The latest edition of the Dedman College newsletter is out, and my article on teaching during the pandemic is now available! In this short article, I review how the physics department pivoted from spring to summer, and then to fall, to meet the demands of teaching and the pandemic.
Prof. Jodi Cooley, Dr. Eric Godat, and I were very pleased to see the publication of our article on how we implemented an add-on honors course experience at the introductory physics level here at SMU. In this article, we outline how we implemented an honors-level add-on course to complement standard university-level introductory physics courses. We […]
I was asked in the spring to put together a video for new, first-year undergraduate students, touring them through the SMU Physics Department. Please enjoy this virtual tour, from my perspective as a faculty member in the department. I am excited to welcome students, new and returning, to SMU this fall … regardless of how […]
Good digital teaching needs a number of skills: Coordination: you need to be able to move between technologies to make your point and keep the flow of the session going smoothly. Good tools enable easier coordination. Polish: more than you might in the classroom, where students feel they “get more for their buck” because you […]
I am so pleased with how the students in my Honors Introductory Physics (PHYS 1010) course met the new challenges posed by COVID-19 and the need for social distancing, producing excellent final projects for the class. Please enjoy them!
My Honors Physics class is a very hands-on class. Managing that in the age of COVID-19 has been an interesting challenge. Tonight, I invited my students (if it was safe to do so) to buy some inexpensive kitchen items – food dye, corn starch, and chocolate – and participate in “Physics in the Kitchen” tonight. […]
The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, is changing everything about our society right now. Social distancing is essential to slowing the spread of the virus, which is particularly dangerous to anyone with underlying cardiovascular or respiratory conditions, especially combined with advancing age. SMU is keeping us up-to-date as they change their policies to […]