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

UT.1.01x: Energy 101 " Start On Sep/15/2013"

ABOUT ENERGY 101

Energy Technology & Policy

 This multidisciplinary course will give students an overview of energy technologies, fuels, environmental impacts and public policies. Topics will be interdisciplinary and will include an introduction to quantitative concepts in energy, including the differences among fuels and energy technologies, energy policy levers, and the societal aspects of energy, such as culture, economics, war, and international affairs. This course will cover brief snippets of energy history, use real-world examples, and look forward into the future. The course will have interactive learning modules and lecture-oriented around current events related to energy.

PREREQUISITES

None

COURSE INSTRUCTORS

Dr. Michael E. Webber

Michael Webber is the Josey Centennial Fellow in Energy Resources, Co-Director of the Clean Energy Incubator at the Austin Technology Incubator, and Deputy Director of the Energy Institute at UT Austin, where he trains a new generation of energy leaders through research and education at the intersection of engineering, policy, and commercialization. He has authored more than 150 scientific articles, columns, books and book chapters, including a compendium of his commentary titled Changing the Way America Thinks About Energy, which was published in May 2009.

1. Course Number
   UT.1.01x
2. Classes Start
   Sep 15, 2013
3. Classes End
   Dec 2013
4. Prerequisites
   None

Register For UT.1.01x: Energy 101

Posted by Editorial Team on 12:38 PM in Edx, Policy, Science, Technology, UTAustinX

UT.3.01x: Age of Globalization "Start on Sep/01/2013"

ABOUT AGE OF GLOBALIZATION

Globalization is a fascinating spectacle that can be understood as global systems of competition and connectivity. These man-made systems provide transport, communication, governance, and entertainment on a global scale. International crime networks are outgrowths of the same systems. Topics include national identity, language diversity, the global labor market, popular culture, sports and climate change.

However, an increase in integration has not brought increased equality. Globalization creates winners and losers among countries and global corporations, making competition the beating heart of the globalization process.

The globalization process exemplifies connectivity. Globalization is unimaginable without the unprecedented electronic networks that project dominant cultural products into every society on earth.

Learn how to identify and analyze global systems and better understand how the world works.

PREREQUISITES

None, except for intermediate fluency in English reading/writing.

COURSE INSTRUCTORS

John Hoberman

John Hoberman holds a Ph.D. Scandinavian Languages and Literature from University of California, Berkeley. He has taught courses on globalization many times over the past ten years. He lectures on the international sports system and the global doping crisis in many countries around the world, and has published almost a hundred sports commentaries in newspapers and popular magazines. His books include Sport and Political Ideology (1984), The Olympic Crisis: Sport, Politics, and the Moral Order (1986), Mortal Engines: The Science of Performance and the Dehumanization of Sport (1992), Darwin's Athletes: How Sport Has Damaged Black America and Preserved the Myth of Race (1997), Testosterone Dreams: Rejuvenation, Aphrodesia, Doping (2005), and Black & Blue: The Origins and Consequences of Medical Racism (2012). In addition to being full professor and past chair of the Department of Germanic Studies, he has held appointments at The Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies; The Schusterman Center for Jewish Studies; and The African and African Diaspora Studies Department at the University of Texas at Austin. He's also taught at Harvard University and University of Wisconsin, Madison.

This course is being offered with the support of The University of Texas at Austin’s Liberal Arts Instructional Technology Services (LAITS). A version of this course is also offered in person on the University of Texas at Austin campus as a Signature Course in the School of Undergraduate Studies.

1. Course Number
   UT.3.01x
2. Classes Start
   Sep 01, 2013
3. Classes End
   Dec 15, 2013
4. Prerequisites
   None

Register For UT.3.01x: Age of Globalization

Posted by Editorial Team on 12:35 PM in Edx, Science, UTAustinX

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