"The purpose of education…is to create in a person the ability to look at the world for himself, to make his own decisions." -James Baldwin
Teaching Goals :
Whether its an undergraduate class with non-majors or a graduate class, my primary aim of teaching is to: (1) engage and inspire all students to develop problem solving and quantitative reasoning skills, (2) ensure they learn foundational concepts with the ability to apply what they learn, (3) help them develop strategies to evaluate misconceptions and preconceived notions, and (4) encourage them to synthesize their own ideas from taught material as opposed to learning for an exam. Together these are designed to increase the scientific literacy of our community. Embedded in my teaching philosophy is also the will to teach in and build an equitable and inclusive environment for learning that recognizes the ways in which marginalized communities have been excluded from scientific discourse. This is especially important to me as an African-American astronomer. Ultimately, my hope is that a student that comes into my classroom will leave with a great knowledge and appreciation for the universe and the world around us. In 2022, I was awarded the University of Texas, College of Natural Science Excellence in Teaching award.
Teaching the concept of parallax through a simple demonstration.
Current Teaching (Fall 2023):
On Teaching Sabbatical for Fall 23
Past Teaching :
ASTRO 352K: Stellar Astronomy for Majors (40 students) -- Fall 22, Spring 23 (UT Austin)
ASTRO 301: Introduction to Astronomy for non-majors (200 students) -- Spring 20, Fall 20, (UT Austin)
ASTRO 353D: Stellar Structure and Evolution for Graduate Students (12 students) -- Fall 19, 21 (UT Austin)
ASTRO 301: Introduction to Astronomy for non-majors (200 students) -- Fall 21, Spring 19, 20 (UT Austin)
Part II Stellar Astrophysics (8 students)-- 2014-2016 (Univ. of Cambridge)
Part II Galactic Dynamics (8 students)-- 2014-2016 (Univ. of Cambridge)
Middle School Science/Mathematics K-12 level (30 students) -- Fall 2010 (Cape Coast, Ghana)
Guest Lecture :
ASTRO 301: Introduction to Astronomy for non-majors (200 students) -- Spring 2019 (UT Austin)
ASTRO 301: Introduction to Astronomy for non-majors (200 students) -- Fall 2018 (UT Austin)
