Teaching Experience:
Instructor for: PHYS 210: Astronomy at UNK 2013
Astro 101 course that used the textbook The Essential Cosmic Perspectives by Bennett. This concept driven course covers topics from basic astronomy like the seasons, coordinate systems, and moon phases through advanced topics like stellar evolution, galaxy formation, and cosmology. My duties include developing the lecture, tests, in-class assignments, and homework.
Instructor for: PHYS 205: General Physics I at UNK 2013
This is the first semester of the algebra based physics sequence. We covered topics including: kinematics, dynamics, rotational motion, through waves. The course used the text Physics: Principles with Applications by Giancoli. My duties include developing the lecture, tests, in-class assignments, and homework.
Instructor for: PHYS 205L/275L: General Physics I Lab at UNK 2013
This laboratory class is designed to supplement both the algebra and calculus based introductory physics classes. The lab involves a brief lecture by me, and then the students break into groups to experience a different physical principal each week. The students worked out of a proprietary lab manual for UNK. I taught both versions of the lab: algebra and calculus based.
Instructor for: PHYS 100L: Physical Science Lab at UNK 2013
This laboratory class is designed to supplement our Physical Science lectures. We cover a variety of topics from kinematics, dynamics, thermodynamics, electricity, and optics. The lab involves a brief lecture by me, and then the students worked in groups on that week's lab. The students worked out of a proprietary lab manual for UNK.
Instructor for: ASTR 250: Undergraduate Seminar at Vanderbilt 2012 - 2013
ASTR 250 was an undergraduate seminar designed to teach students how to present scientific research in different settings. My job consisted of developing the course, lecturing, grading the presentations, and helping each student develop his or her presentations during office hours. I taught this class twice.
Co-Lecturer for: ASTR 1010: Intro to Astronomy at Tenn. State July 2012
Astro 101 was a summer course that used the textbook The Cosmic Perspectives by Bennett. The class was composed of both lecture and lab. Another postdoc taught the first month, and I was the sole instructor of both the lecture and lab for the second month. This involved developing the course, writing and grading tests and homework, lecturing, and running labs
Substitute Lecturer for: Bridge Programming Boot Camp at Vanderbilt 2011
The Bridge program runs a programming bootcamp to bring new Vanderbilt graduate students up to speed on using Linux, Python, and IDL. I gave the lecture for the first week of this two week camp.
Substitute Lecturer for: AST 2037: Life in the Universe at UF 2009-2011
AST 2037 was an Astro 101 course using the textbook The Search for Life in the Universe. I substitute-lectured roughly 10 classes for both Dr. Ford and Dr. Ge combined. This was a large (approximately 100 student) class.
Co-Instructor: Dimensions summer camp: Astronomy at MSU June 2007
Dimensions was a summer camp for gifted middle school students. The class involved a combination of lecture and hands-on activities. Most of the activities came out of The Universe at Your Fingertips workbook.
Graduate TA: ISP 205 Astronomy Lab at MSU 2003-2004
ISP 205 was the standard freshman astronomy lab at Michigan state. It involved a brief lecture by me at the beginning of the lab, help during the lab, and grading of the final work. The students worked out of a proprietary lab manual for MSU.
Student Mentorship:
Part of my postdoctoral work at Vanderbilt has been as a Fisk-Vanderbilt Bridge program postdoc. This program is specifically designed to increase the number of under-represented minorities in STEM graduate programs. Two of my primary roles in this have been as a research advisor to a 2nd year astronomy grad student and as an academic advisor to five 4th and 5th year STEM (astronomy, physics, and material science) graduate students. I have also mentored two REU students while at Vanderbilt.
Public Outreach:
- Conducted planetarium shows at the UNK Planetarium for a variety of ages and interests.
- Answered public questions at the Vanderbilt Dyer Observatory for Bluebird on the Mountain and Yuri's Day.
- Ran 8 inch telescopes and answered public questions at UF's Public Nights.
- Ran the 24 inch and 8 inch telescope during most Open House nights at MSU.
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