Presentations

    Assessment for (not of) learning, at Symposium on Assessment for and as Learning: Possibilities of Learning Assessment, Kyoto University (Kyoto, Japan), Wednesday, October 8, 2014:
    talk_2317.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 for (not of) learning
    Assessment: The Silent Killer of Learning, at 2014 Robert A. Welch Conference in Chemical Research (Houston, TX), Monday, October 27, 2014:
    talk_2144.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
    Flat space, deep learning, at Independent Schools Association of the Southwest (ISAS) Conference (Tulsa, OK), Monday, November 3, 2014:
    talk_2243.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 Flat space, deep learning
    The Principles and Practice of Physics, at Webinar (Cambride, MA), Wednesday, November 5, 2014:
    talk_2371.pdf
    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.
    Assessment: The silent killer of learning, at CalTeach, University of California Santa Barbara (Santa Barbara, CA), Friday, November 7, 2014:
    talk_2355.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
    Engaging Students One-on-One, All At Once Session 2, at Peer Instruction Online Course, Taibah University (online) (Medina, Saudi Arabia), Monday, November 10, 2014:
    talk_2372.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 2
    Engaging Students One-on-One, All At Once Session 1 , at Peer Instruction Online Course, Singapore Polytechnic (online) (Singapore), Wednesday, November 12, 2014:
    talk_2378.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 
    Confessions of a converted lecturer, at Masterclass, Harvard Graduate School of Education (Cambridge, MA), Thursday, November 13, 2014:
    talk_2343.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
    Reflections, at Shining Light on Matter and Mind: a symposium in honor of Eric Mazur, Harvard University (Cambridge, MA), Friday, November 14, 2014:
    talk_2432.pdf
    Innovating Education, at Talks at Google, Google (Cambridge, MA), Friday, November 14, 2014:
    talk_2373.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 Innovating Education
    Confessions of a converted lecturer, at 25th Anniversary of Bilingual Education in the Netherlands, Europees Platform (Utrecht, Netherlands), Wednesday, November 26, 2014:
    talk_2136.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
    Assessment: The silent killer of learning, at Public Lecture, ETH Zurich (Zurich, Switzerland), Thursday, November 27, 2014:
    talk_2368.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
    Flat space, deep learning, at ETH Zurich (Zurich, Switzerland), Friday, November 28, 2014:
    talk_2376.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 Flat space, deep learning
    Flat space, deep learning, at Swiss Faculty Development Network Workshop, ETH Zurich (Zurich, Switzerland), Friday, November 28, 2014:
    talk_2377.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 Flat space, deep learning
    Engaging Students One-on-One, All At Once Session 2, at Peer Instruction Online Course, Singapore Polytechnic (online) (Singapore), Wednesday, December 3, 2014:
    talk_2379.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 2
    Direct Laser Writing of 3-D Diffraction Gratings and Diffraction Optics, at MRS 2014 Fall Meeting and Exhibit, Symposium L: Optical Metamaterials and Novel Optical Phenomena Based on Nanofabricated Structures (Boston, MA), Thursday, December 4, 2014
    Integrated diffractive optics has many applications in beam shaping and control on the micro-scale. Fabrication using lithography is limited to planar or layered geometries. We demonstrate fabrication of diffractive elements via direct laser writing. We have tested 3D diffraction gratings and zone plates designed for operation at visible wavelengths. Direct laser writing is a promising technique to fabricate integrated 3D and multi-layer diffraction optics. We have previously developed a laser writing technique that enables fabrication of disconnected metal structures in a polymer matrix,... Read more about Direct Laser Writing of 3-D Diffraction Gratings and Diffraction Optics
    Why can students pass tests but fail at life?, at SSAT National Conference 2014 (Manchester, UK), Friday, December 5, 2014:
    talk_2380.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 can students pass tests but fail at life?
    The Flipped Classroom on a Shoestring, at SSAT National Conference 2014 (Manchester, UK), Friday, December 5, 2014:
    talk_2381.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 workshop, participants will learn about Peer Instruction, serve as the "class" in which Peer Instruction is... Read more about The Flipped Classroom on a Shoestring
    The Principles and Practice of Physics, at University of Waterloo (Waterloo, Ontario, Canada), Thursday, December 11, 2014:
    talk_2374.pdf
    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.
    Assessment: The silent killer of learning, at University of Waterloo (Waterloo, Ontario, Canada), Thursday, December 11, 2014:
    talk_2375.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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