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1996

Understanding or Memorization: Are we Teaching the Right Thing?, at Faculty Forum Satellite Broadcast, National Technological University (Fort Collins, CO), Tuesday, November 12, 1996
Signs that introductory physics course can lead to frustration (both for students and faculty) abound. A major problem is that traditional lectures in introductory science frequently fail to stimulate students to further study. Many (if not most) students concentrate on problem-solving without paying sufficient attention to the underlying concepts. Physics is then reduced to a set of recipes, or "problem solving strategies" are they are called in text books. The remaining, purely mechanical material is uninteresting and the apparent lack of any underlying consistency or logic leads to... Read more about Understanding or Memorization: Are we Teaching the Right Thing?
Ultrafast broadband spectroscopic studies of GaAs under intense laser excitation, at OSA Annual Meeting 1996 (Rochester, NY), Tuesday, October 1, 1996
An ultrafast broadband spectroscopic technique (350 to 900 nm) is employed to measure the dielectric function of GaAs in response to a 70-fs laser pulse excitation. We observe drastic changes in the dielectric function within 1ps of the excitation, which we attribute to an ultrafast non-thermal structural transition. These broadband measurements provide extensive information on the initial electronic excitation and the dynamics of the subsequent phase transition.

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