Logic is the beginning of wisdom, not the end.
– Spock
Teaching is more a conversation than it is a presentation. It is a conversation not just with the learner, but with all the teachers who have come before. My teaching materials are hardly unique as they borrow from, remix, and reinterpret all the material that I have come across in my educational career. What I can share, I do so below. Please contact me if you are interesting in trading ideas, collaborating, or remixing together.
College Classes
Astronomy 101
This is the “bread and butter” course for any astronomer in academia. Designed as a one-semester course with a laboratory, this is potentially the very last science course that many of my students will ever take. Topics include light and spectra, orbital motions, stars and galaxies, and cosmology.
Science for Elementary Educators
This unique course brings together fundamental ideas from across the physical, biological, and earth sciences for pre-service elementary educators. It is largely driven by the NextGenPET Curriculum.
Life Beyond Earth
I had the distinct pleasure of adopting this course as a summer version with the help of Professors Rood and Murphy at the University of Virginia. It has evolved into my own favorite course to teach that also has a writing-intensive component. (Link goes to most recent syllabus)
Writing a Senior Thesis in Physics
This was developed for senior physics majors doing research with a faculty advisor. It serves as an introduction to writing a full scientific paper.
Information Education
Communication for Engineers
Developed as a weekly seminar for undergraduate engineers, this workshop get students familiar with giving scientific talks at several levels.
Radio JOVE
Radio JOVE is a system for detecting decametric radiation from the Sun and Jupiter with educational materials developed by NASA. I have incorporated additional guides as a “crash course” for undergraduate students starting to work with this instrument while teaching high school students to build and use it.