--- /dev/null
+\documentclass[12pt]{letter}
+
+\topmargin 0.0in
+\headheight 0.0in
+\headsep 0.0in
+\textheight 9in
+\oddsidemargin 0in
+\textwidth 6.5in
+\pagestyle{empty} % no room for page numbers
+
+\usepackage{amsmath} % \text and other useful math stuff
+
+\usepackage{hyperref}
+\hypersetup{colorlinks}
+\hypersetup{linkcolor=black}
+\hypersetup{anchorcolor=black}
+\hypersetup{citecolor=black}
+\hypersetup{filecolor=black}
+\hypersetup{menucolor=black}
+\hypersetup{runcolor=black}
+\hypersetup{urlcolor=[rgb]{0, 0, 0.7}}
+
+%\usepackage[super,sort&compress,comma]{natbib}
+% super selects citations in superscript mode
+% sort&compress automatically sorts and compresses compound citations (\citep{a,b,...})
+% comma seperates multiple citations with commas rather than the default semicolons.
+%\bibliographystyle{unsrtnat} % number citations in the order referenced
+
+\signature{W.~Trevor King}
+\address{120 Miller Street \\ Highlands, NJ 07732}
+\telephone{+1 215 284 6634}
+\medskipamount=0pt
+
+\begin{document}
+
+\begin{letter}{Executive Assistant to the Dean \\
+ College of Arts and Sciences \\
+ Saint Martin's University \\
+ 5000 Abbey Way SE \\
+ Lacey, WA 98503}
+
+\opening{Ms.~Laura Hoff,}
+
+Over my years working on my Ph.D. studies at Drexel University, I have
+been looking forward to teaching physics at a small,
+undergraduate-oriented liberal arts college. While working at a
+larger research-oriented institution has been exciting, I have always
+been attracted to teaching. I'm excited to be working at a school
+such as St. Martin's which clearly has a strong commitment to teaching
+excellence and teacher training. Besides teaching physics, I am also
+interested in advancing the science of teaching as well as in
+developing open source experiment control procedures. Over the past
+year I have been active in the
+\href{http://software-carpentry.org/}{Software Carpentry}
+organization, which trains scientists around the world in current
+software development and data management techniques. Software
+Carpentry
+\href{http://software-carpentry.org/bootcamps/2013-02-uwash.html}{recently}
+\href{http://software-carpentry.org/blog/2013/03/washington-went-well.html}{ran}
+a boot boot camp at the University of Washington, and I look forward
+to working with my SWC colleagues to continue this outreach in the
+Puget Sound area.
+
+I am also looking forward to working at a religious school. While I
+myself am agnostic, I enjoyed the traditions of my
+\href{http://www.archmereacademy.com/}{Norbertine high school}. I
+also have a number of religious family members, including a
+grandfather and uncle who were both United Methodist ministers. In my
+experience, a religious environment fosters a studied approach to
+learning, a willingness to grapple with big questions, and a respect
+for the diversity of humanity. Students undertaking a liberal arts
+education are well served by each of these qualities.
+
+On a more prosaic level, I am excited about moving from the
+mid-Atlantic where I have spent most of my life to the Northwest.
+Starting in the Fall, my wife Emily will be opening a veterinary
+surgery practice at the \href{http://olympiapetemergency.net/}{Olympia
+ Pet Emergency} hospital just down the street. After years of
+commuting several hours from our current home in New Jersey to Drexel
+in Philadelphia, the chance for jobs that are only two miles apart is
+quite appealing. My wife is originally from Vancouver, Canada, and I
+have enjoyed our annual summer trip out to visit with her family. I
+also look forward to the drizzly climate, since the sun and I have
+never been the best of friends. Being able to enjoy the outdoors
+(sailing and hiking!) without having to slather on the sunblock sounds
+like a good idea to me.
