Courses taught
From Laboratory to Layperson: Scientific Literacy and Communication
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Scientific literacy is a critical cornerstone for growth and progress in economic, intellectual, and policy matters worldwide. This course seeks to provide students of all academic backgrounds and interests with an understanding of scientific literacy by exploring how science is done, communicated, and understood by the public. Science is a process that is applied in many forms. The course therefore takes an interdisciplinary approach that integrates basic, observational, and applied sciences, drawn from the course instructors’ respective disciplines of exercise and sport science, nutritional epidemiology, and computational physics. Students will explore foundational concepts relating to logic, reasoning, communication, and critical evaluation of evidence, which will provide them with skills that apply to a variety of fields and concepts.
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Scientific literacy is a critical cornerstone for growth and progress in economic, intellectual, and policy matters worldwide. This course seeks to provide students of all academic backgrounds and interests with an understanding of scientific literacy by exploring how science is done, communicated, and understood by the public. Science is a process that is applied in many forms. The course therefore takes an interdisciplinary approach that integrates basic, observational, and applied sciences, drawn from the course instructors’ respective disciplines of exercise and sport science, nutritional epidemiology, and computational physics. Students will explore foundational concepts relating to logic, reasoning, communication, and critical evaluation of evidence, which will provide them with skills that apply to a variety of fields and concepts.
| fys_course_syllabus.pdf |
Introductory Physics I
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
The concepts and relations (force, energy and momentum) describing physical interactions and the changes in motion they produce, along with applications to the physical and life sciences. Lab experiments, lectures and problem-solving activities are interwoven into each class. Discussion sections offer additional help with mathematics, data analysis and problem solving. This course satisfies medical school and engineering requirements for an introductory physics I course with labs.
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
The concepts and relations (force, energy and momentum) describing physical interactions and the changes in motion they produce, along with applications to the physical and life sciences. Lab experiments, lectures and problem-solving activities are interwoven into each class. Discussion sections offer additional help with mathematics, data analysis and problem solving. This course satisfies medical school and engineering requirements for an introductory physics I course with labs.
| phy117_f21_syllabus.pdf |
Mathematical Methods in the Physical Sciences and Engineering
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course covers a variety of math topics of particular use to physics and engineering students. Topics include differential equations, complex numbers, Taylor series, linear algebra, Fourier analysis, partial differential equations, and a review of multivariate calculus, with particular focus on physical interpretation and application.
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course covers a variety of math topics of particular use to physics and engineering students. Topics include differential equations, complex numbers, Taylor series, linear algebra, Fourier analysis, partial differential equations, and a review of multivariate calculus, with particular focus on physical interpretation and application.
| phy_210_01_fall22_syllabus.pdf |
Computational Methods in the Physical Sciences
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course provides an overview of commonly used computational methods and their applications to physics problems. Using the Python programming language, we will begin with understanding how programs send instructions to computers on to simple data visualization, error analysis and uncertainty in computational calculations, and then progress on to numerical integration and differentiation, machine learning, and stochastic methods. In each case, we will examine the method’s applications to relevant physics scenarios. This course will be project- based, with multiple short projects throughout the semester intended to build the skills and generate a set of modules that can be used as part of a final project applying a computational method to an appropriate physics problem of the student’s choice.
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course provides an overview of commonly used computational methods and their applications to physics problems. Using the Python programming language, we will begin with understanding how programs send instructions to computers on to simple data visualization, error analysis and uncertainty in computational calculations, and then progress on to numerical integration and differentiation, machine learning, and stochastic methods. In each case, we will examine the method’s applications to relevant physics scenarios. This course will be project- based, with multiple short projects throughout the semester intended to build the skills and generate a set of modules that can be used as part of a final project applying a computational method to an appropriate physics problem of the student’s choice.
| phy_211_01_fall22.pdf |
Evidence of teaching effectiveness
A selection of responses and student comments from course evaluations.
| evidenceteachingeffectiveness.pdf |
