Teaching university-level physics: a new 7891 course for senior graduate students, Autumn 2013

At the request of physics graduate students, a 1-hour course is being offered this Autumn 2013 for physics graduate students who are 1-2 years from graduating, anticipate teaching physics in higher ed., and would like to learn more about and be better prepared for teaching university-level physics.

The course will:

• include observations and subsequent discussions of intro and higher-level physics instruction -include one or two opportunities to be a guest lecturer in a physics course (contingent on availability of such opportunities)
• include readings and discussions of some research-based best teaching practices
• include discussions with guest physics faculty who have won teaching awards
• be graded S/U according to participation and completion of observations, guest lectures, in-class discussions, and a 1-page reflection assignment.

Priority will be given to graduate students who will be graduating within 1-2 years. There are 12 seats in the course. If the course is well received, it may be offered in subsequent years. If you have any questions or comments, please contact Andrew Heckler. You can sign up for the 7891 course via the registrar (Section 0040, instructor: Heckler).

A new course on epitaxial heterostructures will be offered this fall by Prof. Roberto Myers as a special graduate elective aimed at graduate students working on thin films or heterostructures.

The course is listed as:  MATSCEN 7194 – 0010   Group Studies in Materials Science and Engineering. The course description and topics are listed below.

Description: This course reviews the science and techniques behind thin film growth and engineering for combining different materials, altering chemical composition at the nanometer scale, while controlling defects and strain. Specific inorganic materials to be discussed include III-V compounds, oxides, and metals. This course will be attended by MSE and ECE students, Chemistry, and Physics in the areas of functional materials, solid state electronics, and photonics. The fundamentals of epitaxial crystal growth will be explained. Students will gain an understanding of the kinetics, thermodynamics, and technology involved in epitaxial heterostructures and self-assembled nanostructures.

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A CEM Proto-IRG team of researchers has recently published a paper titled Progress, Challenges, and Opportunities in Two-Dimensional Materials Beyond Graphene in ACS Nano. The paper is one of the journal’s most downloaded papers in the last month and in the last year. CEM members Dr. Shawna Hollen, Dr. Jay Gupta, Dr. Ezekiel Johnston-Halperin, Dr. Wolfgang Windl, and Dr. Joshua Goldberger are authors of the paper.

More information on the paper can be found here.