Speaker
Description
We have recently completed a comprehensive revision of the classic optics textbook, Pedrottis' Introduction to Optics, intended for upper-year undergraduate and incipient graduate students in physics and engineering. There were many facets to this project, which involved strong collaboration among us, supported by a team at Cambridge University Press & Assessment. The goal of the project was to construct an effective pedagogical package for students and instructors of optics that offered distinct tools to aid learning, each presented within a philosophy of consistent communication. Tools include scientifically-accurate interactive animations, end-of-chapter integrated testlets, expansive figure captions, and targeted footnotes to assist the more curious, or the slightly bewildered, learner. In this talk I describe the motivation behind the project and the structure of the resulting textbook, together with strategies we employed to ensure consistent communication, to select new material of interest, to design and implement accompanying interactive animations, and to compose and assess the integrated testlets. The pedagogical benefits of each of these are examined.
| Keyword-1 | pedagogy in optics |
|---|---|
| Keyword-2 | integrated testlets |
| Keyword-3 | interactive animations |
