This book presents a radical approach for better teaching that is firmly grounded in research on the nature and development of expertise in science and engineering. It is based on the author’s decades of experience in both teaching and research. The book argues for changing the focus of post-secondary education from the accumulation of knowledge to equipping learners to become better decision makers and problem solvers and then provides research-based principles for how to teach to achieve this outcome, including what is necessary to develop expertise and the nature of technical expertise. It explains why decision-making and related problem-solving are uniquely valuable aspects of technical expertise that are neglected in conventional instruction and then presents how to teach these skills through focused practice. The book describes in detail how a teacher designs good practice tasks for students. It then covers how to effectively implement such practice in the classroom. Finally, it provides practical advice about the other aspects of education, such as homework, exams, grading, and the use of artificial intelligence.
Table of Contents:
1. Introduction: The Educational Need and Background for the Book 2. Nature of Expertise: What to Teach, What to Learn 3. How to Learn 4. Design of Practice Tasks 5. Implementation of Deliberate Practice of Problem Solving in the Classroom 6. Homework, Testing, Grading, and AI
About the Author :
Carl Wieman is emeritus professor of physics and education at Stanford University, USA. He has been widely recognized for experimental research in both atomic physics (Nobel Prize, 2001, and other awards) and university science and engineering education (Carnegie University Professor of the Year, 2004; Yidan International Prize for Education Research, 2020). Prof. Wieman directed the Science Education Initiatives at the Universities of Colorado and British Columbia, which led to a large-scale change in the teaching of science. He also served as associate director for science in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy from 2010 to 2012. He founded PhET, which provides interactive simulations that are used nearly a million times a day to learn science, and he has authored the book Improving How Universities Teach Science. Porf. Wieman has more than 30 years of experience in teaching and doing research on teaching and learning of science and engineering.
Review :
“Wieman is uniquely positioned to deliver on the ‘wisdom’ that he promises readers, for none other can draw from such recognized research and teaching excellence nor, critically, from four decades of illuminating research into teaching excellence.”
Dr Steven P. Dandaneau, Executive Director, Association for Undergraduate Education at Research Universities (UERU), USA
“Carl Wieman’s book does a wonderful job of explaining what it means to think like an expert and introduces the Deliberate Practice of Problem Solving as a teaching tool to develop expertise.”
Prof. Persis S. Drell, Stanford University, USA
“Carl Wieman distills education research into a clear, usable framework for teaching ‘thinking like a scientist or engineer.’”
Prof. Eric Mazur, Harvard University, USA
“Wieman’s approach builds on a powerful new framework, drawn from recent research by him and his collaborators, that elaborates the decision-making steps that comprise expert problem-solving.”
Prof. Emeritus Peter Lepage, Cornell University, USA
“For those who aspire to be effective, evidence-based instructors who rely on science in the classroom like they do in the laboratory, this book is for you.”
Prof. Kimberly D. Tanner, San Francisco State University, USA
