About the Authors

About the Authors

David Reid	Carl Adler
Gregor M. Novak	Glen Terrell
Andrew D. Gavrin	Thomas L. O'Kuma
Wolfgang Christian	David Maloney
Chuck Niederriter	Curtis Hieggelke
Steven Mellema	Jim Walker

David Reid is the author of the Objectives, Chapter Review, and Reference Tools and Resources. Dr. Reid received his Ph.D. in theoretical atomic physics from Wayne State University in 1995. He is currently an associate professor of physics and astronomy at Eastern Michigan University, where he has been a member of the faculty for 14 years. He teaches courses in both physics and astronomy at all levels as well as interdisciplinary science courses for non-science majors. Reid conducts research in atomic scattering, quantum gravity, and physics/science education, and has published numerous articles. He is particularly interested in computer applications for improved visualization in the science classroom.

Dr. Gregor M. Novak, along with Andrew Gavrin, authored the Warm-Ups, Puzzles, and Applications. Dr. Novak is the co-author of Just-in-Time Teaching: Blending Active Learning with Web Technology (ŠPrentice Hall, 1999). He is Distinguished Visiting Professor in the Department of Physics at the United States Air Force Academy, and is also Professor Emeritus in the Department of Physics at Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis (IUPUI.) His primary scholarly interest is the application of multimedia technology to improve undergraduate physics teaching. Dr. Novak has been at the heart of numerous successful innovations for undergraduate physics teaching and learning, and has extensive leadership experience with faculty workshops, having given over eighty invited-workshops and presentations on technology in physics teaching over the past eight years. Dr. Novak has received several teaching awards, including the 1998 Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching at IUPUI.

Dr. Andrew D. Gavrin, along with Gregor Novak, authored the Warm-Ups, Puzzles, and Applications. Dr. Gavrin is co-author of Just-in-Time Teaching: Blending Active Learning with Web Technology (ŠPrentice Hall, 1999). He received his B.S. in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and his Ph.D. in physics from Johns Hopkins University. Andrew's research interests include nanostructured magnetic materials, magnetic domain imaging, and physics education. He is currently Assistant Professor of Physics at Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis. Dr. Gavrin received the IUPUI Teaching Excellence Recognition Award in 1997 and 2000, the IUPUI School of Science Teaching Award in 1998, and he was elected to Indiana University's Faculty Colloquium on Excellence in Teaching in 2000.

Wolfgang Christian is the creator of a series of java applets for physics known as Physlets on which the Physlet Illustrations and Physlet Problems are based. He received his B.S. and Ph.D. in Physics from North Carolina State University at Raleigh, and has taught at Davidson College since 1983. Dr. Christian has written 22 journal publications, and is the co-author of Physlet Physics (ŠPrentice Hall, 2004), Just in Time Teaching (ŠPrentice Hall, 1999), Physlets: Teaching Physics with Interactive Curricular Material (ŠPrentice Hall, 2001), and Waves and Optics: Volume 9 of the Computational Physics Upper Level Software, CUPS, series (ŠWiley, 1995). He has been the leader of over 24 national faculty development workshops, and has been books editor of the APS journal Computers in Physics and a member of the Instructional Media committee of the American Association of Physics teachers. Dr. Christian's research interests are in the area of computational physics and instructional software design, and he is currently working on multi-media physics curricular development using the World Wide Web:

http://webphysics.davidson.edu/applets/applets.html
Dr. Christian is a recognized innovator in developing and using computational physics in the undergraduate curriculum, and has won (with students) many educational software awards.

Chuck Niederriter, along with Steve Mellema, created the Physlet illustrations found throughout the Chapter Review modules. He received a B.S. in physics from Gannon College, and both a M.S. and a Ph.D. in experimental physics from Ohio University. His masters work involved the growth and characterization of polymeric films using direct-current plasmas. His doctoral work was measuring the electrical and optical properties of chalcogenide glasses. Chuck joined the faculty of Gustavus Adolphus College in 1985 where he regularly teaches both physics and astronomy classes. He has been involved in the incorporation of computer-enhanced instruction in physics and astronomy for his entire teaching career. Chuck has been fascinated with the concept of Physlets since their inception and began to make extensive use of them in his teaching in 1999.

Steve Mellema, along with Chuck Niederriter, created the Physlet illustrations found throughout the Chapter Review modules. He received his undergraduate degree from Gustavus Adolphus College in 1972, majoring in physics and mathematics. Steve then spent six years with the Peace Corps in Malaysia, teaching high school physics and chemistry, and conducting cross-cultural, language and technical (teacher) training of new Peace Corps teachers. After returning to the U.S., Steve attended graduate school at Ohio University, where he received a Ph.D. in experimental nuclear physics, with thesis work on low-energy neutron scattering. After holding postdoctoral research positions at both Ohio University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he joined the faculty of Gustavus Adolphus College in 1986. He is currently associate professor and chair of the physics department there. Steve has been working on the incorporation of computer-enhanced instruction in physics for more than a decade, and has made extensive use of Physlets in his teaching for the past few years.

