Gregor M. Novak

Distinguished Scholar in Residence, Department of Physics

United States Air Force Academy

Dr. Gregor M. Novak is Professor in the Department of Physics at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI.). His primary teaching responsibility is the Introductory Physics sequence. His primary scholarly interest is the application of multimedia technology to improve undergraduate physics teaching. Over his tenure on the faculty at IUPUI, Dr. Novak has been at the heart of numerous successful innovations for undergraduate physics teaching and learning. He has extensive leadership experience with faculty workshops having given over sixty invited workshops and presentations on technology in the physics classroom over the past six years. He is the co-author of the recently published book: Just-in-Time Teaching: Blending Active Learning with Web Pedagogy, Prentice Hall (1999.) Dr. Novak has received several teaching awards, the including the 1998 Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching at IUPUI.

Just-in-Time-Teaching (JiTT) introduces a blend of the state-of-the-art multimedia technologies exemplified by the World Wide Web and active learning pedagogy into the traditional introductory physics curriculum. In this approach, outside-the-classroom technology-based assignments are given equal weight with the in-class, active learner collaborative activities. Although the JITT project is only six semesters old, there is already considerable evidence that its approach improves student attitudes, retention, and performance.