with top and bottom gold layers. Using an integrated nano-scale prism constructed of the proposed material, we demonstrate unambiguously a zero refractive index in the optical regime. This design serves as a novel on-chip platform in the optical regime to explore the exotic physics of Dirac-cone metamaterials and to implement applications... Read more about Making light go infinitely fast
    Peer Instruction, at Second McGillActive Learning Conference, McGill University (Montreal, QC, Canada), Monday, May 4, 2015:
    talk_2460.pdf
    The basic goals of Peer Instruction are to encourage and make use of student interaction during lectures, while focusing students' attention on underlying concepts and techniques. The method has been assessed in many studies using standardized, diagnostic tests and shown to be considerably more effective than the conventional lecture approach to teaching. Peer Instruction is now used in a wide range of science and math courses at the college and secondary level. In this 2-hour long workshop, participants will learn about Peer Instruction, serve as the "class" in which Peer Instruction is... Read more about Peer Instruction
    Assessment: The silent killer of learning, at Second McGillActive Learning Conference, McGill University (Montreal, QC, Canada), Monday, May 4, 2015:
    talk_2459.pdf
    Why is it that stellar students sometimes fail in the workplace while dropouts succeed? One reason is that most, if not all, of our current assessment practices are inauthentic. Just as the lecture focuses on the delivery of information to students, so does assessment often focus on having students regurgitate that same information back to the instructor. Consequently, assessment fails to focus on the skills that are relevant in life in the 21st century. Assessment has been called the "hidden curriculum" as it is an important driver of students' study habits. Unless we rethink our approach to... Read more about Assessment: The silent killer of learning

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