Teaching

Chelsea pointing at the screen of a laptop while helping a workshop participant Physics education research has overwhelmingly found that students learn best when actively engaged in class—the best way to learn physics is to actually do physics. I believe this same style of active learning should also be used to teach students how to apply their physics knowledge. Therefore, when I teach physics and astronomy, I integrate hands-on activities with modern applications so students practice how physics is applied in research and industry.

A photo of the SRT (Small Radio Telescope) on the roof of Serin at Rutgers My first experience leading interactive classrooms was as a teaching assistant for Extended Analytical Physics (EAP), an introductory physics course for freshman engineering majors with poor math preparation. In EAP, students learn classical mechanics in cycles of interactive lectures and tutorials that build up to an open-ended laboratory test. I won the Richard J. Plano Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award for cultivating understanding through active learning and building enthusiasm for physics in this course and as a teaching assistant for Observational Radio Astronomy.

Based on how effective I found active learning in EAP, I have pursued further training on interactive teaching best practices through the Center for Astronomy Education’s Teaching Excellence Workshop. I have also begun taking courses through the MacPherson Institute for Leadership, Innovation, and Excellence in Teaching at McMaster that provide me with both a theoretical background and peer-evaluated experience in preparing university-level courses.

Awards

Teaching Experience

Tutorial Leader, Integrated Science 3A12: Light, the Universe, and Everything, McMaster, Winter 2017 (Instructors: Dr. Sarah Symons, Dr. Ralph Pudritz).
Prepared and delivered three tutorials (6 undergraduate students) on AGN unification and helped students design modules to instruct the rest of the class on this topic.
Guest Lecturer, REU Summer Lecture Series, Cornell, Summer 2015 & 2016.
Prepared and delivered one lecture (~20 undergraduate students) on high-redshift galaxy discovery techniques.
Guest Lecturer, ASTR 2211: Stars, Galaxies, and Cosmology, Cornell, Spring 2016 (Instructor: Dr. Dominik Riechers).
Delivered one lecture (~20 undergraduate science majors) on the end states of high-mass stellar evolution.
Guest Lecturer, ASTR 1195: Observational Astronomy, Cornell, Fall 2014 & 2015 (Instructor: Dr. Gordon Stacey).
Delivered lectures (~20 undergraduate students) on telescopes, blackbody radiation, atomic structure, and the Milky Way.
Guest Lecturer, ASTR 3303: Galaxies Across Cosmic Time, Cornell, Fall 2013 (Instructor: Dr. Dominik Riechers).
Delivered one lecture (3 undergraduate students) on high-redshift galaxy discovery techniques.
Co-leader of Rutgers TA Orientation workshop on Fostering Collaboration and Discussion in the Sciences and Engineering, Rutgers, August 2012.
Prepared and delivered a training session to new Rutgers STEM teaching assistants on why and how to promote collaboration and discussions in science class rooms.
Physics Tutor, Bunting-Cobb Residence Hall for women majoring in STEM, Rutgers, Fall 2010-Spring 2013, part of the Douglass Project.
Tutored all levels of physics, from introductory descriptive physics to advanced electricity & magnetism, for three hours a week (1-10 undergraduate students per week) in a dorm for female STEM majors.
Guest Lecturer, Ph343: Observational Radio Astronomy, Rutgers, Spring 2011 (Instructor: Dr. Andrew J. Baker).
Prepared and delivered one lecture (~15 undergraduate students) on the molecular interstellar medium in galaxies.
TA, Ph115: Extended Analytical Physics I, Rutgers, Fall 2009 (Instructor: Dr. Suzanne Brahmia).
Led two recitation sections, twice a week (~20 undergraduate students each), of algebra-based introductory mechanics for engineering majors with poor math backgrounds, using active learning and lab projects.
TA, Ph343: Observational Radio Astronomy, Rutgers, Spring 2009 (Instructor: Dr. Andrew J. Baker).
Guided four bi-monthly sections (2-3 undergraduate students each) in making observations with a small radio telescope.
UTA, Ay1: The Evolving Universe, Caltech, Spring 2007 (Instructor: Dr. Charles Steidel).
Prepared and delivered bi-monthly recitation lectures (~20 students) reviewing the important topics covered in class and hosted weekly office hours for an introductory astronomy class for non-majors.

Pedagogical Training

Education 751: Principles & Practices of University Teaching; MacPherson Institute for Leadership, Innovation, and Excellence in Teaching; McMaster; Fall 2017.
Course on the pedagogical approaches and technqiues related to the design and delivery of university education, including opportunities to practice and hone one's teaching effectiveness. Topics include: course design, lesson planning, assessment, and supporting learning for a diverse student body.
Education 700: Essential Skills in Teaching and Learning (II); MacPherson Institute for Leadership, Innovation, and Excellence in Teaching; McMaster; Summer 2017.
Completed six workshops on topics like inquiry based learning, emerging learning technologies, and intercultural competency.
Education 600: Essential Skills in Teaching and Learning (I); MacPherson Institute for Leadership, Innovation, and Excellence in Teaching; McMaster; Winter 2017.
Completed six workshops on topics like leading effective labs, lesson planning, and accessibility.
Center for Astronomy Education's Tier 1 Teaching Excellence Workshop, 227th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society, January 2016.
Learned best practices for implementing interactive learning in the Astronomy 101 classroom.

Students Mentored