Blog – Page 18 – UMass Amherst

An observation regarding instructional goals in P132

As I am going through teaching P132 – Introductory Physics II: What is an electron? What is light? I have noticed a good instructional goal that I did not consider back at the beginning of the semester when I was first planning out the course: developing an appreciation that nonsensical mathematical results can still possess physical meaning. In P132, there are several topics where the formulae can give nonsense answers. Two more straight-forward examples include Snell’s Law n¹ sin θ¹ = n² sin θ² and quantization conditions requiring integers.

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New semester, new projects!

Well a new semester has begun at UMass-Amherst, and the group has lots of interesting new projects!

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Changing the perception of what a scientist looks like

I definitely believe that there is a perception of what a scientist is/looks-like in the cultural zeitgeist. I also believe that this image bears little resemblance to many of the scientists that I know. The This is what a Scientist Looks Like project is out to help correct this difference. I encourage you all to take a look!

Brokk Toggerson nominated for UMass Distinguished Teaching Award!

This semester, Brokk Toggerson has been nominated for the UMass distinguished teaching award for the second year in a row. The distinguished teaching award is only awarded to one faculty member each year, can only be won once in a lifetime, and is the only teaching award at UMass for which students are the only possible nominators. Heath Hatch, another of the P131 team, has already won this award.

Personnel Leadership – It is a thing!

As we wrap up another semester, I am, as is usual for this time of year, thinking about what went wrong and what went right this past semester. I will say that a lot of things have gone very well this semester. My students have exceeded my expectations which is a great feeling. I have even checked with colleagues to see that my expectations have not been slowly changing to “easier” over time. Now, if I could just figure out what we did right so we could replicate it…

One thing that continues to be at the forefront of teaching in a class of 6 sections, 3 instructors, 16 graduate-student TAs, 2 undergraduate graders, 1 undergraduate Supplemental Instruction leader, and 2 undergraduate ExSEL program tutors is keeping everyone on the same page and focused on the same goal – all while not micromanaging.

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