+
+\closing{Yours,}
+
+\end{letter}
+
+%{\footnotesize\bibliography{ts}}
+
+\end{document}
+++ /dev/null
-% Year for live projects
-
-@string{LIVE = 2013}
-
-% Licenses
-
-@string{CC-BY-SA-3.0-US = "CC BY-SA 3.0 US"}
-@string{CC-BY-NC-SA-3.0-US = "CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 US"}
-
-% Schools
-
-@string{Drexel = "Drexel University"}
-
-% Publishers
-
-@string{AAPT = "American Association of Physics Teachers"}
-@string{ASQ = "American Society for Quality"}
-@string{Blackwell = "Blackwell Publishing Ltd."}
-@string{DLA = "Digital Library and Archives, Virginia Polytechnic
- Institute and State University"}
-@string{PH = "Prentice Hall, Inc."}
-@string{WSS = "Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company"}
-
-% Addresses
-
-@string{Crowell-address = "2233 Loma Alta Dr., Fullerton, CA 92833"}
-@string{UpperSaddleRiver = "Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458"}
-
-% Journals
-
-@string{AJP = "American Journal of Physics"}
-@string{ASQ:HEB = "ASQ Higher Education Brief"}
-@string{IJBMM = "International Journal of Biological Macromolecules"}
-@string{JEE = "Journal of Engineering Education"}
-@string{JITE = "Journal of Industrial Teacher Education"}
-@string{NDTL = "New Directions for Teaching and Learning"}
-@string{Science = "Science"}
-
-% Authors
-
-@string{MBelloni = "Belloni, Mario"}
-@string{RBrent = "Brent, Rebecca"}
-@string{WChristian = "Christian, Wolfgang"}
-@string{SPChung = "Chung, Shih-Ping"}
-@string{CHCrouch = "Crouch, Catherine H."}
-@string{BCrowell = "Crowell, Benjamin"}
-@string{LDeslauriers = "Deslauriers, Louis"}
-@string{RMFelder = "Felder, Richard M."}
-@string{RRHake = "Hake, Richard R."}
-@string{SDJohnson = "Johnson, Scott D."}
-@string{WKing = "King, W.~Trevor"}
-@string{JLochhead = "Lochhead, Jack"}
-@string{EMazur = "Mazur, Eric"}
-@string{MPrince = "Prince, Michael"}
-@string{ESchelew = "Schelew, Ellen"}
-@string{MSu = "Su, Meihong"}
-@string{AWhimbey = "Whimbey, Arthur"}
-@string{CWieman = "Wieman, Carl"}
-@string{GYang = "Yang, Guoliang"}
-
-@phdthesis{ wking13,
- author = WKing,
- title = {Open source single molecule force spectroscopy},
- school = Drexel,
- year = 2013,
- month = jun,
- url = {http://blog.tremily.us/Thesis/},
- eprint = {http://blog.tremily.us/Thesis/draft.pdf},
-}
-
-@article { king10,
- author = WKing #" and "# MSu #" and "# GYang,
- title = "{M}onte {C}arlo simulation of mechanical unfolding of proteins
- based on a simple two-state model",
- year = 2010,
- month = mar,
- day = 1,
- address = "Department of Physics, Drexel University, 3141
- Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.",
- journal = IJBMM,
- volume = 46,
- number = 2,
- pages = "159--166",
- issn = "0141-8130",
- alternative_issn = "1879-0003",
- doi = "10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2009.12.001",
- url = "http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6T7J-
- 4XWMND2-1/2/7ef768562b4157fc201d450553e5de5e",
- language = "eng",
- keywords = "Atomic force microscopy;Mechanical unfolding;Monte Carlo
- simulation;Worm-like chain;Single molecule methods",
- abstract = "Single molecule methods are becoming routine biophysical
- techniques for studying biological macromolecules. In mechanical
- unfolding of proteins, an externally applied force is used to induce
- the unfolding of individual protein molecules. Such experiments have
- revealed novel information that has significantly enhanced our
- understanding of the function and folding mechanisms of several types
- of proteins. To obtain information on the unfolding kinetics and the
- free energy landscape of the protein molecule from mechanical unfolding
- data, a Monte Carlo simulation based on a simple two-state kinetic
- model is often used. In this paper, we provide a detailed description
- of the procedure to perform such simulations and discuss the
- approximations and assumptions involved. We show that the appearance of
- the force versus extension curves from mechanical unfolding of proteins
- is affected by a variety of experimental parameters, such as the length
- of the protein polymer and the force constant of the cantilever. We
- also analyze the errors associated with different methods of data
- pooling and present a quantitative measure of how well the simulation
- results fit experimental data. These findings will be helpful in
- experimental design, artifact identification, and data analysis for
- single molecule studies of various proteins using the mechanical
- unfolding method."
