Author Archives: Ian

About Ian

Physics professor... science education researcher and evangelist... foodie and occasionally-ambitious cook... avid traveler... outdoorsy type (hiking, camping, whitewater kayaking, teaching wilderness survival skills to high school students, etc.)... amateur photographer... computer programmer and amateur web designer... and WAAY too busy!

how to use a paper towel

Posted on May 16, 2012 by Ian

I love finding new, presumably better ways to think about things we’ve been taking for granted. Here’s a brief (4.5 min), entertaining TED talk that teaches us a better way to dry our hands with paper towels: TED: Joe Smith … Continue reading →

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learning from the game designers

Posted on May 3, 2012 by Ian

Grant Wiggins nails what I want to figure out how to do in physics. See the second half of this post, beginning with the paragraph that starts “Demographics have nothing to do with designing backward…”: Granted, but (Mar 29)

Posted in Learning & Teaching, Pedagogy, problem/project-based learning | Leave a comment

A2L is back

Posted on May 2, 2012 by Ian

Assessing-to-Learn (A2L) was a web site full of physics questions for clicker (classroom response system) teaching, created by my group at UMass while I was there. It’s been unavailable since sometime this spring, when the old server it was on … Continue reading →

Posted in classroom response systems, Learning & Teaching | 1 Comment

worth reading

Posted on March 15, 2012 by Ian

Grant Wiggins: “Everything you know about curriculum may be wrong. Really.”

Posted in Learning & Teaching, Pedagogy, problem/project-based learning | Leave a comment

reaction to Barak Rosenshine’s “Principles of Instruction”

Posted on March 14, 2012 by Ian

The Spring 2012 issue of American Educator (available here until the next issue displaces it) led off with two articles that have caused some consternation among my local twitterverse. At first glance, the articles seem to make a frontal assault … Continue reading →

Posted in Educational Research, Learning & Teaching, Pedagogy | 2 Comments