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2014

Why you can pass tests and still fail in the real world, at 2014 Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education Annual Conference, Queen's University (Kingston, ON, Canada), Wednesday, June 18, 2014:
talk_2142.pdf
Why is it that stellar students sometimes fail in the workplace while dropouts succeed? One reason is that most, if not all, of our current assessment practices are inauthentic. Just as the lecture focuses on the delivery of information to students, so does assessment often focus on having students regurgitate that same information back to the instructor. Consequently, assessment fails to focus on the skills that are relevant in life in the 21st century. Assessment has been called the "hidden curriculum" as it is an important driver of students' study habits. Unless we rethink our approach to... Read more about Why you can pass tests and still fail in the real world
Interactive Learning: Technology in the Classroom, at Symposium on Education and Technology (Cambridge, MA), Monday, June 16, 2014:
talk_2288.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 a lecture, or sage-on-stage, format 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 creatively in class. With the advent of new technology the process can be significantly improved. A new data-analytics driven... Read more about Interactive Learning: Technology in the Classroom
Educating the Innovators of the 21st Century, at Harvard Business School Reunion, Harvard University (Boston, MA), Friday, June 6, 2014:
talk_2290.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
Engaging Students One-on-One, All At Once Session 1 , at Peer Instruction Online Course, Hong Kong Polytecnic University (online) (Hong Kong, China), Wednesday, June 4, 2014:
talk_2341.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 
Memorization or Understanding: Are We Teaching the Right Thing? The Benefits of Peer-to-Peer Teaching, at Course on Advanced Teaching Skills: Stimulating Lively and High Yield Learning through the Use of Interactive and Innovative Teaching Techniques, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School's Postgraduate Medical Education Program (Boston,MA), Saturday, May 31, 2014:
talk_2181.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 Benefits of Peer-to-Peer Teaching
Femtosecond-Laser Hyperdoping and Texturing of Silicon for Advanced Non-equilibrium Materials, at 2014 AFOSR Ultrashort Pulse Laser-Matter Interactions Program Review (Arlington, VA), Friday, May 30, 2014:
talk_2331.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 Femtosecond-Laser Hyperdoping and Texturing of Silicon for Advanced Non-equilibrium Materials
Assessment: The silent killer of learning, at HHMI Professors Symposium, Howard Hughes Medical Institute (Chevy Chase, MD), Tuesday, May 27, 2014:
talk_2337.pdf
Why is it that stellar students sometimes fail in the workplace while dropouts succeed? One reason is that most, if not all, of our current assessment practices are inauthentic. Just as the lecture focuses on the delivery of information to students, so does assessment often focus on having students regurgitate that same information back to the instructor. Consequently, assessment fails to focus on the skills that are relevant in life in the 21st century. Assessment has been called the "hidden curriculum" as it is an important driver of students' study habits. Unless we rethink our approach to... Read more about Assessment: The silent killer of learning
Assessment: The Silent Killer of Learning, at VIII Congreso de Investigación, Innovación y Gestión Educativas: “Educar en el siglo XXI: Necesidades y retos, Tec de Monterrey (Monterrey, Mexico), Monday, May 26, 2014:
talk_2292.pdf
Why is it that stellar students sometimes fail in the workplace while dropouts succeed? One reason is that most, if not all, of our current assessment practices are inauthentic. Just as the lecture focuses on the delivery of information to students, so does assessment often focus on having students regurgitate that same information back to the instructor. Consequently, assessment fails to focus on the skills that are relevant in life in the 21st century. Assessment has been called the "hidden curriculum" as it is an important driver of students' study habits. Unless we rethink our approach to... Read more about Assessment: The Silent Killer of Learning
Assessment: The silent killer of learning, at Center For Excellence In Learning And Teaching Spring Breakout Workshop, SUNY Oswego (Oswego, NY), Monday, May 19, 2014:
talk_2329.pdf
Why is it that stellar students sometimes fail in the workplace while dropouts succeed? One reason is that most, if not all, of our current assessment practices are inauthentic. Just as the lecture focuses on the delivery of information to students, so does assessment often focus on having students regurgitate that same information back to the instructor. Consequently, assessment fails to focus on the skills that are relevant in life in the 21st century. Assessment has been called the "hidden curriculum" as it is an important driver of students' study habits. Unless we rethink our approach to... Read more about Assessment: The silent killer of learning

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