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2017

Less is More: Extreme Optics with Zero Refractive Index, at University of California, Berkeley (Berkeley, CA), Thursday, May 11, 2017:
talk_2706.pdf
Nanotechnology has enabled the development of nanostructured composite materials (metamaterials) with exotic optical properties not found in nature. In the most extreme case, we can create materials which support light waves that propagate with infinite phase velocity, corresponding to a refractive index of zero. This zero index can only be achieved by simultaneously controlling the electric and magnetic resonances of the nanostructure. We present an in-plane metamaterial design consisting of silicon pillar arrays, embedded within a polymer matrix and sandwiched between gold layers. Using an... Read more about Less is More: Extreme Optics with Zero Refractive Index
Less is More: Extreme Optics with Zero Refractive Index, at OSA Chapter Lecture, Universidad de los Andes (Bogotá, Colombia), Thursday, May 4, 2017:
talk_2702.pdf
Nanotechnology has enabled the development of nanostructured composite materials (metamaterials) with exotic optical properties not found in nature. In the most extreme case, we can create materials which support light waves that propagate with infinite phase velocity, corresponding to a refractive index of zero. This zero index can only be achieved by simultaneously controlling the electric and magnetic resonances of the nanostructure. We present an in-plane metamaterial design consisting of silicon pillar arrays, embedded within a polymer matrix and sandwiched between gold layers. Using an... Read more about Less is More: Extreme Optics with Zero Refractive Index
Memorization or understanding: are we teaching the right thing?, at OSA Chapter Lecture, Universidad Nacional de Colombia (Bogotá, Colombia), Tuesday, May 2, 2017:
talk_2701.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?
Transforming university teaching to cultivate talent, at IECHE (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia), Sunday, April 16, 2017
In spite of an abundance of evidence of the ineffectiveness of the lecture method, much of education remains focused on information transfer. In the digital age, however, information is fluid and widely accessible. The focus of information, therefore should be on developing higher order thinking skills. I will discuss how we need to change both our approach to education inside and outside of the classroom as well as our assessment practices.
Innovating Education to Educate Innovators, at GSAS/SEAS Alumni Event, Harvard University (Cambridge, MA), Friday, April 7, 2017
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
Innovating Education to Educate Innovators, at North Dakota State University (Fargo, ND), Wednesday, April 5, 2017
Can we teach innovation? Innovation requires whole-brain thinking — right-brain thinking for creativity and imagination, and left-brain thinking for planning and execution. The prevalent 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 focusing in class on questioning and promoting social interaction leads to deeper learning and independent thinking. I will also present a new approach to get every student to... Read more about Innovating Education to Educate Innovators
Assessment: Part 1 -- The silent killer of learning, at North Dakota State University (Fargo, ND), Wednesday, April 5, 2017
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: Part 1 -- The silent killer of learning
Assessment Part 2: Designing Good Questions, at North Dakota State University (Fargo, ND), Wednesday, April 5, 2017
In this workshop we will analyze the components of effective ConcepTest implementation and design. Participants will begin to design their own ConcepTests. At the end the workshop we will pilot a selected set of the newly designed ConcepTests with the participants.
Less is More: Extreme Optics with Zero Refractive Index, at Physics Colloquium, North Dakota State University (Fargo, ND), Wednesday, April 5, 2017
Nanotechnology has enabled the development of nanostructured composite materials (metamaterials) with exotic optical properties not found in nature. In the most extreme case, we can create materials which support light waves that propagate with infinite phase velocity, corresponding to a refractive index of zero. This zero index can only be achieved by simultaneously controlling the electric and magnetic resonances of the nanostructure. We present an in-plane metamaterial design consisting of silicon pillar arrays, embedded within a polymer matrix and sandwiched between gold layers. Using an... Read more about Less is More: Extreme Optics with Zero Refractive Index
Educating the Innovators of the 21st Century, at Hong Kong University (Hong Kong, China), Tuesday, March 28, 2017:
talk_2693.pdf
Can we teach innovation? Innovation requires whole-brain thinking — right-brain thinking for creativity and imagination, and left-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. In this talk, 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... Read more about Educating the Innovators of the 21st Century

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