As our data from the NGC 5643 supernova continues to come in, we are building up an ever better light curve from our Supernova! The Type Ia supernova is caused by a white dwarf star collapsing and creating a cornucopia of new elements – Nickel, Iron, Cobalt, and also Gold, Platinum and other heavy elements. […]
On March 28-31 I had the opportunity to represent Yale-NUS College at the Coursera Partners Conference in Boulder, CO. Richard Levin, the Coursera CEO, suggested that I attend, as I was planning to work with him and Coursera during my scheduled sabbatical for Fall 2017. The meeting included all the leading online course developers, and offered […]
During March 19-24 we hosted Lucas Swineford, The Executive Director of Digital Education and Dissemination at Yale University. We hosted Lucas at Yale-NUS College to discuss technology enhanced teaching and to explore new ways of using digital media and flipped classes in our Yale-NUS curriculum. Lucas gave a wonderful talk about the developments at the […]
One of the highlights of the Spring Semester was to visit the Thai National Observatory with my observational astronomy students from Yale-NUS College. Starting in 2014 I began investigating the observational astronomy facilities within the region of Singapore. I set up a conference at Yale-NUS College on the “Global Observatory Network for Solar System Observations” […]
During our Observational Astronomy class at Yale-NUS College, we had the good fortune to have a nearby supernova explode – just before our Monday class! On the Sunday before our class (March 12), I received an email from one of my friends at Carnegie Observatories noting that a new supernova was discovered in NGC 5643, a […]
During the Institute of Physics Singapore (IPS) meeting on Feb 22-24 (http://www.ipsmeeting.org/), I was invited to present a talk on “Cosmic Explosions” that related some of the discoveries from our GROWTH relay of telescopes based at Caltech. The talk included a mix of physics professors and students from across Singapore, and it was a great […]
During my visit to Ahmedabad, I was able to visit the visionary Vice Chancellor of IIT Gandhinagar, Sudhair Jain, and learn more about his very interesting campus and its programs. Sudhair was incredibly friendly to me – as I had just arrived without an appointment. Despite the sudden appearance, he warmly welcomed me and my […]
On February 22-23, I was able to visit Ahmedabad, where I was invited to speak to a group of assembled academic leaders from the University of Ahmedabad and the Manipal Group of Universities about Liberal Arts. The meeting was to envision the implementation of a new program in undergraduate liberal arts at University of Ahmedabad, which […]
On February 18 and 19, I was invited to speak at the Singapore Art-Science Museum during Astronomy2017, described as “Singapore’s Largest Astronomy Event.” The event was held at the beautiful Art-Science museum, a building that looks like a flower blooming out of the center of Singapore’s downtown Marina district. With my Yale-NUS College students, I […]
During late January, NUS hosted Thomas Olsson, from Lund University in Sweden, to discuss Academic Portfolios, and a broader range of topics related to SoTL and “Pedagogical Competence” – a term that describes a larger sphere of activity that includes not just the practice of one’s teaching, but a larger range of activities that includes […]