I have recently, May 2012, graduated with a Master of Science degree in Physics from the University of Minnesota. I have a B.S. in astronomy as well as in physics, and I have great mathematics and problem solving skills. I interned at NASA Ames research center during the summer 2012 and then moved to LA. I am currently working on getting back to school to finish my PhD. My future plans are to be involved in cutting edge research, but I will also always be involved in teaching, whether it is in classrooms or one-on-one or even public outreach/seminars.
I have worked as a teaching assistant in UMN from 8/2009 to 5/2012 teaching Laboratory and Discussion sections of classical physics, astronomy and quantum physics courses. My students were mostly university freshmen and sophomores, but I have worked with many older students as well. I can also work well with younger students in middle school or even elementary school. I also spent a summer working in Soudan underground physics laboratory where I gave physics lectures to the public about what are some of the perplexing questions of our generation and how astronomers and physicists are trying to answer these fundamental questions.
I have a passion for communicating/teaching complex ideas that I have studied to others, and I am particularly great at breaking things down as much as it is required until it makes perfect sense for students. I believe what makes a great teacher is not just how knowledgeable she/he is, but it is how effectively she/he can connect to the student and communicate her/his knowledge. I will work toward building the student’s intuition for the type of material we will work on together. I make great use of effective examples. But at the end, great problem solving skills are only reached by practice. And that is why in most of my sessions, I will focus more on having the student solve numerous different types of problems. I will try to identify where the student is having difficulties and progress from there. In my experience, small misconceptions are usually the reason for having difficulties with more complex problems, thus it is very important to pinpoint those misconceptions and correct them.
I am friendly and approachable, and at the same time serious about my job. And my personal goal is to introduce to my students the fun side of Mathematics and physics.
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