-}
-
-% Talks
-
-@unpublished{ 2013-05-thesis,
- title= {Open source single molecule force spectroscopy},
- author = WKing,
- year = 2013,
- month = may,
- day = 28,
- note= {Thesis defense, Drexel University},
- address = {Drexel University},
- url = {http://blog.tremily.us/posts/Thesis/talk/},
-}
-
-@unpublished{ 2013-01-columbia,
- title= {Collaborative version control with {G}it},
- author = WKing,
- year = 2013,
- month = jan,
- note= {Software Carpentry boot camp, Columbia University},
- address = {Columbia University},
-}
-
-@unpublished{ 2009-10-life-cycles,
- title= {Software life-cycles and alphabet soup},
- author = WKing,
- year = 2009,
- month = oct,
- note= {Drexel Physics Graduate Student Association},
- address = {Drexel University}
-}
-
-@unpublished{ 2008-06-locks,
- title= {Manipulating combination locks \& Ray tracing with polarization},
- author = WKing,
- year = 2008,
- month = jun,
- note= {Drexel Physics Graduate Student Association},
- address = {Drexel University}
-}
-
-@unpublished{ 2006-05-quantum-computing,
- title= {Quantum Computing},
- author = WKing,
- year = 2006,
- note= {Rochester Solid State final},
- address = {University of Rochester}
-}
-% month = may,
-
-% Posters
-
-@unpublished{ 2013-04-swc,
- title= {Teaching Software Carpentry: Better Science through Science},
- author = WKing,
- year = 2013,
- month = apr,
- note= {Drexel CoAS Research Day},
- address = {Philadelphia, Pennsylvania},
-}
-
-@unpublished{ 2012-04-calibcant,
- title= {Thermally calibrating {AFM} cantilever spring constants},
- author = WKing,
- year = 2012,
- month = apr,
- note= {Drexel CoAS Research Day},
- address = {Philadelphia, Pennsylvania},
-}
-
-@unpublished{ 2011-04-saswsim,
- title= {Flexible parallel simulations and packaging},
- author = WKing,
- year = 2011,
- month = apr,
- note= {Drexel CoAS Research Day},
- address = {Philadelphia, Pennsylvania},
-}
-
-@unpublished{ 2010-04-open-source,
- title= {Open source software in experimental protein unfolding},
- author = WKing,
- year = 2010,
- month = apr,
- note= {Drexel CoAS Research Day},
- address = {Philadelphia, Pennsylvania},
-}
-
-@unpublished{ 2009-03-roughness,
- title= {Experimental Estimation of the Free Energy Landscape
- Roughness of Protein Molecules},
- author = WKing,
- year = 2009,
- month = mar,
- note= {Biophysical Society Annual Meeting},
- address = {Philadelphia, Pennsylvania},
-}
-
-@unpublished{ 2008-04-sawsim,
- title= {Simulated mechanical unfolding of single proteins},
- author = WKing,
- year = 2008,
- month = apr,
- note= {Drexel CoAS Research Day},
- address = {Philadelphia, Pennsylvania},
-}
-
-@unpublished{ 2008-02-stiffness,
- title= {Effects of Cantilever Stiffness on Unfolding Force in AFM
- Protein Unfolding},
- author = WKing,
- year = 2008,
- month = feb,
- note= {Biophysical Society Annual Meeting},
- address = {Long Beach, California},
-}
-
-% Other people
-
-@article{ lochhead87,
- author = JLochhead #" and "# AWhimbey,
- title = {Teaching analytical reasoning through thinking aloud pair
- problem solving},
- year = 1987,
- journal = NDTL,
- volume = 1987,
- number = 30,
- pages = {73--92},
- publisher = WSS,
- issn = {1536-0768},
- url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/tl.37219873007},
- doi = {10.1002/tl.37219873007},
- abstract = {The TAPPS technique is a useful device for the
- teaching of problem solving because it causes learners to pay
- attention to basic reasoning skills.},
-}
-
-@article{ hake98,
- author = RRHake,
- title = {Interactive-engagement versus traditional methods: A
- six-thousand-student survey of mechanics test data for
- introductory physics courses},
- year = 1998,
- month = jan,
- journal = AJP,
- volume = 66,
- number = 1,
