8.MReV: Mechanics ReView "Start On Jun/01/2013"

ABOUT THIS COURSE

 Mechanics ReView is a second look at introductory Newtonian Mechanics. It will give you a unified overview of mechanics that will dramatically increase your problem-solving ability. It is open to any students who meet the prerequisites (see right), but is especially designed for teachers and those who want to improve their existing understanding of mechanics.

Newtonian mechanics is the study of how forces change the motion of objects. This course begins with force, and moves on to straight-line motion, momentum, mechanical energy, rotational motion, and angular momentum. Optional units include oscillations, planetary orbits, and a review of multi-concept problems.

WHY TAKE OUR COURSE?

Our approach to mechanics is a unique one. Through worked examples and online texts we introduce a strategic overview of core concepts in mechanics. This overview couples with a new approach to problem-solving that will help you break down and solve multi-concept problems. By choosing a system of objects, defining their interactions, and deciding on a model to use to describe them, you will come to solve physics problems more easily and more systematically.

The road to "easy" goes through "hard." This course is more challenging than a standard high school or introductory college physics offering. We will help you become a more expert problem solver, and that process involves solving a variety of problems, in many different ways, with our new approach. The reward is stronger problem-solving ability that carries over to other areas in physics.

Take this course to better organize your mechanics knowledge, to prepare for AP or advanced standing exams, to teach more effectively, or if you enjoy attacking challenging problems!

FOR TEACHERS

If you are a teacher looking to improve your knowledge of mechanics, or to learn new approaches to teach your students, we encourage you to sign up. Our approach has been researched carefully and has proven effectiveness when it comes to preparing students for later courses.

Teachers in the United States, and especially in Massachusetts, can receive extra benefit from this course. We offer Professional Development Points (PDPs) at no charge to teachers in Massachusetts who complete our course. If you are in a different state, we instead offer Continuing Education Units through the American Association of Physics Teachers. There is a fee for this certificate.

COURSE STAFF

David E. Pritchard

Dr. Pritchard is a professor of physics at MIT, and the creator of the MAPS curriculum that is at the core of Mechanics ReView. Dr. Pritchard is a pioneer in atomic physics research and has mentored three Nobel lauriates. His research group currently focuses on understanding how students can learn better, especially from online courses such as this one.

Colin Fredericks

Dr. Fredericks is a postdoctoral fellow at MIT. He is an educational researcher in Dr. Pritchard's group, and winner of the 2010-11 Learning Triangle award for teaching. Colin is the course coordinator for Mechanics ReView.

Course Number8.MReV
Classes Start Jun 01, 2013
Classes End August 31, 2013
Estimated Effort10 hours/week
PrerequisitesAn introductory physics course in high school or college is strongly recommended. Very good algebra and trigonometry skills are essential, introductory calculus and vector calculus are helpful.

Register For 8.MReV: Mechanics ReView

Posted by Editorial Team on 12:45 PM in Edx, HarvardX, Mechanics, MITx, Science, Technology

PH278x: Human Health and Global Environmental Change "Start on May/15/2013

ABOUT PH278X

 One of the greatest challenges of our time is to address global environmental changes, such  as climate change and biodiversity loss, that may harm the health of billions of people worldwide. This class will examine these changes, their causes, as well as their health consequences, and engage students in thinking about their solutions. Those who earn a passing grade will get a certificate of mastery from HarvardX.

COURSE INSTRUCTORS

Aaron Bernstein

Aaron Bernstein, M.D., M.P.H., is the Associate Director of the Center for Health and the Global Environment at the Harvard School of Public Health and a pediatric hospitalist at Boston Children's Hospital. Dr. Bernstein’s work examines the human health effects of global environmental changes, such as climate change and the loss of biodiversity, with the aim of promoting a deeper understanding of these subjects among students, educators, policy makers, and the public.

Jack Spengler

John D. Spengler is the Director of the Center for Health and the Global Environment at the Harvard School of Public Health as well as the Akira Yamaguchi Professor of Environmental Health and Human Habitation. He has conducted research in the areas of personal monitoring, air pollution health effects, aerosol characterization, indoor air pollution and air pollution meteorology. In addition to his academic and research activities, Professor Spengler has been active in professional education workshops, distance learning and short courses. He also serves as an advisor to several global organizations, including the World Health Organization.

1. Course Number
   PH278x
2. Classes Start
   May 15, 2013

Register For  PH278x: Human Health and Global Environmental Change

Posted by Editorial Team on 12:42 PM in Edx, HarvardX, Medicine, Science

SPU27x: Science & Cooking: From Haute Cuisine to Soft Matter Science "Start on Oct/2013"

ABOUT SCIENCE & COOKING: FROM HAUTE CUISINE TO SOFT MATTER SCIENCE

Science & Cooking brings together top chefs and preeminent Harvard researchers to explore how everyday cooking and haute cuisine can illuminate basic principles in physics and engineering, and vice versa.

During each week of the course, you will watch as chefs reveal the secrets behind some of their most famous culinary creations — often right in their own restaurants. Inspired by such cooking mastery, the Harvard team will then explain, in simple and sophisticated ways, the science behind the recipe.

Topics will include: soft matter materials, such as emulsions, illustrated by aioli; elasticity, exemplified by the done-ness of a steak; and diffusion, revealed by the phenomenon of spherification, the culinary technique pioneered by Ferran Adrià.

To help you make the link between cooking and science, an “equation of the week” will capture the core scientific concept being explored. You will also have the opportunity to be an experimental scientist in your very own laboratory — your kitchen. By following along with the engaging recipe of the week, taking measurements, and making observations, you will learn to think both like a cook and a scientist. The lab is also one of the most unique components of this course — after all, in what other science course do you get to eat your lab?

COURSE INSTRUCTORS

Michael Brenner

Michael Brenner is the Glover Professor of Applied Mathematics and Applied Physics, and Harvard College Professor at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. He developed the popular Harvard class, "Science and Cooking: From Haute Cuisine to the Science of Soft Matter," with his colleague David Weitz and chef Ferran Adrià. His research uses mathematics to examine a wide variety of problems in science and engineering, ranging from understanding the shapes of bird beaks, whale flippers and fungal spores, to finding the principles for designing materials that can assemble themselves, to answering ordinary questions about daily life, such as why a droplet of fluid splashes when it collides with a solid surface.

David Weitz

David Weitz is a Professor of Physics and Applied Physics, at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the Department of Physics. He developed the popular Harvard class, "Science and Cooking: From Haute Cuisine to the Science of Soft Matter," with his colleague Michael Brenner and chef Ferran Adrià. His research group studies the science of soft matter materials as well as biophysics and biotechnology.

Pia Sörensen

Pia Sörensen is Preceptor of Science and Cooking at the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Harvard University, and the HarvardX Fellow for Science & CookingX. She earned her PhD in Chemical Biology at Harvard University, studying small molecule inhibitors of cell division.

1. Course Number
   SPU27x
2. Classes Start
   Oct, 2013
3. Prerequisites
   None
   

RiGister For this Cours  Now Over Here

Posted by Editorial Team on 12:24 PM in Cooking, Edx, HarvardX, Science