Science Wednesday

Science Wednesday

by rheyden

| Interesting Science, Reflections on Teaching, Syndicated, Teaching
July 6, 2020

Of the challenges that face us during this pandemic, balancing a full time job with young children at home has to be right up there on the difficult list. Listening to my friends and colleagues, bravely managing that tight-rope act, … Continue reading ?
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New Ways of Seeing

by rheyden

| Syndicated
December 3, 2018

Peeling back the layers on something very old and rendering a very large virtual object in the middle of your living room might, at first, feel like activities without much in common. However, two new online tools designed for those … Continue reading →
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What Makes Terry Gross So Darned Good?

by rheyden

| podcasting, Syndicated, TerryGross
May 21, 2018

No doubt you’re familiar with the NPR podcast series, Fresh Air. Terry Gross, the host of Fresh Air, has been on the radio with the show since 1975. From rock stars to politicians, artists to economists, the roster of the … Continue reading →
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Bone Love

by rheyden

| biology, musing, Reflections, Syndicated
January 21, 2018

Until recently, I didn’t give much thought to my forearm. And I’m guessing that you haven’t either. Consider it with me for a moment. Take a minute to appreciate the engineering marvel that is your arm. Roll up your sleeve … Continue reading →
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W.I.P. Photos

by rheyden

| Reflections on Teaching, Syndicated, WIP
September 14, 2017

Do you know about Work-In-Progress (WIP) photos? This is, apparently, a widespread phenomenon in the art world. The idea is to capture images of your progress, as you work, and share the photos with other artists. What a simple idea … Continue reading →
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Production Notes: Insight Into Building an Effective Online Course

by rheyden

| Syndicated
June 21, 2016

What all goes into online course construction? How much work is it and what skills do you need? What are the best tools for the job? And what makes for effective online learning? The following video segments take a stab … Continue reading →
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What My Stepmother Has Taught Me About Learning

by rheyden

| Syndicated
May 18, 2016

Yup, my 75-year old stepmother. In working with teachers and learners of all stripes, I read extensively, listen carefully to experts, and experiment with methods for most effectively coaching the effective use of computer technology, social media, and online interaction in … Continue reading →
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Meet Homo naledi

by rheyden

| Syndicated
March 17, 2016

Sixty biologists in a New Orleans hotel conference room with a paleoanthropologist, a replica of an early hominin skull, and a revised story of our human ancestry? Does it get any better than that? Last week, Dr. John Hawks (University of … Continue reading →
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An Online Course in Person

by rheyden

| Syndicated
January 18, 2016

Something unusual was going on at The Center for Book in San Francisco yesterday. In a museum devoted to the fine art of print book making, a group of 60 people, who’d never met before, gathered over their common interest … Continue reading →
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Our MOOC Toolbox

by rheyden

| Syndicated
November 1, 2015

This post is about tools. As we planned, produced, and then delivered our online course, Making Science and Engineering Pictures, we put an impressive collection of tools through their paces. A MOOC, afterall, is a hurly burly place and you … Continue reading →
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“The world’s best science should have the world’s best science images.”

by rheyden

| Syndicated
July 24, 2015

That’s what motivates Kelly Krause, Creative Director at the international science journal, Nature. During week 5 of our course, Making Science and Engineering Pictures, we staged a live event on the MIT campus. Felice Frankel arranged to interview Kelly and bring her … Continue reading →
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“The world’s best science should have the world’s best science images.”

by rheyden

| Syndicated
July 24, 2015

That’s what motivates Kelly Krause, Creative Director at the international science journal, Nature. During week 5 of our course, Making Science and Engineering Pictures, we staged a live event on the MIT campus. Felice Frankel arranged to interview Kelly and bring her … Continue reading →
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Weeks 2 and 3: Making Science & Engineering Pictures

by rheyden

| Syndicated
July 17, 2015

The second and third weeks of our course, Making Science and Engineering Pictures (MITx0.111), are the most challenging. It’s here where the students dig into the inner workings of their cameras and grapple with the relationships between aperture, exposure, lighting, … Continue reading →
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Weeks 2 and 3: Making Science & Engineering Pictures

by rheyden

| Syndicated
July 17, 2015

The second and third weeks of our course, Making Science and Engineering Pictures (MITx0.111), are the most challenging. It’s here where the students dig into the inner workings of their cameras and grapple with the relationships between aperture, exposure, lighting, … Continue reading →
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Student Voices in MITx0.111x

by rheyden

| Syndicated
June 27, 2015

Our online course, Making Science and Engineering Pictures, has just wrapped up week 1 and we are rolling into week 2 (of 6 weeks total). Week 1 marks the first photographic assignment: choose a small object (3-10 cm) and create an … Continue reading →
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Student Voices in MITx0.111x

