The best teacher I ever had was Dr. José López, my Intro Physics professor. Dr. López had great mastery of the subject, was very passionate about sharing his knowledge, and had an amazing ability to explain the most intricate ideas by contextualizing them in terms of the basic principles. His excitement was contagious and it made me appreciate physics as a fundamental science. Dr. López is the kind of teacher that I strive to emulate. I envision myself as a teacher who can spark students’ curiosity and help them get a solid grasp on the foundational ideas of the physical sciences, as this is what I consider the most important aspect of teaching. I want my students to develop a keen interest and command over the fundamental concepts, moving away from misconceptions and setting the stage towards a more scientifically literate society. In pursuit of my teaching goals, I will work on three different but equally important contexts: introductory-level university instruction, training and development of teaching assistants (TAs), and science outreach for the general public.
My teaching experience in higher education has included introductory lab classes in physics and astronomy. Although the classes have been fairly different from each other – one was a required class for engineering students, the other an elective for non-science majors – I was able to identify a few common threads that helped mold my general teaching strategy. As a TA, I learned that students arrive in introductory classes with different levels of prior knowledge, sometimes with preconceptions that can hinder their learning. For example, students often believe that motion requires a force, and are then confused by constant velocity motion, where the net force is zero. Students that hold misconceptions tend to not fully absorb new knowledge, but rather adapt it to what they think they already know. Therefore, I consider it imperative for a good teacher to identify misconceptions and correct them. In addition, I learned that identifying your audience’s strengths and weaknesses is crucial. By knowing where your students’ aptitudes and deficiencies lie, you can tailor your lessons accordingly and it becomes possible to teach rather advanced concepts even when your audience is at a basic level.
As an astronomy TA, I designed one lab activity that was quite successful. My students were able to complete all the problems, and several indicated it was their favorite lab of the semester. Many students were especially pleased when they were able to correctly derive the escape velocity from a black hole, after maneuvering through what they had initially considered a very scary symbolic manipulation of equations. Years later, with the advantage of hindsight, I realized that I tried to cover too much for a single class period. Knowing that information overload can prevent deeper understanding, I now strive to create lesson plans with a good balance of passive and active learning, so my students do not feel overwhelmed. Combining this with a good mixture of formative and summative assessments (group work, clicker questions, homeworks, exams and projects) allows me to better ensure that my students achieve the learning objectives for the class.
Another aspect of my teaching experience in higher education has been in preparing new TAs. In my time at Georgia Tech, I worked on adjusting and reworking the curriculum for a TA training class, including the development of entirely new training modules that successfully prepared my students for their new roles as TAs for introductory physics labs and recitations. This experience allowed me to put active learning into practice, since each lesson on teaching physics was more like a workshop than a lecture. It also enabled me to think about teaching from a meta-perspective, since how I teach the TAs influences the way the TAs teach their students. I have found training new TAs to be both challenging and rewarding. It is challenging because most new TAs are first-year physics Ph.D. students with lots of other responsibilities and commitments, and it is rewarding because I can make a much bigger impact on the education of intro physics students than I would if I were the TA for just one or two lab sections each semester. In the future I will continue working on TA training, continually revising the curriculum to make sure I give them the best possible preparation.
Teaching university students is important, but I also consider it essential to get students interested in science before they reach university, as well as keeping the interest alive in adults who have already completed their formal education. This is why I also want to dedicate time to educating people in the informal setting of science outreach. Outreach efforts directed at different age groups can open the door to the world of science to people who may not otherwise be exposed to it. Science outreach complements formal education for K-12 students by introducing children to more advanced topics, enhances STEM students’ interest in their fields by reminding them of what attracted them to study science in the first place, and helps create a more educated society by showing adults how science is relevant to their lives. In the past, my outreach work has involved answering questions on NASA’s “Ask an Astrophysicist” website, giving public talks on astronomy, running physics summer camps for high school students, and performing physics demonstrations for K-12 students. The demos, in particular, give students the opportunity to see physics concepts in action, supplementing what they learn in science class and leading them to develop a real physical intuition. In the future, I plan to continue and expand on my various outreach efforts, including doing physics demos for adult audiences.
I am additionally interested in combating common astronomy preconceptions among the general public. Astronomy, by its very nature, cannot be experienced in a laboratory, but we can do observations and create models that allow us to create hands-on exercises. These are essential for correcting common astronomical misconceptions and misunderstandings, including astrology, the causes for the seasons, moon phases, and eclipses, among many others. In developing practical astronomy activities, I can give the general public the opportunity to experience the scientific method first-hand: formulating hypotheses, testing them, and drawing conclusions.
I love science. I have found astronomy to be fascinating ever since I was a young child, and as a university student I grew to enjoy and respect physics enormously, which is why I have spent my entire adult life studying both of these disciplines. And what better to do with my knowledge than pass it on to others? It is my hope that all my students, both formal and informal, will notice my love for astronomy and physics, and that some of it rubs off on them. By doing this, I will be ‘paying it forward’ and following in Dr. López’s footsteps, ensuring that our infectious love for science becomes an epidemic of astronomical proportions.
Last updated: 8 December 2014