Teaching

During my 13 years at VCU, I have taught a broad range of courses that include introductory general education courses, specialized courses for pre- and in-service teachers, lower- and upper-level courses for physics majors, and graduate-level courses. Course sizes have ranged from 10 to 20 students in a science course designed for Honors students to over 300 students in a new general education course on energy. At this point, I have taught over 2,800 students at VCU and have received an overall average instructor rating for all courses of 4.4 on a 5-point scale, where the most frequent adjective used to describe my teaching has been “enthusiastic.” Of the fourteen courses that I have taught or co-taught with other faculty, eight courses were developed to meet the needs of new programs or to broaden the offerings in our department. My teaching contributions are described in detail below but are not limited to the classroom. I have also been the PI or co-PI on three education-related grants which were funded to improve the delivery of physical science in the Richmond City Public elementary schools. These grants have resulted in several presentations at national meetings and a publication documenting the efficacy of our program to increase the science content knowledge and confidence to teach science of participating teachers. Teaching is one of my passions and I have tried to enthusiastically engage the hundreds of students in my classrooms over the years.

Courses with links to latest syllabus (PDF)	Semester
*Energy! (INSC 201)	Fall 2008, Spr 2009
*Content of Elementary Science (INSC 310)	Spr/Fall 2006, Spr/Fall 2007, Spr 2008
*Physical Science for Carver Academy (HUMS 391)	Fall 2006
University Physics I (PHYS 207)	Fall 2004, Spr/Fall 2005, Spr 2006, Spr/Fall 2007, Spr 2008
University Physics II (PHYS 208)	Spr/Fall 1998, Spr/Fall 1999
*Science, Technology & Society (PHYS 215)	Spr/Fall 2008, Spr 2009
*Topic: Outreach to Richmond (PHYS 291)	Fall 2003, Fall 2004, Fall 2005
*Physics of Sound & Music (PHYS 307)	Spr 2001
Modern Physics (PHYS 320)	Spr/Fall 2000, Spr/Fall 2001, Spr/Fall 2002, Spr/Fall 2003, Spr 2004
Modern Physics Laboratory (PHYZ 320L)	Fall 1996, Fall 1997, Fall 1998, Spr 1999
Senior Physics Laboratory (PHYS 450)	Spr 1997, Spr 1999, Spr 2000, Spr 2001
*Physical Science Demonstrations (PHYS 510)	Sum 2002, Sum 2003, Sum 2004, Sum 2005
Graduate Laboratory (PHYS 550)	Spr 2000, Fall 2002
*Surface & Materials Physics (PHYS 661)	Fall 2001, Spr 2004

*New courses developed by A. Baski and submitted to VCU curriculum committee. INSC201 and INSC310 co-developed with S. Hunnicutt (Chemistry); PHYS215 co-taught with S. Khanna, and PHYS307 co-taught with M. Bishop.
Note: Other non-standard courses taught each semester include mentoring undergraduates in Directed Study and Independent Study, as well as graduate students in Thesis Research (see 'Students Graduated' section).

Development of New Instructional Materials and Courses

In order to actively engage students during class, I have incorporated "clicker" questions since Fall 2004 in all of my courses which have ranged in size from 10 to over 300 students. Each student has a personalized device and can respond to multiple-choice or numerical questions posed throughout the class period. Student responses are recorded using a USB receiver and a histogram of answers is displayed after closing each question. If a majority of the class correctly answers a question, then we proceed to the next topic; however, if a significant number of students encounter difficulties, then more time is dedicated to understanding the topic. In a typical 75-minute class period, there are usually 8 to 12 clicker questions asked throughout the period. Students can work together and are graded on participation rather than correctness, since there are oftentimes misconceptions that require a concerted effort to remove. Also, in smaller classes the clicker system is used to randomly choose students to answer open-ended questions. Student comments on course evaluations include: “The clickers helped keep me focused,” “It (clickers) made a large class interactive and helped in learning the material,” “I like how the clickers reiterate the points made in the lecture,” and “Working together to answer the clicker questions was helpful. It generated cooperative learning which is important in my class.”

