Teaching

Teaching Philosophy

I believe learning should be an active experience. Students in my classes should not be expected to sit back and relax as I drone on in the front. Instead, they will regularly be invited to participate by answering questions, discussing challenges with fellow classmates, and completing group assignments.

In larger service classes, the interactive aspect of my teaching typically takes the form of iClicker questions that invite students to engage with new concepts and definitions immediately after their introduction to help crystallize them. Not only does this keep students's minds engaged in lecture, it also informs me of what topics are unclear so I can reinforce them before moving on.

Advising

I have prepared a little web app "wizard" that helps students in UWEC's various physics degree programs plan out their studies. It tracks prerequisites/corequisites and other requirements as well as the terms in which various classes are offered to present students with the classes they are able to take in any given term, allowing them to construct a plan for how they will complete their major/minor/certificate requirements.

Launch Advising Wizard

Teaching Assignments

In recent semesters, I have primarily taught three courses:

PHYS 212: General Physics II
Algebra-based physics course covering electricity, magnetism, optics, and modern physics. Enrollment depends on the term but is generally between 40 and 70 students with majors including rehabilitation science, pre-medicine, computer science, biochemsitry, and others. Since Fall 2020, I have taught this class in a flipped modality, relying on videos and other interactive resources I have mostly created myself.
PHYS 240: Computational Physics
Course introducing students to programming in Python and its applications to physics and engineering. This is a required course for most physics majors and all biomedical engineers. Some materials science students take it as well. Enrollment is typically between 12 and 30 students each semester.
PHYS 445: Thermal Physics
During the falls of 2022 and 2024, I taught this upper-division course on the thermodynamics and statistical physics for advanced physics and chemistry majors. Enrollment was between 6 and 10 students.

Past Teaching Assignments

Before that, I taught a few other classes at UWEC and the Maricopa County Community College District

PHYS 211: General Physics I
Algebra-based physics course covering mechanics, fluids, and thermodynamics. This course immediately precedes PHYS 212 (above).
AST 111/113 (MCCCD): Solar Systems Astronomy
Introductory astronomy course with a lab component. This course is a general education option for many students at the Maricopa County Community College District.
AST 112/114 (MCCCD): Introduction to Stars, Galaxies, and Cosmology
Introductory astronomy course with a lab component. This course is a general education option for many students at the Maricopa County Community College District.
AST 106 (MCCCD): Life in the Universe
Online astronomy course focusing on connections between geology, astronomy, planetary science and the conditions necessary for life on earth and elsewhere in the universe. It is a general education option for students in the Maricopa County Community College District.