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2010

Transforming the optical properties of silicon using femtosecond laser pulses, at Horizons of Nanophotonics and Nanoelectronics, a Keio-Harvard Workshop, Harvard University (Cambridge, MA), Monday, December 20, 2010:
talk_1660.pdf
We developed a technique, optical hyperdoping (OHD), for doping semiconductors to unusually high levels and endowing them with remarkable optoelectronic properties. By irradiating Si with a train of femtosecond laser pulses in the presence of chalcogen (column VI) compounds, a 300-nm thin layer of Si is doped to previously unreported, non-equilibrium levels (about 1%). When the dopant is chosen from the heavy chalcogens (sulfur, selenium, tellurium), the doped silicon exhibits remarkable optoelectronic properties: near-unity absorptance from the ultraviolet ( λ < 250 nm) to the near-... Read more about Transforming the optical properties of silicon using femtosecond laser pulses
TiO2 as a material platform for all-optical logic, at Horizons of Nanophotonics and Nanoelectronics, Harvard University (Cambridge, MA), Monday, December 20, 2010:
talk_1703.pdf
As the volume of internet traffic worldwide explodes and processing demands continually increase, solutions are required to overcome the inherent speed limitations of electronic devices. In particular, there is a need for all-optical devices, with their higher bandwidth and transmission rate, to replace various electronic functions such as routing data between processors and logic operations. We identified TiO2 as a promising yet unexplored material platform for ultrafast, on-chip nonlinear optical devices. TiO2 has a high nonlinear index of refraction (n2), enabling such operations as all-... Read more about TiO2 as a material platform for all-optical logic
Stopping time, at Perimeter Institute Public Lecture, Perimeter Institute (Waterloo, ON, Canada), Wednesday, December 1, 2010:
talk_1638.pdf
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... Read more about Stopping time
Memorization or understanding: are we teaching the right thing?, at University of Waterloo (Waterloo, ON, Canada), Wednesday, December 1, 2010:
talk_1657.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 Memorization or understanding: are we teaching the right thing?
Confessions of a converted lecturer, at Teaching Talk, Perimeter Institute (Waterloo, ON, Canada), Tuesday, November 30, 2010:
talk_1641.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
Crafting learning goals using Backward Design: A hands-on workshop, at Center for Teaching and Learning, University of Texas, Austin (Austin, Texas, USA), Wednesday, November 17, 2010
In this workshop we will go through the process of developing effective learning goals using the non-conventional approach of Backward Design (Wiggins and McTighe). After taking this workshop, new or experienced instructors and instructional developers will be able to identify best practices for preparing effective learning goals and revise a set of more traditional learning goals based on those best practices.
Confessions of a converted lecturer, at Academic Transformation Speaker Series, University of Texas at Austin (Austin, TX), Friday, November 12, 2010:
talk_1634.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
Peer Instruction, at Academic Transformation Speaker Series, University of Texas at Austin (Austin, TX), Friday, November 12, 2010:
talk_1673.pdf
The basic goals of Peer Instruction are to encourage and make use of student interaction during lectures, while focusing students' attention on underlying concepts and techniques. The method has been assessed in many studies using standardized, diagnostic tests and shown to be considerably more effective than the conventional lecture approach to teaching. Peer Instruction is now used in a wide range of science and math courses at the college and secondary level. In this workshop, participants will learn about Peer Instruction, serve as the �class� in which Peer Instruction is demonstrated... Read more about Peer Instruction

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