- pages = {64--74},
- publisher = AAPT,
- issn = {0002-9505},
- doi = {10.1119/1.18809},
- url = {http://ajp.aapt.org/resource/1/ajpias/v66/i1/p64_s1},
- keywords = { teaching, education, classical mechanics},
- abstract = {A survey of pre/post-test data using the
- Halloun--Hestenes Mechanics Diagnostic test or more recent Force
- Concept Inventory is reported for 62 introductory physics
- courses enrolling a total number of students $N=6542$. A
- consistent analysis over diverse student populations in high
- schools, colleges, and universities is obtained if a rough
- measure of the average effectiveness of a course in promoting
- conceptual understanding is taken to be the average normalized
- gain $\langle g\rangle$. The latter is defined as the ratio of
- the actual average gain
- ($\%\langle\text{post}\rangle-\%\langle\text{pre}\rangle$) to
- the maximum possible average gain
- ($100-\%\langle\text{pre}\rangle$). Fourteen ``traditional'' (T)
- courses ($N=2084$) which made little or no use of
- interactive-engagement (IE) methods achieved an average gain
- $\langle g\rangle_{\text{T} - \text{ave}} = 0.23\pm0.04$ (std dev).
- In sharp contrast, 48 courses ($N=4458$) which made substantial
- use of IE methods achieved an average gain
- $\langle g\rangle_{\text{IE}-\text{ave}} = 0.48\pm0.14$ (std dev),
- almost two standard deviations of
- $\langle g\rangle_{\text{IE}-\text{ave}}$ above that of the
- traditional courses. Results for 30 ($N=3259$) of the above 62
- courses on the problem-solving Mechanics Baseline test of
- Hestenes--Wells imply that IE strategies enhance problem-solving
- ability. The conceptual and problem-solving test results
- strongly suggest that the classroom use of IE methods can
- increase mechanics-course effectiveness well beyond that
- obtained in traditional practice.},
-}
-
-@article{ johnson99,
- author = SDJohnson #" and "# SPChung,
- title = {The Effect of Thinking Aloud Pair Problem Solving
- ({TAPPS}) on the Troubleshooting Ability of Aviation Technician
- Students},
- year = 1999,
- month = {Fall},
- journal = JITE,
- volume = 37,
- number = 1,
- publisher = DLA,
- issn = {0022-1864},
- issn-online = {1938-1603},
- url = {http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JITE/v37n1/john.html},
- license = CC-BY-NC-SA-3.0-US,
-}
-
-@book{ christian01,
- author = WChristian #" and "# MBelloni,
- title = {Physlets: Teaching Physics with Interactive Curricular Material},
- year = 2001,
- publisher = PH,
- address = UpperSaddleRiver,
- edition = 4,
- isbn = {0-13-029341-5},
- isbn-13 = {978-0-1302-9341-1},
- url = {http://webphysics.davidson.edu/physletprob/},
-}
-
-@article{ crouch01,
- author = CHCrouch #" and "# EMazur,
- title = {Peer Instruction: Ten years of experience and results},
- year = 2001,
- month = sep,
- journal = AJP,
- volume = 69,
- number = 9,
- pages = {970--977},
- publisher = AAPT,
- issn = {0002-9505},
- doi = {10.1119/1.1374249},
- url = {http://ajp.aapt.org/resource/1/ajpias/v69/i9/p970_s1},
- keywords = {teaching, problem solving, educational courses},
- abstract = {We report data from ten years of teaching with Peer
- Instruction (PI) in the calculus- and algebra-based introductory
- physics courses for nonmajors; our results indicate increased
- student mastery of both conceptual reasoning and quantitative
- problem solving upon implementing PI. We also discuss ways we
- have improved our implementation of PI since introducing it in
- 1991. Most notably, we have replaced in-class reading quizzes
- with pre-class written responses to the reading, introduced a
- research-based mechanics textbook for portions of the course,
- and incorporated cooperative learning into the discussion
