2010

Confessions of a converted lecturer, at Fulbright Workshop on Effective University Teaching, Harvard University (Cambridge, MA), Wednesday, June 30, 2010:
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
Small decisions, big consequences, at PRISE/REU Responsible Conduct in Research Workshop, Harvard University (Cambridge, MA), Tuesday, June 29, 2010:
An interactively, case-based workshop to explore the principles of responsible conduct and ethics in research.
Introduction to Peer Instruction, at Physics and Astronomy New Faculty Workshop (Greenbelt, MD), Monday, June 28, 2010:
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
Introduction to Peer Instruction, at Physics and Astronomy New Faculty Workshop (Greenbelt, MD), Sunday, June 27, 2010
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
Femtosecond laser micromachining of transparent materials, at Topical Meeting on Bragg Gratings, Photosensitivity and Poling in Glass Waveguides (Karlsruhe, Germany), Monday, June 21, 2010:
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.
Peer instruction : a hands-on workshop, at 2010 International CDIO Conference, �cole Polytechnique de Montr�al (Montreal, Canada), Wednesday, June 16, 2010:
It has been suggested the lack of interaction in large lecture courses is to blame for the many problems facing these courses: declining enrollments, low attendance, poor evaluations, and disappointing retention. We offer a way of redesigning the classroom so interaction is introduced in many aspects of the course. This approach has shown to be effective by many instructors in a broad variety of environments. I will demonstrate some of the tools we have developed to foster this interaction.
Memorization or understanding: are we teaching the right thing?, at 2010 International CDIO Conference, �cole Polytechnique de Montr�al (Montreal, Canada), Wednesday, June 16, 2010:
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 Distinguished Lecture on Teaching and Learning, National Taiwan University (Taipei, Taiwan), Monday, May 31, 2010:
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
Direct writing of metallic structures for metamaterial applications, at Tri-Service Metamaterials Review (Virginia Beach, VA), Wednesday, May 26, 2010:
Ultrafast-laser micromachining allows for 3D fabrication of structures much smaller than the diffraction limited laser spot size in transparent media such as glass. Under a linear regime, the media does not absorb light at the operating wavelength of the laser. However, using ultrafast pulses, we can obtain material modification through non-linear absorption. The technique can also be used to induce chemical reactions. High intensity femtosecond laser pulses can induce the photoreduction of metal ions through non-linear absorption. We use solutions containing metal salts to grow metal... Read more about Direct writing of metallic structures for metamaterial applications

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