2012

Peer Instruction: workshop & discussion, at Strategies for Innovation and Engineering Education in Brazil, Harvard Universtiy (Cambridge, MA), Tuesday, October 30, 2012:
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 2-3 hour long workshop, participants will learn about Peer Instruction, serve as the "class" in which Peer Instruction is... Read more about Peer Instruction: workshop & discussion
Confessions of a converted lecturer, at 11th European Conference on e-Learning (ECEL 2012), University of Groningen (Groningen, Netherlands), Friday, October 26, 2012:
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
Nonlinear optics at the nanoscale, at Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials Symposium, Universiteit Groningen (Groningen, Netherlands), Thursday, October 25, 2012:
We explore nonlinear optical phenomena at the nanoscale by launching femtosecond laser pulses into long silica nanowires. Using evanescent coupling between wires we demonstrate a number of nanophotonic devices. At high intensity the nanowires produce a strong supercontinuum over short interaction lengths (less than 20 mm) and at a very low energy threshold (about 1 nJ), making them ideal sources of coherent white-light for nanophotonic applications. The spectral broadening reveals an optimal fiber diameter to enhance nonlinear effects with minimal dispersion. We also present a device that... Read more about Nonlinear optics at the nanoscale
Flipping the Classroom: How to turn your students' worlds upside down, at Computer Science Faculty Lunch, University of Texas at Austin (Austin, TC), Wednesday, October 24, 2012:
In a flipped classroom, instructors typically move information coverage outside the classroom so that that they can better leverage in-class time to address student misunderstandings and misconceptions about subject matter. The most basic and popular iteration of a flipped class is pre-recording lectures, called screencasting, on key concepts for students and putting them online for viewing and engagement before class. In this seminar, Dr. Julie Schell will provide an overview of the history of the flipped classroom and introduce a set of innovative tools that go far beyond screencasting,... Read more about Flipping the Classroom: How to turn your students' worlds upside down
Flipping the STEM Classroom using Peer Instruction, at STEM Institute for Faculty Professional Development Fall Conference, Union County College (Elizabeth, NJ), Saturday, October 20, 2012:
How can I help my students learn in ways that pique their interest and enrich their subject matter understanding? We will explore this perennial question by considering an innovative, research-based teaching method called Peer Instruction (PI). Originally developed by Dr. Eric Mazur to address major gaps in students' conceptual knowledge of physics at Harvard University, this interactive pedagogical method is now widely used by thousands of instructors across the world. PI leverages the power of social learning and the latest advances in cognitive science to confront students' misconceptions... Read more about Flipping the STEM Classroom using Peer Instruction
How to Transform Learning in STEM…With Teaching, at Techniques for Improving Student Engagement of STEM Students, Union County College (Elizabeth, NJ), Saturday, October 20, 2012:
"We are doing an incredible job of preparing our students for the 20th century." This quote from Professor Cathy Davidson reflects the problematic nature of an educational system that was structured for schooling in the industrial age and which has not caught up to the realities of the 21st century. Traditional teaching prepares students well for the procedural work of assembly lines and tasks that are now completed much more efficiently and quickly by computers. Today's STEM workforce demands more heuristic models of thinking toward solving pressing social problems that are without easy or... Read more about How to Transform Learning in STEM…With Teaching
Confessions of a converted lecturer, at Université de Lausanne (Lausanne, Switzerland), Friday, October 19, 2012:
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
Catalyzing Learning Using Peer Instruction and Learning Catalytics, at Université de Lausanne (Lausanne, Switzerland), Friday, October 19, 2012:
Most -- if not all -- of the important skills in our lives are acquired outside the traditional classroom setting. Yet we continue to teach using lectures where students passively take down information. Peer instruction is a research-based pedagogy that actively engages students in the classroom and has been shown to dramatically improve conceptual understanding, even in large classes. While successfully implementing peer instruction doesn't require any technology, using the right technology can improve student engagement, increase learning, and make it easier to implement peer instruction in... Read more about Catalyzing Learning Using Peer Instruction and Learning Catalytics
Flipping the Classroom: How to turn your students' worlds upside down, at New England Board of Higher Education (Boston, MA), Monday, October 15, 2012:
In a flipped classroom, instructors typically move information coverage outside the classroom so that that they can better leverage in-class time to address student misunderstandings and misconceptions about subject matter. The most basic and popular iteration of a flipped class is pre-recording lectures, called screencasting, on key concepts for students and putting them online for viewing and engagement before class. In this workshop, Dr. Julie Schell will provide an overview of the history of the flipped classroom and introduce a set of innovative tools that go far beyond screencasting,... Read more about Flipping the Classroom: How to turn your students' worlds upside down
Peer Instruction: Promoting Deep Understanding, at Forum on Deepening Active Learning with Peer Instruction, Kyoto University (Kyoto, Japan), Wednesday, October 10, 2012:
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 disciplines at the college and secondary level. In this interactive workshop, participants will learn about Peer Instruction, serve as the "class" in which Peer Instruction is demonstrated,... Read more about Peer Instruction: Promoting Deep Understanding

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