- sections as well as the lectures. These improvements are
- intended to help students learn more from pre-class reading and
- to increase student engagement in the discussion sections, and
- are accompanied by further increases in student understanding.},
-}
-
-@article{ prince04,
- author = MPrince,
- title = {Does Active Learning Work? {A} Review of the Research},
- year = 2004,
- month = jul,
- journal = JEE,
- volume = 93,
- number = 3,
- pages = {223--231},
- publisher = Blackwell,
- issn = {2168-9830},
- doi = {10.1002/j.2168-9830.2004.tb00809.x},
- url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/j.2168-9830.2004.tb00809.x},
- keywords = {active, collaborative, cooperative, problem-based learning},
- abstract = {This study examines the evidence for the effectiveness
- of active learning. It defines the common forms of active
- learning most relevant for engineering faculty and critically
- examines the core element of each method. It is found that there
- is broad but uneven support for the core elements of active,
- collaborative, cooperative and problem-based learning.},
-}
-
-@article{ felder09,
- author = RMFelder #" and "# RBrent,
- title = {Active learning: An introduction},
- year = 2009,
- month = aug,
- journal = ASQ:HEB,
- volume = 2,
- number = 4,
- publisher = ASQ,
- url = {http://asq.org/edu/2009/08/best-practices/active-learning-an-introduction.%20felder.html?shl=093530},
- eprint = {http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/Papers/ALpaper(ASQ).pdf},
- abstract = {Richard M. Felder and Rebecca Brent describe active
- learning as anything course-related that all students in a class
- session are called upon to do other than watching, listening and
- taking notes. They provide suggestions as to what teachers and
- professors can do to engage students in active learning and the
- formats to use for those activities.},
-}
-
-@article{ deslauriers11,
- author = LDeslauriers #" and "# ESchelew #" and "# CWieman,
- title = {Improved Learning in a Large-Enrollment Physics Class},
- year = 2011,
- month = may,
- day = 13,
- journal = Science,
- volume = 332,
- number = 6031,
- pages = {862--864},
- doi = {10.1126/science.1201783},
- url = {http://www.sciencemag.org/content/332/6031/862.abstract},
- eprint = {http://www.sciencemag.org/content/332/6031/862.full.pdf},
- abstract ={We compared the amounts of learning achieved using two
- different instructional approaches under controlled
- conditions. We measured the learning of a specific set of topics
- and objectives when taught by 3 hours of traditional lecture
- given by an experienced highly rated instructor and 3 hours of
- instruction given by a trained but inexperienced instructor
- using instruction based on research in cognitive psychology and
- physics education. The comparison was made between two large
- sections (N = 267 and N = 271) of an introductory undergraduate
- physics course. We found increased student attendance, higher
- engagement, and more than twice the learning in the section
- taught using research-based instruction.},
-}
-
-@book{ crowell-light-and-matter,
- author = BCrowell,
- title = {Light and Matter},
- year = LIVE,
- url = {http://www.lightandmatter.com/lm/},
- eprint = {http://www.lightandmatter.com/lm.pdf},
- source = {git://lightandmatter.com/physics},
- license = CC-BY-SA-3.0-US,
-}
-
-@book{ crowell-simple-nature,
- author = BCrowell,
- title = {Simple Nature},
- year = LIVE,
- url = {http://www.lightandmatter.com/area1sn.html},
- eprint = {http://www.lightandmatter.com/simple.pdf},
- source = {git://lightandmatter.com/physics},
- license = CC-BY-SA-3.0-US,
-}
-
-@book{ crowell-mechanics,
- author = BCrowell,
- title = {Mechanics},
- year = LIVE,
