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2011

Femtosecond laser doped silicon for photovoltaic applications, at SPIE Optics & Photonics (San Diego), Friday, August 12, 2011:
talk_1778.pdf
Doping silicon to concentrations above the metal-insulator transition threshold yields a novel material that has potential for photovoltaic applications. By focusing femtosecond laser pulses on the surface of a silicon wafer in a sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) environment, silicon is doped with 1% atomic sulfur. This material exhibits near-unity, broadband absorption from the visible to the near infrared (< 0.5 eV, deep below the silicon bandgap), and metallic-like conduction. These unusual optical and electronic properties suggest the formation of an intermediate band. We report on the... Read more about Femtosecond laser doped silicon for photovoltaic applications
The scientific approach to teaching: Research as a basis for course design, at International Computing Education Research Conference (Providence, RI), Monday, August 8, 2011:
talk_1712.pdf
Discussions of teaching -- even some publications -- abound with anecdotal evidence. Our intuition often supplants a systematic, scientific approach to finding out what works and what doesn't work. Yet, research is increasingly demonstrating that our gut feelings about teaching are often wrong. In this talk I will discuss some research my group has done on gender issues in science courses and on the effectiveness of classroom demonstrations.
Engaging students one-on-one, all at once; Session 1, at LASPAU/IDIA Short Online Course for Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and the Universidad Adolfo Ibanez (Chile) (Cambridge, MA), Monday, August 8, 2011:
talk_1776.pdf
This short-course introduces participants to the ideas of Peer Instruction (PI) and Just- in-Time-Teaching (JiTT), two research-based methods for engaging students, improving conceptual understanding, increasing retention in courses and programs, and enhancing academic performance. Participants will also learn about a new approach to instructional design. Finally, participants will apply the knowledge gained to a specific course module they are (or will be) teaching, by re-designing (or designing) the syllabus for this course module and developing a plan for implementing PI and JiTT. The... Read more about Engaging students one-on-one, all at once; Session 1
Confessions of a converted lecturer, at Wu Chien-Shiung Science Camp (Chi-tou, Taiwan), Friday, August 5, 2011
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
Memorization or understanding: are we teaching the right thing?, at OCPA7, Sun Yat-sen University (Kaohsiung, Taiwan), Thursday, August 4, 2011:
talk_1767.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?
The tyranny of the lecture, at BLC11 (Boston, MA), Wednesday, July 27, 2011:
talk_1775.pdf
Most -- if not all -- of the important skills in our life are acquired outside the traditional classroom setting. Yet we continue to teach using lectures where students passively take down information. Instead, we should really focus on the assimilation of that information and shift the focus from teaching to helping students learn. Over the past 20 years, instructors world-wide have begun to adopt Peer Instruction to get students to think in class. With the advent of new technology the process can be significantly improved. A new data-analytics driven audience response system does away with... Read more about The tyranny of the lecture
Pedagogía scientífica, at Seminario Internacional: Metodologías Activas y Evaluación de Aprendizaje (Santiago, Chile), Wednesday, July 20, 2011:
talk_1774.pdf
Discussions of teaching -- even some publications -- abound with anecdotal evidence. Our intuition often supplants a systematic, scientific approach to finding out what works and what doesn't work. Yet, research is increasingly demonstrating that our gut feelings about teaching are often wrong. In this talk I will discuss some research my group has done on gender issues in science courses and on the effectiveness of classroom demonstrations.
ConcepTest design workshop, at Seminario Internacional: Metodologías Activas y Evaluación de Aprendizaje (Santiago, Chile), Tuesday, July 19, 2011:
talk_1773.pdf
In this workshop we will analyze the components of effective ConcepTest implementation and design. At the end the workshop participants will begin to design their own ConcepTests.
Confesiones de un profesor convertido, at Seminario Internacional: Metodologías Activas y Evaluación de Aprendizaje (Santiago, Chile), Monday, July 18, 2011:
talk_1769.pdf
Pensaba que era un buen profesor hasta que descubrí que mis estudiantes solo estaban memorizando información más que aprender a comprender el material. A quién debía culpar? A los estudiantes? Al material? Explicaré cómo llegué a la agonizante conclusión de que el culpable no era ninguno de estos. Era mi enseñanza la que causaba que los estudiantes fallaran! Mostraré como he ajustado mi método de enseñanza y cómo eso ha mejorado el desempeño de los estudiantes de manera significativa.
Authentic Student Learning Evaluation Plans in Higher Education, at Seminario Internacional: Metodologías Activas y Evaluación de Aprendizaje, MECESUP (Santiago, Chile), Monday, July 18, 2011
Open the doors to any classroom across the globe and you will observe an almost universal model for the evaluation of student learning. Instructors stand at the front of a lecture hall, teach content, students (at least we hope) attempt to learn that content, and then instructors evaluate that content learning through traditional assessments such as multiple-choice exams, quizzes, or research papers. Most of these conventional approaches to evaluation are one-dimensional and are not aligned with overarching learning goals that relate to competencies students actually need to progress... Read more about Authentic Student Learning Evaluation Plans in Higher Education

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