Honorary Member
Speaker
Georg Rieger
University of British Columbia
Expertise
Keynotes
Expertise
Dr. Rieger is a tenure-track Instructor in Physics & Astronomy in Vantage College at the University of British Columbia. He is also a long-time member of the Carl Wieman Science Education Initiative (since 2009) and served as the CWSEI department director for Physics & Astronomy from 2011 to 2015. He received a Dipl. Phys. (diploma) from the Ruhr-Universitaet Bochum, Germany in 1990 and a Dr. rer. nat. (Ph.D.) in physics also from the Ruhr-Universitaet Bochum in 1993. After spending many years in experimental physics, he become increasingly interested in teaching and learning and finally switched to full-time teaching and physics education research in 2012. Dr. Rieger mostly teaches large first-year introductory physics courses and he is particularly interested in active learning methods to engage all students in such large classes. He uses a worksheet-based approach and small-group work, supported by clicker questions that he describes in a CWSEI video1. The active learning approach in class is matched by using two-stage exams, where part two of the exam is written collaboratively in small groups. The two-stage format and its implementation in large physics courses is described in two of his publications.2,3 Georg is also actively engaged in blended learning where he explores the use of an edX edge (edge.edx.org) platform to support student learning outside of class. In his latest project he uses animated worked examples on edX to support conceptual understanding and problem-solving in an introductory physics course. Before joining the University of British Columbia in 2001, he did research as a post-doctoral fellow in Caen, France and at the University of Alberta.
1 http://blogs.ubc.ca/wpvc/intro-physics-active-class/
2 G. W. Rieger and C. E. Heiner, “Examinations that support collaborative learning: The students’ perspective.” J. Coll. Scie. Teach 43 (4) 41-47 (2014).
3 Carl E. Wieman, Georg W. Rieger, and Cynthia E. Heiner, “Physics exams that promote collaborative learning”, The Phys. Teach. 52, 51 (2014).
Keynotes
