TEACHING PHILOSOPHY

Sumithra Surendralal
I have not taught my own class, but I have been a teaching assistant in the physics
department at Penn State for close to 14 semesters. I have handled recitations and
labs for both algebra-based and calculus-based courses on mechanics,
electromagnetic theory, and optics for non-physics majors. Though my classroom
teaching has been limited to my role as a teaching assistant, in crafting this
statement of my teaching philosophy, I have also drawn on my other experiences
both as a learner and teacher. These include leading community science outreach
events, teaching peers, mentoring younger graduate students, as well as mentoring
a group of highly-motivated undergraduate students when I helped coordinate a
Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program supported by the National
Science Foundation (NSF).
The courses I would like to teach in the future include both traditional
undergraduate physics courses, as well as hybrid courses drawing on my research
expertise - biophysics and computational neuroscience. In designing these courses,
be it for a large introductory class for non-majors, or a small specialized honors
class for physics majors, I have the following broad framework in mind Firstly, I would like all aspects of a course be it lectures, homework, or projects to
primarily serve students as triggers for further learning on their own. For example,
in setting an assignment on the concept of friction, I would consider a single
question Find the coefficient of kinetic friction of your bicycle tire to be a useful
tool of learning for them, and student assessment for me, than a set of standard
calculations on friction that you would find on the SAT or GRE. This would also allow
students to spend more time focusing on an aspect of the problem they enjoy the
most for some it may be the experimental design (rolling a bicycle down a hill), for
others it may be the detailed mathematical calculations, and for yet another group
it might be a question of where else they could apply these ideas. For a group of
non-majors, I would assign a set of hints and guiding questions to supplement the
exercise, while for an honors course I would let the students battle with the thinking
process much more on their own.

One of my favorite pieces of reading is mathematician and physicist Freeman

Dysons essay `Birds and frogs, in which he talks about two broad types of
mathematicians. He says that some are like birds that survey vast landscapes at a
distance from the skies - interested in the big picture, in how ideas are connected to
one another. Others are like frogs that take in all the tiny bits of the landscape
around them detailed, interested in specifics; both perspectives being valuable to
the progress of research in mathematics. I strongly believe this categorization is
applicable to different kinds of learners as well both in terms of how they organize
their knowledge and in terms of what they will pay the greatest attention to, and
what interests them most about a course.
Secondly, I am also cognizant of the differences in capabilities of students in the
same class and how this plays a role in student perceptions of their own learning in
the class. I think it helps to frequently talk to the students about how beyond a
baseline objective for each course, each of them should aim to pick something from
the class that lines up with their own personal goals. I have also found that breaking
the class into groups for problem-solving sessions and labs helps students feel more
comfortable asking questions. As a teaching assistant, I found that this structure
also allowed the students to open up and interact with me more readily. I would
always like my students to be able to approach me with any questions or
suggestions they may have, and will facilitate this through frequent feedback
surveys.
Thirdly, the way we consume information on a daily basis the world over has
changed due to the many technological advances. The classroom experience should
also evolve to reflect this. The potential that a platform like online learning brings to
a standard course is tremendous. The greatest use I see for such a component is to
allow students to pick certain requisite aspects of the course at their own pace. For
example, a big problem in introductory physics courses is the level of mathematics
knowledge and practice students have. Designing a set of online exercises that
students can work on, without taking away from time in the class, is in my opinion,
a solution with great potential.
Finally, as a science educator, I also believe that there could be some beneficial
additions to the prevalent structure of degree programs in science departments.

The boundaries between disciplines are increasingly becoming more fluid and this
should be reflected not just in the research problems we pick, but also in the
courses we consider staple to a program. Today, a good scientist would greatly
benefit from learning how to code efficiently and handle big data. A course on
introduction to design is relevant to any experimentalist. Science policy is
something young students of science should pay attention to. There is no reason
that conversations students should expect to have in the world, not be extensions of
ones they have in the classroom. I hope to have introduce these elements in some
form or another in my courses.