UW Gazette, February 26, 1997
     
     Interested in spectroscopy?
     If the answer is no, you obviously have never met Dr.
Bill Power.
     It would be difficult to imagine a conversation with
the UW chemistry professor in which the subject of
spectroscopy doesn't arise. In an interview about his
receipt of the first Gudrun and Hari Sharma Teaching Award,
Power managed to mention spectroscopy within the first
three minutes.
     What is spectroscopy? "It's the interaction of light
with matter," he said, offering the basic explanation for
someone whose knowledge of science comes mainly from Quirks
and Quarks.
     The course description for Chemistry 129, Introductory
Spectroscopy, refers to "the electromagnetic spectrum and
the production and detection of photons in various energy
ranges; elementary descriptions of atomic and molecular
spectra and their use in the locations of energy levels;
the use of spectra to elucidate energy states of atoms and
molecules; aspects of ultraviolet, visible, infrared,
Raman, microwave and nuclear magnetic resonance spectro
scopies".
     Spectroscopy is used for magnetic resonance imaging
(MRI) in hospitals, for trace element analysis in the
environmental field, even in astrophysics.
     "There's no end to the applications for spectroscopy,"
Power bubbles. "It's not just for chemists. There's so many
neat things going on in this area now!"
     After completing a PhD at Dalhousie and a postdoctoral
fellowship at Yale, he brought his passion for spectroscopy
to UW just over three years ago. Assigned to teach Chem
129, Power produced a new set of course notes and placed
them on the Web, along with a synopsis of each lecture, a
set of assignments and solutions, lab information and e-
mail addresses for course markers and TAs. As well, he
developed the first distance version of the course.
     "It was scary at first," he admitted. "I had never
taught before I came here. I just thought about when I was
a student and how I learned the most."
     The added challenge for Chemistry 129 was the absence
of any text for a first-year course in spectroscopy. "It's
usually taught at the second or third-year level at other
universities. We like to introduce it earlier at UW."
     He explains: "The advantage of the Web site is having
a central storehouse of information that is always
available when students have questions, even at 2 a.m.,
unlike me."
     But the Web site, useful as it may be, is only an
adjunct to the classroom work. Power rejects high-tech
classroom tools, even overhead projectors, in favor of the
simple blackboard, allowing students to transcribe
information as they learn.
     "They have to be active in the learning process. The
computer can't teach, it just can't."
     Power believes his work with Chem 129 was a key factor
in his award, along with student evaluations of the course.
     Dr. Terry McMahon, chair of the chemistry department,
concurs. The three areas considered in awarding the honor
to Power were his use of the Web to provide easy access to
Chem 129 course materials, his distance version of the
course, offered entirely on the Web, and student
evaluations, he said.
     "Although he is relatively junior, he comes off as
being the best teacher in the department in the view of the
students," said McMahon, who pointed to Power's use of e-
mail to provide personal contact with a class of some 200
students.
     "The award means a great deal to me," said Power. "I
take a lot of pride in my teaching, and work hard at trying
to teach better."
     Since he is not yet tenured, the recognition is
especially significant.
     However, Power insists if not for his research which
informs and inspires his teaching, he would never have
received an award. "I don't think I'd be getting a teaching
award if I wasn't so enthusiastic about my research. It's a
demonstration of why we have to do both teaching and
research.
     "I get annoyed at the increasing separation between
teaching and research. The two play off each other; they're
two sides of the same coin, and both need to be supported.
We should be bringing them closer together rather than
driving them apart."
     Funded by Dr. Hari Sharma, UW chemistry professor
emeritus, and his wife, the award provides $1,000 to the
recipient. Power plans to donate half back to the
department for improvements to its "Web presence", and use
the rest to upgrade his computer at home.