Teaching Experience
I have six years of recent teaching experience as a graduate student teaching assistant within the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Western Ontario. I am very passionate about learning and teaching, and working as a teaching assistant was one of my favourite aspects of graduate school. I hope that I will have more opportunities to teach and mentor students in my future career.
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My teaching résumé includes developing and delivering tutorials, individual and group tutoring through drop-in help centres, instructing and grading laboratories, grading assignments and exams, and grading essays in astronomy courses for non-science majors. I also offer private tutoring and I have experience with both in person and online learning.
For my excellence in teaching, I was honoured with the University of Western Ontario's Faculty of Science Graduate Student Teaching Award, and I was additionally twice nominated by students for UWO's Society of Graduate Students Teaching Awards.
I also have experience in course and curriculum development and developing pedagogy. I was involved in the reform of the first-year laboratories at the University of Western Ontario, and I also worked with a small team to rethink the purpose of homework and how we assess students in large classes. For the latter, we applied the peer assessment tool peerScholar to a large first year physics course and found that this system helped students to develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
Select Teaching Evaluations
Megan was a great help during Physics 1502B tutorials. She was always organized and she prepared set of different questions to go over concepts up to date. Physics can get challenging but she was able simplify concepts, explain them, and go over complicated problems.
Megan has really encouraged me to keep doing my best, she has validated my effort and has taken time and gone out of her way to support me. She has shared so much of her experience and insight and has been an incredible role model beyond the physics classroom.
When asking for help, not only does she go through each step slowly to make sure you understand the process, but she also gives very thorough explanations of the concepts as well so you have a better grasp on the material that way, in the future, you are able to complete other problems on your own.
Course and Duty Descriptions
2020 — Observing the Stars (UWO course name: Astronomy 2801A)
In this observational astronomy course I taught tutorials, marked assignments, and held office hours. This course built towards students observing targets with remote telescopes through iTelescope.net and analysing their observations. I helped students write telescope proposals, set up remote telescope observations, and analyse their data.
2020 — Planetary Systems (UWO course name: Astronomy 2201B)
This course examined planets within the Solar System and exoplanets. I marked assignments and held office hours where students could seek extra help with assignments.
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2019 — Enriched Introductory Physics I (UWO course name: Physics 1501A)
2019 — Enriched Introductory Physics II (UWO course name: Physics 1502B)
I ran tutorials and held office hours for these calculus-based first year physics courses for students intending to major in physics.
2019 — Introduction to Physical Measurement (UWO course name: Physics 2910G)
2018 — Introduction to Physical Measurement (UWO course name: Physics 2910G)
I instructed laboratory experiments and marked lab reports for this second year physics laboratory course.
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2019 — Physics for the Biological Sciences II (UWO course name: Physics 1029B)
2018 — Physics for the Biological Sciences I (UWO course name: Physics 1028A)
2017 — Physics for the Biological Sciences I (UWO course name: Physics 1028A)
2017 — Physics for the Biological Sciences II (UWO course name: Physics 1029B)
2016 — Physics for the Biological Sciences I (UWO course name: Physics 1028A)
I had many responsibilities for these first year algebra-based physics courses for students in the biological sciences. In addition to answering emails and other administrative tasks, I proof-read and proctored exams, and the majority of my time was spent in the drop-in help centre doing individual and group tutoring.
2017 — The Origins of the Universe (UWO course name: Astronomy 2022B)
This non-mathematical course for non-science majors looks at the origins of the universe. I marked student essays and held office hours.
2016 — Physics Laboratory Instructor for all first-year physics courses
2015 — Physics Laboratory Instructor for all first-year physics courses
I instructed laboratory experiments and marked lab reports for all first year physics courses offered by UWO:
- Enriched Introductory Physics I & II (UWO course name: Physics 1501A & 1502B)
- Introductory Physics for Engineering Students I & II (UWO course name: Physics 1401A & 1402B)
- Introductory Physics I & II (UWO course name: Physics 1301A & 1302B)
- Physics for the Biological Sciences (UWO course name: Physics 1028A &1029B)