Upending Expectations For A Dynamic Learning Experience
In physics research, I find that the feeling of being surprised is common. In my classroom, I create an learning experience which inverts expectation.
Featured in the University Journal
It was an honor to be spot-lighted in the University Journal! Thank you Cassidy Harmon and Prof. Hayden Coombs for the unique opportunity!
A New Physics Textbook!
I know how this sounds, but I authored a 390+ page introductory trigonometry-based physics textbook for my physics courses at Southern Utah University. I know what you're thinking: with so many great physics textbooks out there, what on earth would possess me to do such a thing?!
When I open an introductory physics textbook, I'm usually overwhelmed with clutter. Many textbook authors seems to operate under the impression that more figures, equations and text on a page is somehow better, but I find that students are usually just overwhelmed. Too busy of a book design, I believe, communicates the idea that physics is busy. It's not! Physics is actually a relatively small collection of a few simple rules. This textbook was an attempt to present physics on a student's terms, with terse, high-yield text, a conversational style and a clean, visually-inviting presentation. The book is typeset in LaTeX. I created everything from the photography to the problems, to examples, to the formatting and the figures. Click on the image at right to see a sample chapter! |