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Memorization or understanding: are we teaching the right thing?, at CityU OSA Chapter and Department of Physics and Materials Science Lecture, City University of Hong Kong (Hong Kong, China), Monday, March 27, 2017
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 Memorization or understanding: are we teaching the right thing?
Less is More: A New Class of Optics with Zero Refractive Index for the Applications in Nanophotonics, Nonlinear Optics, and Quanum Entanglement, at William Mong Distinguished lecture (Hong Kong, China), Friday, March 24, 2017:
talk_2692.pdf
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. This zero index can only be achieved by simultaneously controlling the electric and magnetic resonances of the nanostructure. We present an in-plane metamaterial design consisting of silicon pillar arrays, embedded within a polymer matrix and sandwiched between gold layers. Using an... Read more about Less is More: A New Class of Optics with Zero Refractive Index for the Applications in Nanophotonics, Nonlinear Optics, and Quanum Entanglement
Subcellular surgery and nanosurgery, at Engineering Spring Faculty Dinner, Johns Hopkins University (Elkridge, MD), Wednesday, March 22, 2017:
talk_2691.pdf
We use femtosecond laser pulses to manipulate sub-cellular structures inside live and fixed cells. Using only a few nanojoules of laser pulse energy, we are able to selectively disrupt individual mitochondria in live bovine capillary epithelial cells, and cleave single actin fibers in the cell cytoskeleton network of fixed human fibro-blast cells. We have also used the technique to micromanipulate the neural network of C. Elegans, a small nematode. Our laser scalpel can snip individual axons without causing any damage to surrounding tissue, allowing us to study the function of individual... Read more about Subcellular surgery and nanosurgery
Confessions of a converted lecturer, at Kent State University (Kent, OH), Thursday, February 23, 2017:
talk_2653.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
Teaching Physics, Conservation Laws First, at Mastering Leadership Community Summit (Tucson, AZ), Thursday, February 16, 2017:
talk_2684.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.
Getting every student ready for every class, at ZHAW University of Applied Sciences (Winterthur, Switzerland), Wednesday, January 18, 2017:
talk_2675.pdf
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. In this interactive workshop, I will present a new approach to get every student to prepare for every... Read more about Getting every student ready for every class
Innovating Education to Educate Innovators, at ZHAW University of Applied Sciences (Winterthur, Switzerland), Tuesday, January 17, 2017:
talk_2674.pdf
Can we teach innovation? Innovation requires whole-brain thinking — right-brain thinking for creativity and imagination, and left-brain thinking for planning and execution. Our current approach to education in science and technology, focuses on the transfer of information, developing mostly right-brain thinking by stressing copying and reproducing existing ideas rather than generating new ones. I will show how shifting the focus in lectures from delivering information to team work and creative thinking greatly improves the learning that takes place in the classroom and promotes independent... Read more about Innovating Education to Educate Innovators
Designing assessment questions, at Teaching Retreat, ETH Zurich (Zurich, Switzerland), Monday, January 16, 2017
In this workshop we will analyze the components of effective assessment questions.
How assessment drives (or stifles) learning, at Teaching Retreat, ETH Zurich (Zurich, Switzerland), Monday, January 16, 2017:
talk_2670.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 How assessment drives (or stifles) learning
Peer Instruction, at Physics and Astronomy New Faculty Workshop (College Park, MD), Thursday, November 17, 2016:
talk_2667.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. I will show how shifting the focus in lectures from delivering information to synthesizing... Read more about Peer Instruction

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