Other education

Syllabi are the maps for learning in higher education; they flag major learning destinations and landmarks for students as they navigate the terrains of a course. The syllabus also represents the "logic" or "theory" of a course: If instructors and students use it as a map, engaging seriously in the content and activities laid out, then both should arrive safely at their learning destinations. Innovative syllabi signal instructors' expectations for student learning (learning goals) and link those expectations directly to authentic evaluation tasks and... Read more about Panel on innovative syllabi

Improving student success is one of the most pressing issues in higher education across the world. Too often, despite succeeding in secondary classrooms, students are entering college underprepared to engage in the rigors of undergraduate study, which results in a number of consequences for institutions. High drop out, failure, and withdrawal rates limit students’ abilities to take full advantage of their college experience and reach their highest potential. Failing to intervene in the success problem has substantial cost implications for institutions, instructors, and societies within... Read more about Unlocking the secrets to student success: Real strategies for your classroom

The Principles and Practice of Physics is a groundbreaking new calculus-based introductory physics textbook that uses a unique organization and pedagogy to allow students to develop a true conceptual understanding of physics alongside the quantitative skills needed in the course. The book organizes introductory physics around the conservation principles and provides a unified contemporary view of introductory physics. In this talk we will discuss the unique architecture of the book, the conservation-laws-first approach, and results obtained with this book.

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

The Principles and Practice of Physics is a groundbreaking new calculus-based introductory physics textbook that uses a unique organization and pedagogy to allow students to develop a true conceptual understanding of physics alongside the quantitative skills needed in the course. The book organizes introductory physics around the conservation principles and provides a unified contemporary view of introductory physics. In this talk we will discuss the unique architecture of the book, the conservation-laws-first approach, and results obtained with this book.

Questions are the heart of engaging students in a flipped class. In this workshop, we will collaborate to discover the elements of an effective question. We will practice answering different question types as a large group and work individually and in pairs on a flipped classroom case study to learn promising practices for developing effective questions. At the end of the workshop, we will also apply our learning by trying to write a few new questions.

In this interactive session, we consider three questions: What do current classroom spaces feel like to students and teachers? What do current classroom spaces look like? And what can classroom spaces look and feel like. The flipped classroom is offered as gold-standard approach to 21st century learning. Participants will experience live demonstrations of innovative pedagogies that can be used to facilitate the flipped classroom.

Neurobiology and cognitive psychology have made great progress in understanding how the mind processes information – in particular visual information. The knowledge we can gain from these fields has important implications for the presentation of visual information and student learning.

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 Flat space, deep learning

Can students assess their own understanding in introductory physics? How does their assessment change during the learning process? Instructors often gauge how well students are assimilating the material based on the number of questions or confused looks they receive during their interactions with students. However, it is unclear how well students are able to recognize their own understanding (or lack thereof). In this talk, we present preliminary results from our study of the relationship between students' perceived understanding and their actual understanding of introductory physics concepts... Read more about Can Students Evaluate Their Own Understanding?

The Principles and Practice of Physics is a groundbreaking new calculus-based introductory physics textbook that uses a unique organization and pedagogy to allow students to develop a true conceptual understanding of physics alongside the quantitative skills needed in the course. The book organizes introductory physics around the conservation principles and provides a unified contemporary view of introductory physics. In this talk we will discuss the unique architecture of the book, the conservation-laws-first approach, and results obtained with this book.

Discussions of teaching -- even some publications -- abound with anecdotal evidence. Our intuition often supplants a systematic, scientific approach to finding out what works and what doesn't work. Yet, research is increasingly demonstrating that our gut feelings about teaching are often wrong. In this talk I will discuss some research my group has done on gender issues in science courses and on the effectiveness of classroom demonstrations.

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 Flat space, deep learning

Discussions of teaching -- even some publications -- abound with anecdotal evidence. Our intuition often supplants a systematic, scientific approach to finding out what works and what doesn't work. Yet, research is increasingly demonstrating that our gut feelings about teaching are often wrong. In this talk I will discuss some research my group has done on gender issues in science courses and on the effectiveness of classroom demonstrations.