My name is Monica Cook and I am starting a second year as a graduate student in Physics at Georgia State University. I am delighted that I will be working with the Center for Instructional Innovation this year as a Student Innovation Fellow (SIF). I did my undergraduate degree in Physics and Astronomy at the University of Georgia in Athens where I developed a strong passion for physics and for science in general.

I moved to Atlanta in 2014 to begin my graduate program. Currently, I am a research assistant and a teaching assistant who instructs undergraduate physics labs. My main project as a SIF this year will be to help graduate teaching assistants in physics to become even more effective educators in our active learning and traditional classrooms using evidence-based pedagogical techniques and technology. In addition, I will collaborate with other SIFs who are working on similar projects in Active Learning Pedagogies so we can share our ideas.

I am also involved with an organization called Inclusive STEM, which aims to help underrepresented minorities in STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) at GSU overcome barriers to access by providing support. You can learn more about Inclusive STEM here or here. Subjects of inclusion in science education will probably come up at some point in my posts on this blog as students’ intersecting identities are inextricably intertwined with their learning styles.

I welcome sharing of these posts (with attribution and a link back to the original page) and I encourage a dialogue in the comments about anything I write here.