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2013

Educating the Innovators of the 21st Century, at Pell Center for International Relations and Public Policy Lecture Series, Salve Regina University (Newport, RI), Tuesday, September 17, 2013:
talk_2126.pdf
Can we teach innovation? Innovation requires whole-brain thinking — left-brain thinking for creativity and imagination, and right-brain thinking for planning and execution. Our current approach to education in science and technology, focuses on the transfer of information, developing mostly right-brain thinking by stressing copying and reproducing existing ideas rather than generating new ones. I will show how shifting the focus in lectures from delivering information to team work and creative thinking greatly improves the learning that takes place in the classroom and promotes independent... Read more about Educating the Innovators of the 21st Century
Black silicon, at Annual Meeting of the Stanford Photonics Research Center, Stanford University (Palo Alto, CA), Monday, September 16, 2013:
talk_2179.pdf
Shining intense, ultrashort laser pulses on the surface of a crystalline silicon wafer drastically changes the optical, material and electronic properties of the wafer. The resulting textured surface is highly absorbing and looks black to the eye. The properties of this 'black silicon' make it useful for a wide range of commercial devices. In particular, we have been able to fabricate highly-sensitive photodetectors and imagers using this material. The sensitivity extends to wavelengths of 1600 nm making them particularly useful for applications in imaging and energy harvesting.
AP50: A team-based, project-based approach to teaching introductory physics, at Physics Department Faculty Meeting, Harvard University (Cambridge, MA), Monday, September 9, 2013:
talk_2202.pdf
The teaching of physics to engineering students has remained stagnant for close to a century. In this novel team-based, project-based approach, we break the mold by giving students ownership of their learning. This new course has no standard lectures or exams, yet students’ conceptual gains are significantly greater than those obtained in traditional courses. The course blends six best practices to deliver a learning experience that helps students develop important skills, including communication, estimation, problem solving, and team skills, in addition to a solid conceptual understanding... Read more about AP50: A team-based, project-based approach to teaching introductory physics
Confessions of a converted lecturer, at Welcome Back Meeting, Tustin Unified School District (Irvine, CA), Thursday, August 29, 2013:
talk_2158.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 Welcome Back Meeting, Tustin Unified School District (Irvine, CA), Thursday, August 29, 2013:
talk_2159.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 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
Confessions of a converted lecturer, at Welcome Back Meeting, Tustin Unified School District (Orange County, CA), Thursday, August 29, 2013
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
Towards increased efficiency in solar energy harvesting via intermediate states, at SPIE Laser Material Processing for Solar Energy Devices II (San Diego, CA), Wednesday, August 28, 2013:
talk_2070.pdf
Shining intense, ultrashort laser pulses on the surface of a crystalline silicon wafer drastically changes the optical, material and electronic properties of the wafer. The process has two effects: it structures the surface and incorporate dopants into the sample to a concentration highly exceeding the equilibrium solubility limit. This femtosecond laser "hyperdoping technique" enables the fabrication of defect- and bandgap engineered semiconductors, and laser texturing further enhances the optical density through excellent light trapping. Hyperdoped silicon opens the door for novel... Read more about Towards increased efficiency in solar energy harvesting via intermediate states
Flipping the Classroom 101, at Flipped, Fast, and Flexible: New Pedagogies for the Age of Personalized Learning, Berkshire Community College (Pittsfield, MA), Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Instructors all over the globe are turning their students' worlds around by flipping their classrooms. In a flipped class, teachers move information coverage out of the lecture hall so that they can better leverage in-class time to address student difficulties and misconceptions. In this interactive workshop, Dr. Julie Schell will flip the session by providing brief introductory, pre-workshop activities to participants. She will use responses from these activities in the workshop and discuss the why, what, and how of flipped classrooms by confronting and resolving a series common myths about... Read more about Flipping the Classroom 101
Towards increased efficiency in solar energy harvesting via intermediate states, at SPIE Laser Material Processing for Solar Energy Devices II (San Diego, CA), Wednesday, August 28, 2013:
talk_2070.pdf
Shining intense, ultrashort laser pulses on the surface of a crystalline silicon wafer drastically changes the optical, material and electronic properties of the wafer. The process has two effects: it structures the surface and incorporate dopants into the sample to a concentration highly exceeding the equilibrium solubility limit. This femtosecond laser "hyperdoping technique" enables the fabrication of defect- and bandgap engineered semiconductors, and laser texturing further enhances the optical density through excellent light trapping. Hyperdoped silicon opens the door for novel... Read more about Towards increased efficiency in solar energy harvesting via intermediate states

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