Lecture

Reflections, at University of Mount Union, Alliance, OH, Tuesday, November 7, 2023:
Reflections on my life and career presented to students in introductory science classes.
Stopping Time, at Galalher Lecture, University of Mount Union, Alliance, OH, Tuesday, November 7, 2023:

Time is of philosophical interest as well as the subject of mathematical and scientific research. Even though it is a concept familiar to most, the passage of time remains one of the greatest enigmas of the universe. The philosopher Augustine once said: "What then is time? If no one asks me, I know what it is. If I wish to explain it to him who asks me, I do not know." The concept time indeed cannot be explained in simple terms. Emotions, life, and death - all are related to our interpretation of the irreversible flow of time. After a discussion of the concept of time, we will review...

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The surprising world where optical properties approach zero, at Bertman Lecture, Wesleyan University, Tuesday, May 2, 2023:
Nanotechnology has enabled the development of nanostructured composite materials (metamaterials) with exotic optical properties not found in nature. In the most extreme case, we can create materials which support light waves that propagate with infinite phase velocity, corresponding to a refractive index of zero. We have developed a variety of in-plane metamaterial designs that permit obtaining a refractive index of zero in the optical regime. We will report on some of the exotic physics of zero-index metamaterials, including strong enhancement of nonlinear optical phenomena. We can also... Read more about The surprising world where optical properties approach zero
Peer Instruction, at Association of MIT Trained African University Lecturers (AMTAUL), Thursday, August 4, 2022:
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. I will show how shifting the focus in lectures from delivering information to synthesizing... Read more about Peer Instruction
Peer Instruction in STEM Teaching, at Aalto University, Espoo, Finland, Wednesday, December 8, 2021
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. I will show how shifting the focus in lectures from delivering information to synthesizing... Read more about Peer Instruction in STEM Teaching
Optical Metamaterials and their Index of Refraction, at University of Ghent, Ghent, Belgium, Friday, November 19, 2021:
Nanotechnology has enabled the development of nanostructured composite materials (metamaterials) with exotic optical properties not found in nature. In the most extreme case, we can create materials which support light waves that propagate with infinite phase velocity, corresponding to a refractive index of zero, and materials where waves stop propagating, yielding extreme localization of light. In this lecture we will (interactively!) explore some of these unusual phenomena.
Peer Instruction, at ENLIGHT Teaching and Learning Conference, University of Ghent, Ghent, Belgium, Friday, November 19, 2021:
Learning is a social experience — it requires interactions and interactivity. Since I introduced Peer Instruction three decades ago, there has been a concerted push away from passive lecturing to active engagement in the classroom. A successful implementation of the so-called flipped classroom requires students to come to class prepared either by reading the textbook or watching a pre-recorded video. A variety approaches have been devised to get students to take responsibility for this information transfer but none manage to get all students to participate compromising the in-class activities... Read more about Peer Instruction
The Moral Dilemma of Going Back: How the Pandemic Changed My Teaching, at Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley, Saturday, September 25, 2021:
The rapid transition to online teaching necessitated by the coronavirus pandemic has been a good opportunity to rethink our approach to teaching. Moving to an online format suggests that many activities that have traditionally been synchronous and instructor-paced, can be made asynchronous and self-paced. What may have seemed like a challenge, is a great opportunity to improve the quality of education.
How to flip your teaching, when the whole world is flipping out, at Hatem Lecture, Mt. Auburn Hospital, Cambridge, MA, Thursday, June 11, 2020:
The sudden transition to online teaching necessitated by the coronavirus pandemic is a good opportunity to rethink our approach to teaching. In this interactive demonstration I will discuss how changing synchronous and  instructor-paced activities to asynchronous and self-paced activities not only facilitates the move to online teaching, but also provides an opportunity to improve the quality of education
Getting every student ready for every class, at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Monday, June 1, 2020:

Over the past decades there has been a concerted push away from passive lecturing to active engagement in the classroom. A successful implementation of the so-called flipped classroom requires students to come to class prepared, either by reading the textbook or watching a pre-recorded video. A variety approaches have been devised to get students to take responsibility for this information transfer, but none manage to get all students to participate, compromising the in-class activities. I will present a new approach to get every student to prepare for every class using a new social...

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