- url = {http://www.lightandmatter.com/mechanics/},
- eprint = {http://www.lightandmatter.com/me.pdf},
- source = {git://lightandmatter.com/physics},
- license = CC-BY-SA-3.0-US,
-}
-
-@book{ crowell-conceptual-physics,
- author = BCrowell,
- title = {Conceptual Physics},
- year = LIVE,
- url = {http://www.lightandmatter.com/cp/},
- eprint = {http://www.lightandmatter.com/cp.pdf},
- source = {git://lightandmatter.com/physics},
- license = CC-BY-SA-3.0-US,
-}
-
-@book{ crowell-calculus,
- author = BCrowell,
- title = {Calculus},
- year = LIVE,
- url = {http://www.lightandmatter.com/calc/},
- eprint = {http://www.lightandmatter.com/calc/calc.pdf},
- source = {git://lightandmatter.com/physics},
- license = CC-BY-SA-3.0-US,
-}
-
-@book{ crowell-general-relativity,
- author = BCrowell,
- title = {General Relativity},
- year = LIVE,
- url = {http://www.lightandmatter.com/genrel},
- eprint = {http://www.lightandmatter.com/genrel/genrel.pdf},
- source = {git://lightandmatter.com/physics},
- license = CC-BY-SA-3.0-US,
-}
+++ /dev/null
-\documentclass[12pt]{article}
-
-\topmargin 0.0in
-\headheight 0.0in
-\headsep 0.0in
-\textheight 9in
-\oddsidemargin 0in
-\textwidth 6.5in
-\pagestyle{empty} % no room for page numbers
-
-\usepackage{amsmath} % \text and other useful math stuff
-
-\usepackage{hyperref}
-\hypersetup{colorlinks}
-\hypersetup{linkcolor=black}
-\hypersetup{anchorcolor=black}
-\hypersetup{citecolor=black}
-\hypersetup{filecolor=black}
-\hypersetup{menucolor=black}
-\hypersetup{runcolor=black}
-\hypersetup{urlcolor=blue}
-
-\usepackage[super,sort&compress,comma]{natbib}
-% super selects citations in superscript mode
-% sort&compress automatically sorts and compresses compound citations (\citep{a,b,...})
-% comma seperates multiple citations with commas rather than the default semicolons.
-\bibliographystyle{unsrtnat} % number citations in the order referenced
-
-\title{Teaching Philosophy}
-\date{\today}
-\author{W.~Trevor King}
-
-\begin{document}
-
-\maketitle
-
-In high school, I initially wanted to be a marine biologist. The goal
-lasted until my first physics course during my senior year, when Tom
-Hoch introduced me to the idea that the kinetic behavior of the world
-around us can be described with a handful of simple laws. How far
-will this trebuchet launch a baseball? What would you redesign to
-make it go farther? How should you build a wheel to win a race down a
-5 foot ramp? Besides the joy of attacking the problems themselves, I
-enjoyed arguing about them with my classmates. If you pull on a
-thread coming from underneath a spool sitting on the table, will the
-spool roll toward you or away from you? Physics gives you the feeling
-that you can figure out \emph{anything} (to a first approximation),
-and if you're not sure you're right, you can usually design and build
-a simple experiment to test your understanding. In no other
-discipline are the fundamentals of the scientific method so clearly
-laid out or so obviously powerful.
-
-Since that high school course, I have enjoyed honing my skills in
-physics and related disciplines, but no task has been as satisfying as
-introducing new students to the discipline and sharing my enthusiasm
-for the material and philosophy. I have been lucky to have almost a
-decade of teaching experience from a range of teaching assistant-ships
-covering the classic introductory courses (with recitations and labs
-of 20 students in classes of up to 700) as well as some more advanced
-numerical methods courses (with as few as five students). The range
-of formats allows me to experiment with a number of teaching styles,
-from modeling recitation problem solutions to more Socratic approaches
-for helping students design and troubleshoot software.