Since Fall 2005, I have utilized the NSF-funded LON-CAPA (Learning Online Network - Computer Assisted Personalized Approach) system developed at Michigan State University for delivery and management of online homework/quizzes in all of my courses. There are existing resources on the network in the area of physics; however, nearly all of the problems used in my courses were coded by myself or graduate students and are specifically aligned with course learning objectives (>300 problems coded in 4 years). Student learning is reinforced by providing feedback as part of the problem structure, as well as by providing access to all problems in a practice directory where randomized versions are available. After practicing problems, students can complete their personalized homework assignment and can also enter comments/questions in a discussion forum. In general, students appreciate the structured system of LON-CAPA which incorporates well-defined objectives with immediate feedback. Comments on course evaluations include: “The use of LON-CAPA helped considerably in helping me to understand the course material,” and “I really liked having LON-CAPA assignments – I think they were very beneficial to my learning cumulative material.” LON-CAPA also provides a statistical analysis of problem difficulty and this information is utilized to monitor student learning and reinforce course material when necessary.

Since Fall 2008, I have co-developed this course with Dr. Hunnicutt (Chemistry) as a new general education elective with an enrollment of over 300 students per semester. This multi-disciplinary course explores both non-renewable and renewable energy sources by examining their production, efficiency, environmental consequences, cost-effectiveness, and future outlook. Topics include the fundamentals of energy, fossil fuels, renewable energy sources, nuclear energy, and climate change. Several clicker questions are asked during each class period in order to engage students and enhance their collaborative learning. Outside class students complete online homework in LON-CAPA that provides them immediate feedback and frequent practice solving quantitative problems. This course is particularly relevant to students given the challenging energy and climate issues facing the nation and world. As one student wrote in a course evaluation, “I think this should be a required class for all students, as energy sources and uses are becoming such important topics in today's quickly growing world.”

As part of the new General Education requirements in the Honors College at VCU, I developed this course to be the required science course for all Honors students beginning Fall 2008 (20 students per section). This course examines a select number of scientific breakthroughs that have led to transformational technologies which continue to impact society today. Topics include discovery of the electromagnetic spectrum and the communications revolution; discovery of nuclear fission and today's issues with nuclear power and weapons; the paradigm shift of quantum mechanics and its applications in nanotechnologies; and the discovery of semiconductors and their use in devices such as LED's and solar cells. To enhance student engagement the course utilizes in-class clickers, hands-on demonstrations, journal writing, and online LON-CAPA homework problems. At the beginning of each class, students also give short presentations on current science and technology issues in order to improve their critical thinking and presentation skills. Feedback from students include comments such as: “Great way for different majors to learn application aspects of science concepts and also learn how current technology works.” and “I especially like the demonstrations and the 'talking to your neighbor' questions, because it made physics a tangible concept.”

Due to my involvement with the new degree program in Elementary Education at VCU, I co-developed this upper-level physical science course in 2006 with Dr. Hunnicutt (chemistry). This course develops mastery of content knowledge in the physical and earth/space sciences to better prepare pre-service elementary teachers as science educators. Topics are presented in the context of hands-on activities designed for the elementary classroom, where several activities have been developed as part of my involvement teaching physical science to teachers in the Richmond City schools (see PHYS510 and HUMS391). The class also utilizes learning strategies such as group discussions with interactive clicker questions, weekly journal reflections, and online LON-CAPA homework problems for skills development. As one student commented on a course evaluation, “I learned a great deal from this course and have come away with a greater knowledge and more appreciation for science. I will feel comfortable performing any of the experiments in front of an elementary class. All of the experiments were helpful and reinforced what we learned.”

PHYS 510: Physical Science Demos and HUMS 391: Physical Science for Carver Elementary

As part of several education-based grants from the State of Virginia to improve the delivery of physical science content, I designed and taught these courses to over 80 elementary teachers in Richmond City from 2002 to 2007. Similar to the INSC310 course, learning strategies included hands-on activities, group-based clicker questions, weekly journal reflections, and LON-CAPA homework problems. In addition, we provided the teachers with science assessment questions from Virginia's SOL (Standards of Learning) via LON-CAPA. As part of the PHYS510 course, I also organized and helped deliver over 300 one-hour lessons based on hands-on activities during follow-up visits to the teachers' classrooms (170 visits led by me). This outreach effort was coordinated with another service-learning course (PHYS291) which I initiated to fulfill the urban studies component of VCU's general education requirements. The VCU students enrolled in PHYS291 joined these visits as assistants during the delivery of model lessons to classrooms. My teaching experiences in these courses were quite gratifying, in particular when one teacher wrote to me: “I want to thank Dr. Baski for answering my many questions and patiently helping me to understand physical science concepts better. At 49 years old, I just learned what makes the sky blue!”