Harvard’s Eric Mazur to keynote University of Florida’s Interface 2015

April 6, 2015

The University of Florida’s Office of Faculty Development and Teaching Excellence announces Interface 2015, an annual event focused on the intersection of teaching, learning and technology. This year’s keynote will be Eric Mazur, Balkanski Professor of Physics and Applied Physics and Area Dean of Applied Physics at Harvard University. This event will be held on Thursday, April 23, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Straughn IFAS Extension Professional Development Center.

In addition to being an internationally recognized scientist and researcher in optical physics and supervisor of one of the largest research groups in the physics department at Harvard University, Mazur is also highly active in education. He is the author of “Peer Instruction: A User’s Manual” (1997), which explains how to teach large lecture classes interactively. In 2006, he helped produce the award-winning DVD “Interactive Teaching.” He is the founder of Learning Catalytics, a platform for promoting interactive learning in the classroom that is part of the MasteringPhysics learning tool.

The theme of this year’s Interface is “Critical Reflection in Action” and will include presentations by UF faculty, staff, and students from across disciplines drawn from a variety of practical and theoretical perspectives. Recipients of the 2015 Online Education Excellence Awards will be recognized at the event.

The intent of Interface 2015 is to spark ideas and foster discussion and conversation about topics like how to: weave critical thinking into any discipline, encourage sustainable growth and improvement through reflection, ensure reflection leads to new ways of acting instead of solely abstract theory, and consider how assessment can reinforce the value of the reflective process and encourage application of critical reflection.

Interface has been a premier pedagogical event for UF faculty and staff since 2010. According to Andrew McCollough, UF associate provost for teaching and technology, “Interface serves as a vital event in our program to recognize and enhance teaching and learning through technology at the University of Florida.” Past sessions have included themes such as: Enhancing Creativity and Engagement through Academic Communities (2014), Learning On-and Off-line: Reading, Reflecting, Displaying, and Doing (2013) and Open Resources, Open Possibilities (2012).

Interface 2015 is sponsored by the University of Florida’s Office of Faculty Development and Teaching Excellence in partnership with the Warrington College of Business Administration, The School of Forest Resources and Conservation, Distance and Continuing Education and Pearson Learning.

To register for Interface 2015, please visit http://interface.at.ufl.edu/.