-
-While I have not yet been in a position to design my own courses, I
-have enjoyed building some supportive tools. Over the past several
-years, I have developed an open source
-\href{http://blog.tremily.us/posts/Course_website/}{course website
- framework} and
-\href{http://git.tremily.us/?p=course.git;a=tree;f=asymptote;hb=HEAD}{graphics
- libraries} for illustrating
-\href{http://blog.tremily.us/posts/Course_website/Mechanics-test.svg}{mechanics},
-\href{http://blog.tremily.us/posts/Course_website/ElectroMag-test.svg}{electricity
- and magnetism},
-\href{http://blog.tremily.us/posts/Course_website/Circ-test.svg}{circuits},
-and
-\href{http://blog.tremily.us/posts/Course_website/stickfigure-test.svg}{stick
- figures}. I've also designed the
-\href{https://pypi.python.org/pypi/pygrader}{pygrader} framework for
-collecting and grading homework assignments that students submit via
-email and the \href{https://pypi.python.org/pypi/quizzer}{quizzer}
-framework for managing online quizzes and surveys. These tools will
-make it easier for me to maintain class notes, homework, tests, and
-lecture material, which gives me more time to focus on engaging
-students directly. Downloadable class notes also give students more
-time to focus on the concepts and applications instead of focusing on
-transcription. I look forward to tying these pieces together and
-building cohesive courses to introduce new students to physics.
-
-Earlier attempts at instructional tooling\citep{christian01} have not
-kept up with the rapid pace of software development. Using flexible
-open source tools makes it possible to distribute maintenance costs
-across a community of teachers. This makes it easier for existing
-teachers to share ideas and for new teachers to pick up where previous
-teachers left off, instead of having to start by recreating earlier
-work. On the self-study side of this, Ben Crowell has already
-developed a number of open source
-textbooks\citep{crowell-light-and-matter,crowell-simple-nature,crowell-mechanics,crowell-conceptual-physics,crowell-calculus,crowell-general-relativity},
-which are freely available along with
-\href{git://lightandmatter.com/physics}{their source} under the
-\href{http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/us/}{CC BY-SA 3.0
- US} license. There is room for continued development along this
-front, as well as uncharted territory in open source laboratory
-materials and equipment. My Ph.D.\ thesis focused on developing open
-source software for controlling atomic force microscopes in
-biophysical applications\citep{wking13}, and I look forward to
-leveraging this experience to develop open source software and
-procedures for undergraduate labs. Besides making it easier for other
-teachers to collaborate on lab design, an open source platform
-(software and hardware) will enable on-the-fly student alterations. I
-expect that replacing the magic of ``black boxes'' with well
-documented, explorable tools will encourage students to see labs as
-chances to build their theoretical and practical familiarity with the
-physical world instead of arbitrary, cookbook-style recipes.
-
-As a scientist, I feel that teaching itself can be improved through
-the scientific method. By testing the effect of different classroom
-approaches---and by building on the research of my peers---I intend to
-gradually refine my teaching to improve student engagement, critical
-thinking, and content retention. I am especially excited to try
-active learning approaches\citep{hake98,crouch01,prince04}, especially
-thinking-aloud pair problem solving
-(TAPPS\citep{lochhead87,felder09}), which has been shown to increase
-student performance\citep{johnson99}. Besides improving teaching
-strategies, an experiment-based approach to teaching is a chance to
-practice what I preach, which should help convince students of the
-efficacy of the scientific method. Of course, not \emph{everything}
-can be measured with sufficient clarity to support this approach.
-Developing quantitative evaluations of student learning is tricky,
-but---at least at a basic level---it is possible. Mentioning these
-difficulties when discussing course organization with students will
-provide jumping-off points for discussing the limitations of the
-scientific approach and the flavor of scientific progress, while
-avoiding confusion about the well-understood fundamentals covered in
-the content of the course itself.
-
-I look forward to guiding students through the early stages of their
-exposure to physics, while at the same time engaging in higher level
-discussions about the practice and role of science in general. I hope
-that this experience is as transformative for my students as my early
-physics courses were for me, teaching them how to break down problems
-into manageable chunks and encouraging them to make use of analytical
-reasoning and evidenced-based inquiry in their chosen profession,
-regardless of whether it is directly related to physics.
-
-{\footnotesize\bibliography{ts}}
-
-\end{document}
projects / letter-of-interest.git / commitdiff