As a postdoctoral associate at the University of Virginia, I was awarded a Nucleus Grant ($10k) to design a nonmajors course called The Origins of Almost Everything for the Astronomy Department at the University of Virginia in the Fall 2015 semester. The course employed alternative teaching methods aimed at improving the classroom experience for traditionally underrepresented groups in STEM like group test taking, creative multimedia assignments, and small group discussions. A selection of my teaching evaluations are provided here. The course is now taught by Professor Ed Murphy.
As a graduate student, I created and taught a new course in the Cornell Astronomy Department called Astronomy 109: The Birth of the Universe that employs a unique approach for improving science literacy among first-year college students through writing. The Cornell Knight Institute awarded me a year-long fellowship ($60k) for my original curriculum design. 250 students signed up for only 17 slots (!) and Astro 109 was the most requested course (of more than 150) in its semester. Using this course as the foundation, I did a study on how changing the language in the course catalog could attract more female and minority students, the results of which I presented at the AAAS meeting in February 2013.
