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1. Weidman Receives Williams Award |
Two years ago in a department meeting, Robert Weidman sealed his own fate.
"I told my colleagues we could teach physics in a far more effective way, and in the same meeting they let me do it," he recalls. "It turned out to be totally stressful, but it was the most creative experience of my life."
The result has been the complete revamping of PH2100 and PH2200, the University Physics course sequence taught to hundreds of students a year in Fisher Hall. For his considerable efforts, Weidman, an associate professor of physics, has received Michigan Tech's Fredrick D. Williams Instructional Innovation Award.
Weidman logged many 70-hour weeks crafting the sequence from scratch. "Those in the department with Dr. Weidman consider his efforts to be nothing less than heroic," said Department Chair Ravi Pandey and Associate Professor of Physics John Jaszczak, in nominating Weidman for the Williams Award. "It appears that the department, thanks to Dr. Weidman's lead, is meeting the challenge of successfully teaching introductory calculus-based physics to over 1,500 students per year with fewer in-class contact hours and with increased satisfaction among both faculty and students."
Weidman, who had not previously used computers in the classroom, married new technology and new content. The partnership was even more fruitful than he anticipated.
"The most obvious change is the use of the personal response system," he said. TV-game-show style, students use handheld electronic devices to answer multiple-choice questions in mid-lecture, with the results graphed almost instantaneously on a big screen in front of the class. Not only does the mechanism give Weidman instant feedback on the class's progress, it also captures his students' attention nearly as much as asking them if that's their final answer.
Weidman did not simply use old lectures and drop in a question every 10 minutes, however. "Everything was new, and putting it together was very time consuming. But I knew initially that we were on the right track, because very early, I started getting unsolicited emails, many from students who had the unfortunate experience of repeating the class.
"They said it was like night and day."
Weidman's teaching evaluations reflect his students' enthusiasm. "Because of this course I have changed my major to physics," said one student. Another wrote, "The weidmeister rocks. Easy and effective professor, what more could you ask for?"
Weidman himself was surprised at the students' reaction--and his own--to the new course design.
"On problem-solving days, they talk among themselves about the problem before class," he says, still with a degree of wonderment in his voice. "I never anticipated this. And so many of these lectures result in stage highs for me, a sense of euphoria. I'm on a real high for the rest of the day. When things are happening well, it's a real pleasure to be teaching."
"I also have a sense that I am teaching to our Michigan Tech students. In the past, I felt I was teaching to the high end of the class, and now I am teaching to where they actually are."
Though he uses PowerPoint, Weidman shies away from reading bullet points, relying instead on a far greater visual component, with animations and other graphics. "With a computer, I can do stuff I never could in the past, and it's far more engaging."
In addition to new lectures, PowerPoint slides, demonstrations and the personal response system, Weidman adopted a new textbook and is using web-based homework assignments and sophisticated tutorials.
It was a team effort, Weidman said, crediting the other physics faculty members, particularly Jaszczak, for their help, along with graduate student Changgong Zhou, who assisted throughout the process, and laboratory demonstration coordinators Jerry Hester and Mike Meyer.
"The excitement of these new developments has been contagious," Jaszczak and Pandey said, noting that the physics department has been receiving inquiries from other departments throughout the university on implementing similar teaching methods.
Weidman's latest effort builds on his already strong reputation among students as an outstanding teacher, said Max Seel, dean of sciences and arts. "But what is more important than student satisfaction is student learning," he wrote in support of Weidman's nomination. "He has improved his students' mastery of foundational physics concepts and problem-solving skills."
The Fredrick D. Williams Instructional Innovation Award, named in honor of the legendary professor famous for his ability to inject excitement into introductory chemistry lectures, carries a prize of $2,500. Weidman will be honored at an awards banquet in the fall. |
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2. Tech Benefactor Ted Doan Dies at Age 83 |
Herbert D. (Ted) Doan, former CEO of Dow Chemical and a benefactor of Michigan Tech, died May 16 at his home in Ann Arbor.
"Ted Doan was one of those few truly memorable people who have a positive influence on everyone they interact with," said Gary Anderson, retired chair of Dow Corning Corp. and the former president of the Michigan Tech Fund Board of Trustees. "Although he was an heir to the founder of the Dow Chemical Company and its CEO at one time, he was the most down-to-earth and unassuming man you would ever want to meet. He had a heart of gold and spent his life dedicated to improving society with a focus on his community, developing our youth to compete in this high-tech world and supporting entrepreneurship in new fields of technology."
In particular, Doan's interest in preparing youth to create the future prompted his support of Michigan Tech through the Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow Foundation, which he chaired. The foundation was established in memory of Doan's grandfather, the founder of Dow Chemical, by his widow.
"As head of the Dow Foundation, Ted encouraged the foundation to underwrite Tech projects over the years, including the $5-million gift for the new Dow Environmental Sciences and Engineering Building. He was a great friend to Tech who will be sorely missed," Anderson said.
Doan, who was president and CEO from 1962 to 1971, is credited with initiating practices that are still a strong part of the Dow culture: an open-door policy with employees, an emphasis on research, an attitude that people were the company's most enduring strength and a commitment to the communities where Dow had people and facilities.
After his retirement at the early age of 48, he immediately founded Doan Associates, a venture capital firm, and later Doan Resources Corp., a small business investment company.
In addition to chairing the Dow Foundation, Doan was chairman of the Michigan Molecular Institute, co-chairman of then-governor John Engler's Venture Capital Task Force and president of the Michigan High Technology Task Force. He also served on the National Science Board and on the Board of the Office of Technology Assessment in Washington, D.C. Doan had a particular interest in science education, both on the university and K-12 levels, and devoted a good deal of his time and philanthropy to improving science education.
Surviving Doan are his wife, Anna Junia Doan; their daughter, Alexandra Anne Alden Doan; and his children from a previous marriage, Jeffrey Doan, Christine Doan, Michael Doan and Ruth Doan France. |
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3. Flags Lowered Friday and Monday |
Flags throughout the state will be lowered to half-staff on Friday, June 9, and again on Monday, June 12, in memory of Army Specialist Brock L. Bucklin and Army Corporal Alexander Kolasa.
Army Specialist Bucklin, 28, died May 31 from a non-combat related cause while serving in Balad, Iraq. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 68th Armor Regiment, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo.
Army Corporal Kolasa, 22, died May 31 from a non-combat related cause while serving in Baghdad, Iraq. He was assigned to the 704th Main Support Battalion, 4th Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas. |
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