Profile

Descriptions. Ha, I scoff at descriptions. I dunno? Science I guess. I like that. Also lasers. Oh, and hedgehogs are pretty ok. Better than wars.

Finding out how to teach physics the right way is easy if you are teaching Phoebe from Hey Arnold! or one of those Big Bang theory people….but it’s hard to do for most people. So, I try to use techniques from experimental psychology to study how students learn physics. For example – if we teach multiplication before division – does that make it easier to understand long division later on? Or does it make no difference. That stuff’s important so I do research on it.

I spend about 50% of my week teaching. I spend about 30% doing research – writing papers and so on. I spend about 20% doing admin type things like organizing meetings and this and all that. So…typical day? Well let’s start with today. Today I got in, then I met some students who have come into our lab to do work experience. We melted some paper with some lasers, then I took them to a meeting where we talked about a different way to teach experimental skills. Then I went to a  three hour workshop where we looked at a new technique to use lasers. Oh, and I taught a class in astronomy.

In my spare time, I am a stand up comedian / clown. I’d like to open up a comedy club where scientists do comedy about their work, and comedians do comedy about science.