HOME / PRESENTATIONS /

2015

Assessment: The silent killer of learning, at Insper (São Paulo, Brazil), Monday, August 3, 2015:
talk_2506.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
Manipulating light at the nanoscale (Lectures 3–5), at Nano-optics: Principles enabling basic research and applications, Centro Ettore Majorana (Erice), Thursday, July 9, 2015:
talk_2503.pdf
In these interactive lectures we explore how light can be manipulated at the nanoscale. We begin by describing optical propagation in ordinary materials and then show how materials can be engineered to achieve a refractive index of zero. These zero-index materials have remarkable properties and can be integrated in photonic circuits. We also give an introduction to nonlinear optics and discuss how zero-index materials can be used to accomplish phase matching in nonlinear optics.

Outline

 

  • Optical properties of materials
  • Dispersion of...
Read more about Manipulating light at the nanoscale (Lectures 3–5)
Manipulating light at the nanoscale (Lectures 1 and 2), at Nano-optics: Principles enabling basic research and applications, Centro Ettore Majorana (Erice), Wednesday, July 8, 2015:
talk_2363.pdf
In these interactive lectures we explore how light can be manipulated at the nanoscale. We begin by describing optical propagation in ordinary materials and then show how materials can be engineered to achieve a refractive index of zero. These zero-index materials have remarkable properties and can be integrated in photonic circuits. We also give an introduction to nonlinear optics and discuss how zero-index materials can be used to accomplish phase matching in nonlinear optics.

Outline

 

  • Optical properties of materials
  • Dispersion of...
Read more about Manipulating light at the nanoscale (Lectures 1 and 2)
From “sage on the stage” to “guide on the side”, at Bar-Ilan University (Ramat Gan, Israel), Thursday, June 25, 2015:
talk_2497.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 From “sage on the stage” to “guide on the side”
Nonlinear optics at the nanoscale, at Weizmann Institute (Rehovot, Israel), Thursday, June 25, 2015:
talk_2502.pdf
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
Peer Instruction: Continuous Formative Assessment to Promote Learning, at Assessment For Learning Symposium, Center for the Promotion of Learning &Teaching, Technion (Haifa, Israel), Wednesday, June 24, 2015:
talk_2496.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 Peer Instruction: Continuous Formative Assessment to Promote Learning
Assessment: The silent killer of learning, at Assessment For Learning Symposium, Center for the Promotion of Learning &Teaching, Technion (Haifa, Israel), Wednesday, June 24, 2015:
talk_2495.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
Educating: All at once, one-on-one, at 2015 Aspen Symposium on the Future of Higher Education, Aspen Institute (Aspen, CO), Tuesday, June 16, 2015:
talk_2501.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 short demonstration, participants will learn about Peer Instruction, serve as the "class" in which Peer Instruction is... Read more about Educating: All at once, one-on-one
Interactive Learning: Technology in the Classroom, at IAP Symposium on the Convergence of Education & Technology in the 21st Century, Harvard University (Cambridge, MA), Monday, June 15, 2015:
talk_2499.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
The Flipped Classroom - Confessions of a Harvard Professor, at Academic Staff Development, Universität Konstanz (Konstanz, Germany), Thursday, June 11, 2015:
talk_2471.pdf
"If we continue to lecture, we will very quickly become obsolete," says Eric Mazur, professor of physics at Harvard University. In times of increasing availability of study material and recorded lectures online, one question is becoming more and more frequent: hy hold a lecture over and over again when you could simply record it and provide it to your students ? The method of the Flipped Classroom takes this idea and adds to it by creating a learning setting that facilitates students’ learning processes. Providing the students with the information input before class, the instructors use the... Read more about The Flipped Classroom - Confessions of a Harvard Professor

Pages