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2004

Barriers to reform, at Physics Brown Bag Seminar, University of Colorado (Boulder, CO), Wednesday, April 21, 2004
Talk of changing the way we educate students is nothing new. Maxwell wrote in his letters about students failing to learn. Socrates said we should teach by questioning, not telling. Yet, changing the way we teach seems to be more difficult than moving a mountain. One of the main reasons may be that we misinterpret the signals students send us.
Confessions of a converted lecturer, at Faculty Teaching Enhancement Program, University of Colorado (Boulder, CO), Wednesday, April 21, 2004:
talk_1059.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 Confessions of a converted lecturer
Controlling coherent optical phonons in tellurium, at JILA Colloquium, University of Colorado (Boulder, CO), Tuesday, April 20, 2004:
talk_537.pdf
Using time-resolved reflectometry we measure the dielectric function of tellurium following excitation with a femtosecond laser pulse. The dielectric function reveals the ultrafast dynamics of coherent phonons in Te. Oscillations in the bonding-antibonding splitting allow for THz modulation of a semiconductor-semimetal transition. Using two-pulse sequences, we can control the phonons, stabilizing the bandstructure in the semimetallic state.
Understanding or Memorization: Are we teaching the right thing?, at School of Arts and Sciences Teaching Excellence Lecture Series, University of Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh, PA), Tuesday, April 6, 2004:
talk_504.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?
Femtosecond Laser Micromachining: Applications in Technology and Biology, at Joint University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University Colloquium, Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, PA), Monday, April 5, 2004:
talk_503.pdf
When femtosecond laser pulses are focused tightly into a transparent material, the intensity in the focal volume can become high enough to cause nonlinear absorption of laser energy. The absorption, in turn, can lead to permanent structural or chemical changes. Such changes can be used for micromachining bulk transparent materials. Applications include data storage and the writing of waveguides and waveguide splitters in bulk glass, fabrication of micromechanical devices in polymers, and subcellular photodisruption inside single cells. In this talk we will review recent results obtained in... Read more about Femtosecond Laser Micromachining: Applications in Technology and Biology
Memorization or understanding: Are we teaching the right thing?, at Physics and Astronomy Colloquium, Michigan State University (East Lansing, MI), Thursday, March 18, 2004:
talk_494.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 Memorization or understanding: Are we teaching the right thing?
Confessions of a converted lecturer, at Conversations about Active Teaching and Learning Faculty Seminar, Michigan State University (East Lansing, MI), Wednesday, March 17, 2004:
talk_502.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 Confessions of a converted lecturer
Femtosecond laser-assisted microstructuring of silicon surfaces for novel detector, sensing, and display technologies, at Physics Colloquium, University of Massachusetts Lowell (Lowell, MA), Wednesday, March 10, 2004:
talk_506.pdf
Irridiating silicon surfaces with trains of ultrashort laser pulses in the presence of a sulfur containing gas drastically changes the structure and properties of silicon. The normally smooth and highly reflective surface develops a forest of sharp microscopic spikes. The microstructured surface is highly absorbing even at wavelengths beyond the bandgap of silicon and has many interesting novel applications.

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