On 18 July I will do an interview for ALT News Online with Harvard physicist Eric Mazur, who will be a keynote speaker at the 2012 ALT Conference, but who happens also to be speaking in my home town Sheffield. I asked the ALT Members' Discussion List for suggestions for questions to use in the interview, and here are the 10 interview questions I will use as the basis of the interview.
Final update, 18/7/2012.
1. Was there a breakthrough moment when the idea of peer instruction came to you? Can you describe it?
2. Your original work on peer-based instruction preceded the ubiquitous Internet. What difference has the Internet and the widespread availability of "always on" devices made to your thinking on peer-based instruction?
3. What if any role is there for the conventional lecture as a method of teaching?
4. What do you make of developments like Coursera, MITx and Udacity?
5. You are a prominent researcher in physics running an active research group. Some would say that an interest in research-informed teaching is unusual for someone who is an active scientist. What are your comments on this?
6. Some would say that peer-instruction is in example of a "social networking framework" being used to connect learners and teachers inthe support of knowledge development. To what extent should the institutional LMS adopt a similar framework as a basis for the course design and delivery?
7. You and Julie Schell recently launched the Peer Instruction Network. Can you say a bit about the thinking behind this initiative, and how the Network is shaping up?
8. You’ve done quite a lot of work on gender and physics education. What do you think are the best ways to do away with the well-known "gender gap" in performance and representation in the physical sciences?
9. You are closely involved in the company Learning Catalytics. What is your role in the company? What is it aiming to achieve? And how is it getting on? [Sub question about user owned devices and their place in teaching and learning].
10. Some listeners to (and readers of) this interview will be senior managers in universities and colleges - the people who take big decisions about investments in lecture theatres and other teaching spaces, and who, institution by institution, set long term policies on teaching and learning affecting millions of students. What are your messages for them?
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