You recently initiated a web-based program called GEOSET, or Global Educational Outreach for Science Engineering and Technology. Could you share with us more about it?
Basically it is a project in which I get in teachers to record short presentations on particular concepts, not (necessarily) whole lectures, although we do have a lot of complete lectures streaming.
A lecture consists of a whole load of concepts and we want to capture these as separate entities. A teacher might have a concept that he/she likes to present and a clever idea on how to explain complex ideas and discoveries. The best teachers will have quite a few of these and I want to capture by recording them for posterity, so that teachers’ ideas can be used by other teachers and furthermore they get a bit of immortality as well.
Excitingly, what we have discovered is that students are very good at presenting their own passions and original ideas. They have great imagination and they talk about things that really interest them deeply.
My view is that in general you can only teach things in which you have a strong interest, a conviction, and a passion. What we are doing is capturing these teaching gems for other teachers to use. We are getting students and teachers in universities and other educational institutions around the world to record the things about which they are passionate. We are activating a large number of people to participate and in time we shall cover all the bases.
I want to record the subjective aspects to conflate with what Wikipedia is doing. Wikipedia is fantastic; I really think it is the second great educational contribution of all time, after the printing press.
How would you say this fits in with your philosophy of science education?
I want the subjectivity. I want to see the teachers. I think teachers are almost invariably the people who encourage the enthusiasm in young people to become creative.
Some students can do it by themselves but by and large most people who have been creatively successful have had a teacher who recognized their ability and encouraged it. Basically they saw that this or that young person had ability and nurtured it in order to make positive contributions to society.
Are there any other endeavors that you have been involved in?
In my research I was never motivated by thoughts about the Nobel Prize or indeed any other prizes. I was very satisfied with what I had done as a scientist before we made this very surprising discovery in 1985. The discovery diverted me from the graphics which I really wanted to do and indeed, still want to do.
Over the years I have had a reasonable amount semi-professional/ professional success in graphic design. Some of my designs have won awards.
My first “important” award was not for my science but for graphic design and was highlighted in an international professional annual for graphic design.
I have an inside track that professional people in graphic design don’t generally have in that I understand science; so I can usually create a graphic design highlighting an accurate intrinsic aspect of the associated science.
