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Keynote or Plenary

Peer Instruction in Large (and small!) Lectures, at Studiedag Onderwijsvernieuwing, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Leuven, Belgium), Tuesday, June 4, 2002:
talk_479.pdf
Education is more than just transfer of information, yet that is what is mostly done in large introductory courses -- instructors present material (even though this material might be readily available in printed form) and for students the main purpose of lectures is to take down as many notes as they can. Few students have the ability, motivation, and discipline to synthesize all the information delivered to them. Yet synthesis is perhaps the most important -- and most elusive -- aspect of education. Students get frustrated because they are unable to grasp simple concepts. Instructors get... Read more about Peer Instruction in Large (and small!) Lectures
Stopping Time, at 2002 Southern New England Regional Junior Science and Humanities Symposium, Harvard Medical School (Boston, MA), Friday, April 5, 2002:
talk_410.pdf
Education: Transferring information or engaging the mind?, at HKUST Teaching and Learning Symposium, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Hong Kong), Wednesday, December 12, 2001:
talk_387.pdf
Education is more than just transfer of information, yet that is what is mostly done in large introductory courses -- instructors present material (even though this material might be readily available in printed form) and for students the main purpose of lectures is to take down as many notes as they can. Few students have the ability, motivation, and discipline to synthesize all the information delivered to them. Yet synthesis is perhaps the most important -- and most elusive -- aspect of education. Students get frustrated because they are unable to grasp simple concepts. Instructors get... Read more about Education: Transferring information or engaging the mind?
Understanding or Memorization: Are we Teaching the Right Thing?, at 193rd Annual Meeting of the American Astronomical Society (Austin, TX), Thursday, January 7, 1999:
talk_254.pdf
Education is more than just transfer of information, yet that is what is mostly done in large introductory courses -- instructors present material (even though this material might be readily available in printed form) and for students the main purpose of lectures is to take down as many notes as they can. Few students have the ability, motivation, and discipline to synthesize all the information delivered to them. Yet synthesis is perhaps the most important -- and most elusive -- aspect of education. Students get frustrated because they are unable to grasp simple concepts. Instructors get... Read more about Understanding or Memorization: Are we Teaching the Right Thing?

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