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Catherine Crouch

Gender and student achievement with Peer Instruction, at Physics Education Research Conference, AAPT Summer Meeting, University of Alberta (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada), Thursday, July 24, 2008:
talk_1408.pdf
We investigated the effect of physics education research-based teaching methods on the gender gap in conceptual understanding in introductory physics. We analyzed data from the introductory calculus-based mechanics course for non-majors at Harvard University taught traditionally and taught with different degrees of interactive engagement. On average, female students have lower Force Concept Inventory (FCI) pretest scores than males. Teaching with Peer Instruction not only yields significantly greater FCI posttest scores for both males and females but also reduces the FCI posttest gender gap.... Read more about Gender and student achievement with Peer Instruction
Reducing the gender gap in introductory physics, at American Physical Society March meeting (Denver, CO), Monday, March 5, 2007:
talk_1302.pdf
We investigated whether the gender gap in conceptual understanding in an introductory university physics course can be reduced by teaching with interactive engagement methods that promote in-class interaction, reduce competition, foster collaboration, and emphasize conceptual understanding. To this end, we analyzed data from the introductory calculus-based physics course for non-majors at Harvard University taught traditionally or using different degrees of interactive engagement. Our results show that teaching with certain interactive strategies not only yields significantly increased... Read more about Reducing the gender gap in introductory physics
Promise and pitfalls of reformed instruction for female students, part II, at Physics Teacher Education Coalition 2007 Conference, American Physical Society PTEC (Boulder, CO), Saturday, March 3, 2007:
talk_1301.pdf
In this workshop, we will examine how reformed instruction can both help and potentially hinder female students, depending on exactly how it is implemented. In the first segment of the workshop, the workshop leaders will review pertinent research on the origins of the underrepresentation of women in the physical sciences and factors promoting the success of female students in science and mathematics classrooms. In the second portion of this workshop, participants will discuss how to structure learning in their classrooms based on insights from existing research, and will also identify... Read more about Promise and pitfalls of reformed instruction for female students, part II
Classroom Demonstrations: Learning Tools or Entertainment?, at Biennial Conference on Chemical Education, Purdue University (West Lafayette, IN), Wednesday, August 2, 2006:
talk_1213.pdf
Classroom science demonstrations are intended to serve two important purposes: to increase students' interest in the material being covered and to improve students' understanding of the underlying scientific concepts. Student end-of-semester evaluations typically praise demonstrations as one of the most interesting parts of a course, suggesting that demonstrations accomplish the first objective. What about the second? Do demonstrations effectively help students learn the underlying concepts? We examined whether the mode of presentation of demonstrations affects their effectiveness as teaching... Read more about Classroom Demonstrations: Learning Tools or Entertainment?
Black silicon: changing structure and properties with light, at Physics Colloquium, Haverford College (Haverford, PA), Monday, March 1, 2004:
talk_524.pdf
Shining intense, ultrashort laser pulses on the surface of a crystalline silicon wafer changes its structure and properties dramatically: the formerly smooth, highly reflective surface becomes covered with a forest of sharp microspikes. This microstructured surface is highly absorbing even at wavelengths to which the original wafer is transparent. This talk will describe the properties of this microstructured surface and discuss why the microspikes form and what is responsible for the change in optical properties.
Black silicon: using lasers to make novel materials, at Condensed Matter Physics Seminar, Harvard University (Cambridge, MA), Friday, February 14, 2003:
talk_454.pdf
Irradiating the surface of a crystalline silicon wafer with intense laser pulses in a reactive gas environment changes the structure and properties of the wafer dramatically: the formerly smooth, highly reflective surface becomes covered with a forest of sharp microspikes. In addition to changing the surface morphology, this microstructuring process also dramatically alters the optical properties of the silicon. The microstructured surface is highly absorbing even at wavelengths to which the original wafer is transparent. We find that the laser structuring process incorporates high... Read more about Black silicon: using lasers to make novel materials
Black silicon: Changing structure and properties with light, at Physics colloquium, Clark University (Worcester, MA), Thursday, December 12, 2002:
talk_449.pdf
Shining intense, ultrashort laser pulses on the surface of a crystalline silicon wafer changes its structure and properties dramatically: the formerly smooth, highly reflective surface becomes covered with a forest of sharp microspikes. This microstructured surface is highly absorbing even at wavelengths to which the original wafer is transparent. This talk will describe the properties of this microstructured surface and discuss why the microspikes form and what is responsible for the change in optical properties.
Early stages of femtosecond laser-induced formation of silicon microspikes, at Materials Research Society Fall Meeting (Boston, MA), Monday, December 2, 2002:
talk_450.pdf
Arrays of sharp conical spikes form on crystalline silicon surfaces when irradiated with a train of femtosecond laser pulses in a background of sulfur hexafluoride (SF6); blunter, more irregular microstructures form in vacuum. The tips of the spikes are at the height of the original surface of the wafer, suggesting that the formation process predominantly involves removing material. The spikes are arranged in a quasi-ordered fashion with a characteristic nearest-neighbor separation of a few micrometers; the exact value of this characteristic separation depends on the laser fluence and number... Read more about Early stages of femtosecond laser-induced formation of silicon microspikes
Femtosecond laser-structured silicon: properties and structure, at Gordon Conference on Laser Interactions With Materials (Andover, NH), Tuesday, July 23, 2002:
talk_440.pdf
Silicon surfaces that are microstructured with femtosecond laser pulses in a sulfur hexafluoride environment exhibit several remarkable properties, including near-unity below-band gap optical absorption (C. Wu et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 78, 1850 (2001)). We report new structural and chemical characterization of this material, including cross-sectional TEM images of the microstructures. Our results indicate that the below-band gap absorption most likely comes from a surface layer of polycrystalline silicon roughly 1 micrometer thick, which includes nanopores, nanocrystals, and a high... Read more about Femtosecond laser-structured silicon: properties and structure
Gender, Educational Reform, and Instructional Assessment: Part II, at Winter Meeting, American Association of Physics Teachers (Philadelphia, PA), Tuesday, January 22, 2002:
talk_417.pdf
Will current educational reform efforts serve to improve the learning experience of women in physics? To do so, assessment of instructional effectiveness must examine results for male and female students separately as well as for the entire class . We present an analysis of gender differences in performance in introductory physics at eight different colleges and universities; half of the courses were taught using a variety of interactive-engagement methods and half were taught with traditional lectures. We examine the effect of pedagogy and class size on the gender gap in both Force Concept... Read more about Gender, Educational Reform, and Instructional Assessment: Part II

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