Carl Adler is the author of the Practice Questions, Practice Problems and Destinations modules. He also created the Web links for the site and did much of the formatting and coding that makes it all work together. Dr. Adler is by training a theoretical nuclear physicist, and has engaged in research in quantum mechanics, relativity and the history and philosophy of science. Dr. Adler has been active on the internet since 1992 and played a major role in East Carolina University becoming one of the most active universities utilizing the WWW for education. He served as ECU's first 'Web Coordinator' and conducted many workshops for faculty and staff on web technologies. Adler is currently Professor Emeritus in the Physics Department at ECU, where he also served as departmental chairman. His current activities focus on using JavaScript, Wired QuickTime, and online databases to facilitate education. Carl is also an active and enthusiastic sailor.

Glen Terrell, creator of the MCAT Study Guide, received his undergraduate degree from Texas Tech University, and a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin. He has been on the faculty at the University of Texas at Arlington since 1966. He has always been interested in teaching and, in particular, in the application of available technology to enhance students learning activities. His present working projects include (1) using the Internet to augment his university students learning experience, (2) developing Internet delivered Distance Learning courses in Physics and (3) being a virtual teaching assistant to high school physics teachers.

Thomas L. O'Kuma is co-author of Ranking Task Exercises in Physics (Š Prentice Hall, 2000). He has been a physics instructor for the past 25 years at two-year colleges, primarily teaching introductory physics. He has done considerable research in the effective means of presenting physics concepts through interactive lectures, laboratory experiments and the mathematics preparation of students entering introductory physics. He has presented over sixty workshops, ninety contributed papers, and thirty invited papers. O'Kuma also has been very active in the national and Texas branches of the American Association of Physics Teachers, and in 1994, he was awarded both the Distinguished Service Citation by the AAPT, and the Robert N. Little Award by the TSAAPT for outstanding contributions to physics in higher education in Texas. He has served in a variety of positions and committees for both organizations, including their Executive Council and presidential lines.

David Maloney is co-author of Ranking Task Exercises in Physics (Š Prentice Hall, 2000). He received a B.S. from the University of Louisville and a M.S. and Ph.D. from Ohio University. He has taught at Wesleyan College, Creighton University and Indiana University-Purdue University-Fort Wayne. His main research interest concerns the study of students' common sense ideas about physics, and how those ideas interact with physics instruction. He has authored, or co-authored, two dozen articles and has been the PI, or Co-PI, for six NSF grant projects.

Curtis Hieggelke is co-author of Ranking Task Exercises in Physics (Š Prentice Hall, 2000). He received a B.A. from Concordia College and a Ph.D in theoretical particle physics from the University of Nebraska. He has spent his entire 25-plus-year professional career as a full-time physics teacher at Joliet Junior College. Hieggelke has served as President and Section Representative of the Illinois Section of the American Association of Physics Teachers (ISAAPT), and received the Distinguished Service Citation in 1993. Joliet Junior College received the Illinois Community College Board Excellence in Teaching/Learning Award for his work in 1992. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Citation by AAPT in 1994 and he was elected to the Executive Board of AAPT for three years as the Two-Year College Representative. Since 1991, Hieggelke and Thomas O'Kuma have lead the Two-Year College (TYC) Physics Workshop Project (supported by five grants from the National Science Foundation), which has offered a series of more than 40 professional development workshops for over 800 TYC physics teacher participants.

James Walker is the author of the text on which the above materials are based. He obtained his Ph.D. in theoretical physics from the University of Washington in 1978. He subsequently served as a post-doc at the University of Pennsylvania, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the University of California at San Diego before joining the physics faculty at Washington State University in 1983. Professor Walker's research interests include statistical mechanics, critical phenomena, and chaos. He has also participated in observations on the summit of Mauna Kea, looking for evidence of extra-solar planets.

Jim Walker likes to work with students at all levels, from judging elementary school science fairs to writing research papers with graduate students, and has taught introductory physics for many years. His enjoyment of this course and his empathy for students have earned him a reputation as an innovative, enthusiastic, and effective teacher. Jim's educational publications include "Reappearing Phases" (Scientific American, May 1987) as well as articles in the American Journal of Physics and The Physics Teacher. In recognition of his contributions to the teaching of physics, Jim was named Boeing Distinguished Professor of Science and Mathematics for 2001-2003.

When he is not writing, conducting research, teaching, or developing new classroom demonstrations and pedagogical materials, Jim enjoys amateur astronomy, bird watching, photography, juggling, unicycling, boogie boarding, and kayaking. Jim is also an avid jazz pianist and organist. He has spent many summers as ballpark organist for Class A minor league baseball teams, including minor league affiliates of the Seattle Mariners and San Francisco Giants.