This is a reprint of an article that I have written for the IEEE Magnetics Society Newsletter (November 2022 issue, edited by Jia Yan Law). Please do check out the Newsletter if you are interested in contents related to magnetism, technology, activities of the Magnetics Society as well as announcements of conferences, awards and events.
This blog is a platform for discussions on physics teaching in higher education. What are effective teaching strategies and creative ways to arouse students' enthusiasm for physics? A special focus lies on condensed matter physics and materials science. Most of the content is based on my personal experience, but I also try to offer a broader perspective of physics teaching.
Friday, December 23, 2022
Teaching and communicating magnetism
Monday, December 19, 2022
12 questions every physics department should ask themselves
Here are 12 questions that every physics department should ask themselves in regard to teaching and the educational curriculum:
Wednesday, December 14, 2022
Having the right mindset for a physics degree
Recently, I had a nice discussion with a colleague about the mindset of undergraduate physics freshmen (i.e., first-year) students. This conversation has inspired today's blogpost on the very same topic.
Many things are different at a university as compared to high schools. Physics students oftentimes feel overwhelmed during their first semesters at college. Professors are rushing through the course material, homework is due every week in multiple classes, and a major part of the fellow students appear to be geniuses. They seem to grasp even complex contents very quickly, do not need to spend much time on their homework and ask a lot of smart questions during the lectures. One might get the impression that they do not need to work hard to pass exams and achieve their goals. These are only a few examples of the mindset that many students tend to develop. I would like to argue that such thoughts are largely unfounded and are making life unnecessarily harder for many students.
Some reflections on peer review
Peer review is a fundamental pillar of the dissemination and validation of scientific knowledge. A considerable portion of this process oper...
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This is a slightly modified version of an article that has appeared in the most recent Newsletter (September 2023 issue) of the IEEE Magnet...
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Over the course of this semester, I am taking over the advanced physics lab course at our Institute of Physics at Goethe University Frankfur...
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A few days ago, I came across the following blog post by Dr. Brokk Toggerson, a physics lecturer from the University of Massachusetts, Amher...