by rheyden

| Syndicated
June 27, 2015

Our online course, Making Science and Engineering Pictures, has just wrapped up week 1 and we are rolling into week 2 (of 6 weeks total). Week 1 marks the first photographic assignment: choose a small object (3-10 cm) and create an … Continue reading →
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Making Pictures Together

by rheyden

| Syndicated
June 16, 2015

We are launched. Making Science and Engineering Pictures, an MITx MOOC, is now officially underway. What a contrast to consider the differences between memories of “first day of class” versus what we’re experiencing with this online course. Trudging my way to … Continue reading →
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Making Pictures Together

by rheyden

| Syndicated
June 16, 2015

We are launched. Making Science and Engineering Pictures, an MITx MOOC, is now officially underway. What a contrast to consider the differences between memories of “first day of class” versus what we’re experiencing with this online course. Trudging my way to … Continue reading →
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Serial

by rheyden

| Syndicated
December 10, 2014

“This is a…global tel-link, prepaid call from…Adnan Syed…an inmate at… a Marilyn correctional facility. This call will be monitored and recorded…” That’s the opener for the new NPR podcast program, Serial. One story, told week by week. The series follows … Continue reading →
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Our Gender Bias

by rheyden

| Syndicated
November 5, 2014

When I first read the NYT headline, “Academic Science Isn’t Sexist” in the Sunday Review this weekend, I thought it was a joke. Or maybe an ironic goad to draw the reader in? But no. The authors, Wendy Williams and … Continue reading →
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Where Do You Read?

by rheyden

| Syndicated
September 16, 2014

Where do you read most often? Is it online? Is it curled up with a paperback book? Is it sitting at table, highlighter in hand, with a large and heavy tome laid out in front of you, or is it … Continue reading →
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A Closer Look at a Caffeine Story

by rheyden

| Syndicated
September 8, 2014

Like many people around the world, I begin my every morning with a rather large cup of coffee. Caffeine – found in coffee, tea, mate, and chocolate – is the most widely consumed psychoactive substance in the world. So it … Continue reading →
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ConnectedCourses

by rheyden

| Syndicated
September 4, 2014

OK, I’m on board. Alan Levine, Jim Groom, and Howard Rheingold have organized a seven-session (run over four months), distributed course to serve up a curriculum on how to create an open, online, connected courses. It’s called ConnectedCourses. A learn by doing experience, go-at-your-own … Continue reading →
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Retrieval Practice and Ed Tech

by rheyden

| Syndicated
August 6, 2014

Last month, the NYTimes ran an education article entitled How Tests Make Us Smarter, by Henry Roedigger [July 18, 2014]. The basic idea put forth in the article was that frequent testing begets frequent retrieval of the tested information; the more … Continue reading →
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An Irrigation System Comes with a Teaching/Learning Lesson

by rheyden

| Syndicated
July 27, 2014

We’ve recently installed a new front garden – a nice bevy of native and drought-tolerant plants, along with a bit of functional hardscape (I’m learning the landscaping terminology) in the form of a meandering pathway to the front door. In … Continue reading →
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Learning Feels Different

by rheyden

| Syndicated
May 25, 2014

I grew up surrounded by music teachers. My mother was a piano teacher and her father, my grandfather, taught violin, guitar, and piano. They both taught students in their living quarters so my own home and my grandparent-visits were woven … Continue reading →
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Learning Feels Different

by rheyden

| Syndicated
May 25, 2014

I grew up surrounded by music teachers. My mother was a piano teacher and her father, my grandfather, taught violin, guitar, and piano. They both taught students in their living quarters so my own home and my grandparent-visits were woven … Continue reading →
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Reflections on #FutureEd

by rheyden

| Syndicated
March 18, 2014

Week #6 brings the end of the History and Future of Mostly Higher Education MOOC (#FutureEd). Time for reflection on what I’ve learned as well as the experience of the course itself (since that was part of the mission). First, a … Continue reading →
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Reflections on #FutureEd

by rheyden

| Syndicated
March 18, 2014

Week #6 brings the end of the History and Future of Mostly Higher Education MOOC (#FutureEd). Time for reflection on what I’ve learned as well as the experience of the course itself (since that was part of the mission). First, a … Continue reading →
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“Badges? We Ain’t Got No Badges…”

by rheyden

| Syndicated
February 28, 2014

Unlike the bandits in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, it looks maybe we do need some badges. Week #5 of the History and Future of (Mostly) Higher Education MOOC focused on innovations in pedagogy and assessment. As part of … Continue reading →
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