Teaching

My teaching portfolio includes responsibility for, and support of, a variety of courses in the nuclear engineering curriculum. I try to be consciously guided by my teaching philosophy in all my instructional experiences.

(NE411) Nuclear Reactor Engineering

This is a course that integrates students knowledge of heat transfer and fluid flow in a the context of a nuclear power plant. This core course is taken by most seniors in the fall semester. I taught this course in 2002, 2003 & 2004. [More...]

(NE506) Practicum in Monte Carlo Methods for Radiation Transfer

Learn@UW - Spring 2006
I developed this course to offer seniors and graduate students the opportunity to become proficient with a standard Monte Carlo transport code [MCNP] while learning about the underlying theoretical concepts. This course is taught in the spring semester. I taught this course in 2002, 2003, 2005 & 2006.[More...]

(NE406) Nuclear Reactor Analysis

I redesigned and reimplemented this nuclear engineering elective course in spring 2004 and fall 2005. This course operates like a virtual laboratory class, with the students using industry-relevant software tools to perform numerical experiments in reactor design and analysis. [More...]

(NE412) Nuclear Reactor Design

In addition to my formal involvement with this capstone design course in Spring and Summer 2002, I regularly work to improve the reactor physics analysis capabilities of the design teams in this course. I hope to see design teams using MCNP (NE506) and the HELIOS/PARCS system being used in NE 406 for full core design in coming years.[More...]

(NE271/CS310) Engineering Problem Solving I

Following a complete change in the instructional basis for this course,one of the key elements of this course is team-based problem solving in a so-called team lab, facilitated by the professor(s). The experience for the students who take the NE section of this course has been enhanced in recent fall semesters by having two professors rather than one propfessor and one TA for the team lab. I have participated as a second professor for three semesters.[More...]

(NE699) Independent Study

I regularly take on students to perform independent studies on a variety of topics. Some topics have included:

• An introduction to activation calculations
• Development of a Monte Carlo tool for teaching reactor physics
• Designing a low enrichment core for the UWNR
• Understanding nuclear data processing
• Monte Carlo Radiative Heat Transfer

More than anything else, this philosophy expresses the importance of teamwork in achieving effective teaching and learning. The unique abilities, learning styles and experiences each member contributes to the team enhance the team's ability to achieve its goals. My contribution is to form the foundation for a positive learning environment that encourages the team members to be relaxed and at ease while it challenges them to think and to grow. This combination ensures that both learning and teaching are productive, engaging and fun.

As with any team project, mutual respect is essential to effective teaching and learning. All team members, teacher and students alike, earn and demonstrate respect by actively contributing to the team's goals. To earn students' respect, my role as a teacher would extend beyond the traditional one of simply presenting goals, knowledge and assessments to a group of students. When I establish the team's goals, I would ensure that they form a set of clearly defined learning objectives. When I evaluate the team's achievement, I would guarantee that the process is fair, and consistent with the established goals. And when I contribute my knowledge of the subject, I would present it in engaging ways that challenge them to think, to question and to grow.

In order to create an engaging environment for the variety of learning styles exhibited by students, my teaching techniques and methods would be varied and flexible. Active learning techniques and collaborative projects are some examples of ways to motivate learning and encourage independent thinking.

Students would earn my respect by contributing to the learning environment through active participation in classroom activities, ... and by challenging me to think, to question and to grow.