Dr. Jim Fowler is a mathematician at The Ohio State University. His research interests broadly include geometry and topology, and more specifically focus on the topology of high-dimensional manifolds and geometric group theory. In other words, he thinks in depth about highly symmetric geometric objects. He’s fond of using computational techniques to attack problems in pure mathematics.
Additionally, Dr. Fowler built the adaptive learning platform that powers MOOCulus, a massive open online course that features over 25 hours of calculus videos and exercises. This course was initially offered on Coursera during the Spring Semester of 2012–13 and had 47,000 students enrolled in the course, with several thousand successfully completing the 15-week course. Dr. Fowler’s talk will highlight the lessons he has learned from developing his Calculus Knowledge Assessment and how it has helped him develop stronger pedagogical insight on teaching.
