A collection of videos dealing with superconductivity of materials. The films explore a broad range of subjects in superconductivity, featuring interviews with leading world experts in academia and industry. It includes the history and theory of superconductivity, methods of superconductor synthesis and characterization, industrial production and applications. The set of videos are available online for streaming and downloading free of charge. The Lectures on Superconductivity are addressed to undergraduate and postgraduate students of physics, chemistry and materials science.
Type of Material:
Online Course
Recommended Uses:
Supplement for students interested in superconducitivity. Master lectures.
Technical Requirements:
Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge browsers were used to access the material. It seems that all facilities are active for any browser.
Identify Major Learning Goals:
Compile history of superconducitivity, discovery, materials, and applications.
Target Student Population:
High School, College General Ed, College Lower Division, College Upper Division, Graduate School, Professional
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:
Strong understanding of physics and materials science and engineering
Content Quality
Rating:
Strengths:
The Lectures on Superconductivity is a set of videos that constitute an advanced course mostly addressed for graduates and professionals. The collection of videos cover theory and fundamentals, a diversity of materials used as superconductors, electronic devices, and a set of diverse industrial and medical applications. It can be said that the course provides accurate information and summarize and integrate updated concepts on superconductivity. The videos are conceived as master lectures given by international specialists in the field. The recorded videos give an excellent summary and provides plenty of information of the topic at hand and is well supported by current research. The quality of the content is high.
Concerns:
While the videos are self contained, some other links have to be updated. The current relevance is a bit in question as this content was created for 2011 so that is a bit of a concern unless the applications/current progress is updated. There is a wealth of information so I would not say it is concise but it is still a great resource for the topic.
Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool
Rating:
Strengths:
The material is of very high quality and does a good job of introducing the topic at hand and it is very efficient in the learning time in the amount of time required. To be used as a stand-alone learning material, previous knowledge on advanced chemistry and physics of matter is needed (even quantum mechanics). Thus, the course is mostly addressed to postgraduate and professionals. It is possible to follow the sections in a free order.
Concerns:
I view this content as more a repository of information about the topic at hand an less of a course for students to take. Upper level students focusing on superconducitivty would find the resource very helpful as well as others who want to know more about the topic but I do not see how it can be easily integrated into a classroom setting. Learning objectives are not presented at the beginning of each lecture. Only a short summary of the respective section (group of lectures) is given in the index page. The material does not allow the measure of learning outcomes. There are no external links or a list of references for interested readers.
Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty
Rating:
Strengths:
The resource is very visually appealing and the quality of the interviews and animations/slides are of very high quality as well. Ease of use. Navigation is correct. Videos are downloadable in several formats. Video duration ranges from 1 to 17 minutes, good to keep the attention of attendants.
Concerns:
Most part of the videos are direct recording of persons speaking, sometimes the sound is not clear. Some low contrast is noticed at the website (accessibility concerns). The site can have trouble at times loading the video and video quality suffers at times as well. For mobile devices it was very difficult and there can be accessibility issues.
Creative Commons:
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