Teaching

This is a list of courses that I teach or have taught at Robert Morris University:

PHYS1210 General Physics I: Mechanics

Mechanics covers the physics of everyday life including Newton's Laws, velocity, acceleration, gravity, forces, friction, momentum, and circular motion. It offers a naturally intuitive introduction to physics. This course will also briefly introduce fluid dynamics and energy generation. Click on the link to see the lecture notes that I have developed for this class.

PHYS1215 General Physics I: Mechanics Laboratory

This laboratory section accompanies General Physics I (PHYS1210). Students perform experiments and analyze data using spreadsheets. Students will design and conduct their own experimental investigation. Students will also write a report and give a presentation summarizing experimental findings and conclusions. Click on the link to see the lab manual.

PHYS2210 General Physics II: Electricity and Magnetism

Electricity and magnetism is the most important and interesting phenomena in nature. This course explores the origins and interconnectivity of electricity and magnetism, emphasizing the basic electromagnetic laws of Gauss, Ampere, and Faraday. Not only will we consider how electricity and magnetism arise in nature, but also how these phenomena combine to create electromagnetic waves. This course also briefly covers thermodynamics, physical optics and nuclear physics. Click on the link to see the lecture notes for this course.

PHYS2215 General Physics II: Electricity and Magnetism Laboratory

This laboratory section accompanies General Physics II (PHYS2210). Students perform experiments and analyze data. Students will also write a report and give a presentation summarizing experimental findings and conclusions. Includes an experiment measuring the greenhouse effect due to elevated carbon dioxide in a polypropylene container (from "The Physics Behind a Simple Demonstration of the Greenhouse Effect." Physics Education, 2014, 49 171).

BIOL3640 Computational Biology

This course will introduce students to the use of computer simulations in biology. In particular, students will use computer models to investigate biological problems and learn which different computer models might be applicable to different biological systems. Students will complete brief investigations which use simple computer models to investigate various biological processes. No prior programming experience is required, and students will learn to use spreadsheets or for implementing these simulations. Furthermore, students will learn how to present their results in a scientific manner. Students will then work on a project of their choosing and numerically investigate a chosen biological process. Students will finish the project by both submitting a project report and giving an in-class presentation.

BIOL4650 MCAT Preparation

This course is a seminar course for pre-medicine students. It will include review of test materials for entrance examinations for medical fields and graduate schools. Potential alternate activities include a hands-on component, field trips, and guest speakers. It was designed for continuing education in the health care professions and as preparation for the corresponding sections of the MCAT examination. Physics and chemistry are a major focus.

HNRS3900 Honors Seminar: Physics and Sport

An Honors seminar class exploring the interdisciplinary nature of physics and sport. This is team taught with Armand Buzzelli (the recreation center director) and incorporates a hands-on component that reinforces theory and helps put into practice what we learn in lectures.

PHYS1010 Physics for Allied Health

This course is designed for students interested in the health professions or for those that want to understand more about how the body works. Physics is rapidly taking on a greater role in both medicine and biological sciences. The purpose of this course is to show how physics is applied in the health sciences. In particular, we will investigate how basic physics principles can describe numerous actions and properties of the human body.

PHYS1015 Physics for Allied Health Laboratory

This laboratory section accompanies Physics for Allied Health (PHYS1010). Students perform experiments, analyze data, and maintain a laboratory notebook. Students will also write a report and give a presentation summarizing experimental findings and conclusions.

PHYS1023 Alternative Energy Technologies

This course will discuss recent developments in alternative energy technologies. In particular, this course will cover recent scientific developments and the latest technological advances in areas of science and engineering associated with power generation. Students will develop the necessary skills to decipher scientific articles and interpret the scope and conclusions of recent scientific research. Subjects covered in the course will be drawn from recent scientific and engineering literature describing recent breakthroughs, aimed at improving efficiency, cost-effectiveness and practicality of renewable energies. The topics could include biofuels, nanotechnology, and solar cells. A scientific method of inquiry and reasoning will be stressed throughout the course.

PHYS1060 Photographing Physics

Physics is a natural philosophy which at its very heart asks why is the world the way it is? This course exposes students to physics through photographic observations of the natural world around us. Students will photograph a variety of natural phenomena around them and discuss the physics behind this natural phenomena. Topics will include a wide variety of physics.

PHYS2610 Environmental Physics

This course is an introduction to the basic concepts of classical and modern physics for students majoring in environmental science. This one semester course reviews elements of mechanics, thermodynamics, states of matter, weather and climate, and radioactivity. The practical aspects of the physical concepts are stressed where appropriate.

PHYS2615 Environmental Physics Laboratory

Provides students the ability to perform experiments that demonstrate and re-enforce the physics concepts examined in PHYS2610. The course provides hands-on experimentation of the basic laws of mechanics, energy, electrostatics, wave motion, spectroscopy, and radioactivity, among others.

PHYS6100 Advanced Topics and Pedagogical Strategies in the Physical Sciences

This was a course for future science teachers and covered select topics in physics and chemistry. I usually taught them topics that I knew would be useful to them (why is the sky blue and how are rainbows formed, for example) and also stressed the use of demo's in teaching physics (especially demo's using dollar store items).

BIOL1050 Concepts and Controversies in Nutrition

This course begins with a general overview of the benefits of certain foods to human health. Nutrition standards and guidelines are recommended. The remarkable human body is discussed with particular emphasis on cells, hormones, digestive, and excretory systems. A thorough study of how carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, vitamins, and mineral chemistry affect the human organism is presented. The symbiosis between and among nutrients, energy, physical activity and weight control, and the body’s responses to these interactions is explained. Proper nutrition and its benefits to disease prevention are emphasized. The life cycle nutrition from pregnancy to later-life years is discussed. Students become familiar with various nutritional charts and tables and, as a result, are encouraged to examine their own dietary practices and to modify their behavior to improve their nutritional health. The course concludes with an overview of the methods of food safety and food technology, hunger, and the global environment. Principles of scientific inquiry are integrated throughout the course.

In addition, prior to my time at RMU I also taught Quantum Mechanics II and various computer programming languages.