Using Multimedia Prelectures to Improve Introductory Physics @ Illinois
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Wednesday 29 April, 4:00 p.m., 301 Coordinated Science Lab (CSL)
Professor Tim Stelzer, Department of Physics
Abstract: The Department of Physics at the University of Illinois has a long tradition of innovation in undergraduate education. From PLATO (the first computer based learning system) to Tycho (web-based homework employing the Socratic method), to Peer Instruction with i>clickers, we have continually led the development and implementation of the best instructional practices for large-enrollement introductory physics courses. The tradition continues with our most recent innovation— prelectures. These short (<20-min) narrated Flash(r) animations are designed to introduce students to the fundamental concepts before they attend lecture, so they are better prepared to participate and learn in lecture. In addition to screening a typical prelecture, results from our published clinical studies, eyetracking studies, and student outcome data from the use of prelectures in our introductory E&M course will be presented.
Timothy Stelzer received his bachelor’s degree in physics from St. John’s University in 1988, and his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1993. A high-energy particle theorist, Professor Stelzer has concentrated on standard model physics at hadron colliders. He has written extensively on top-quark physics and radiation in top events. In addition, he has developed computational methods that have dramatically reduced the difficulty of performing complex cross section calculations. He is the primary author of MadGraph®, a software program that automatically generates the Feynman diagrams and helicity amplitude code for tree-level standard model processes. Most recently, he has been working on a new program to predict how often rare new particles would be produced and also what signatures would distinguish these new particles from the large background of particles already known. He has developed a novel multi-channel approach that efficiently integrates any scattering amplitude to obtain the cross section of any desired process.
Professor Stelzer has also been heavily involved with the Physics Education Group at Illinois, where he has led the development and implementation of tools for assessing the effectiveness of educational innovations in introductory courses and expanding the use of web technology in physics pedagogy. He was instrumental in the development of the I-clicker™ and is a regular on the University’s “Incomplete List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent by Their Students.”
