Colloquium | Dr. Carl Wieman (Stanford University)
	
 May 8, 2026 
 3:30PM to 4:30PM





	





























Date/Time

Date(s) - 08/05/2026
3:30 pm - 4:30 pm





Speaker: Dr. Carl Wieman (Stanford University)


Location: Hamilton Hall, Room 302


Title: Learning and teaching to think like skilled scientists and engineers


Abstract: While science and engineering have made great advances in the past centuries, the teaching of these subjects has remained largely medieval.  I will discuss how recent research on the learning and teaching of technical fields is changing this situation.  The primary goal of university education in science and engineering is to have students develop expertise, the ability to think like skilled scientists and engineers.  I will discuss how research on both the development of expertise and the nature of technical expertise can provide guidance for more effective learning and teaching of technical subjects.  I will show examples of implementing these ideas in courses, and the data obtained on results.


 


Carl Wieman is a Cheriton Family Professor and Professor of Physics and of Education, Emeritus at Stanford. He holds a joint appointment as Professor of Physics and of the Graduate School of Education. Prof Wierman has done extensive experimental research in atomic and optical physics. He and Eric Cornell produced the first true Bose–Einstein condensate, an ultracold state of matter; in 2001, they and Wolfgang Ketterle were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics. Prof Wieman’s current intellectual focus is on undergraduate physics and science education. He has pioneered the use of experimental techniques to evaluate the effectiveness of various teaching strategies for physics and other sciences, and served as Associate Director for Science in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Canadian connection – Carl Wieman joined the University of British Columbia in 2007 and headed a well-endowed science education initiative that transformed undergraduate science education at UBC and beyond with an evidence-driven, department-based approach.