Teaching

Jim Reardon wins WISCIENCE Lillian Tong Teaching Award

Posted on

Each year, the University of Wisconsin–Madison recognizes outstanding academic staff members who have excelled in leadership, public service, research and teaching. These exceptional individuals bring the university’s mission to life and ensure that the Wisconsin Idea extends far beyond the campus and the state. Ten employees won awards this year, including Dr. Jim Reardon, Director of Undergraduate Program with the department of physics.

Jim Reardon’s love of running and his excellence as a physics instructor recently came together in the classroom in a big way with Physics 106: The Physics of Sports, a course he developed and now teaches. The new course applies physical principles to competitive sports, helping students better understand athletic performance. It’s proven exceptionally popular, attracting almost 140 students in only its third semester.

action shot of Jim Reardon teaching
Jim Reardon, director of undergraduate program in the Department of Physics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, is pictured while teaching during a Physics 106 class held in Chamberlin Hall on March 20, 2024. Kaul is one of ten recipients of a 2024 Academic Staff Excellence Award (ASEA). (Photo by Bryce Richter / UW–Madison)

Reardon’s expertise at course development, his mastery at instruction and his exemplary support of teaching assistants have made him indispensable to the Physics Department. As director of the undergraduate program, he implemented standardized assessments in the department’s large introductory courses. This provided a baseline for successful course modifications and allowed nationwide peer assessment comparisons. As the administrator of the teaching assistant program, Reardon expertly matches the strengths of TAs with the needs of the department.

Reardon is no less valued in the classroom. Students routinely give him the highest of marks. Writes one, “I have never seen a professor or teacher work so effectively and patiently to ensure his students understood the information.”

♦

“Jim is unique in his broad and ready grasp of the subject matter combined with a passion for teaching and making sure that ALL students have access to that subject matter.”

— Sharon Kahn, graduate program manager, Department of Physics

Blending the rules: how physics helps paint a new picture for artists of all mediums

Posted on
an iridescent, oval-shaped shell

This post was written by Rachael Lee, a student science writer with University Communications.

A singer or a violinist’s performance produces sound waves that echo across a concert hall. A painter may mix different paint colors to create a new hue. Dancers use forces like gravity and inertia to produce stunning displays.

At first glance, the arts and physical sciences may look like very separate disciplines. However, many art forms are based on physics.

One hugely popular physics course at the University of Wisconsin–Madison shows how the arts and physics are, in fact, inextricably linked. Physics in the Arts (Physics 109) examines sound and light using examples from the arts. Physics in the Arts has been taught at UW–Madison since 1969, when it was started by physics professors Willy Haeberli and Ugo Camerini. Today’s instructors, professors Pupa Gilbert and A. Baha Balantekin, are continuing and extending the class’s mission to bridge the two disciplines to benefit both physicists and artists in understanding and appreciating each other’s fields.

Balantekin says that the interdisciplinary course shows the rest of the campus community that physics is not just a technical subject. By demonstrating physics in a medium familiar to artists, it helps provide a new perspective and appreciation for the sciences. “If you’re a musician, it’s much better to learn about the physics behind how your instrument works, or the physics behind how colors mix. It’s more interesting, and then it still helps them to learn,” he says.

Read the full story

Three department members earn teaching accolades

Posted on

Congratulations to the following Physics Department members who recently earned teaching awards:

  • Dr. Daniel Thurs won a 2021 Alliant Energy James R. Underkofler Excellence in Teaching Award. These awards are funded by an endowment from the Alliant Energy Foundation and are intended to recognize and reward extraordinary teachers at UW System universities within Alliant Energy’s service area. The award pays tribute to Thurs’s dedication as a teacher, and his ability to communicate subject matter effectively and inspire an enthusiasm for learning in his students.
  • Daniela Girotti-Hernandez and John Podczerwinski were both named 2021 L&S Teaching Fellows. The Teaching Fellow Award is granted to TAs from the College of Letters and Science who have achieved outstanding success as students and teachers. Winners of this award serve as instructors at the L&S Fall TA Training, which takes place at the start of the fall semester and welcomes 300-400 new and experienced TAs from across campus.

Gage Bonner earns 2020 Teaching Award

Posted on
profile picture of Gage Bonner
Gage Bonner

Congrats to physics grad student Gage Bonner for earning a 2020 College of Letters & Sciences Continuation of Study teaching award!

This new award category recognizes graduate students in L&S who provided exceptional continuity of instruction support to their department or delivered exceptional student experience in a remote instructional setting during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bonner was nominated for his work as a TA in Physics 109, Physics in the Arts, by one of the course’s instructors, Prof. Pupa Gilbert. Physics 109 is a quantitative-reasoning course offered to non-science majors, typically serving more than 200 students.

“The students are terrified of physics, and are not quantitative thinkers, thus it is especially important for Physics in the Arts TAs to be kind, friendly, and not intimidating,” Gilbert says. “Gage excels at all these challenges, and teaches masterfully. He is kind, intelligent, knowledgeable, and always in a good mood, making everyone feel comfortable and not intimidated.”

Gilbert nominated Bonner for the Continuation of Study award because of how effectively he adapted to the changes forced by the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, because in-person labs were no longer an option, Gilbert selected online labs, and asked the TAs to develop a series of interactive questions associated with each online experiment to help the students learn by doing. Bonner excelled at developing these questions. She also noted how well he interacts with students through the online Zoom lectures, helping to keep conversations going and being knowledgable, kind and effective with online instruction.

Based on course and TA evaluations, the students agree with Gilbert. Said one student in an evaluation:

“Gage has been a really awesome TA. He makes labs run so smoothly, responds to questions quickly and effectively, and reminds us [of] vital information. He was also super helpful in lectures. Letting the teachers know if there was a technical issue or question. He also made a really friendly and comfortable learning environment even with the restraints of BBC collaborate ultra.”

UW–Madison employs over 2,100 teaching assistants (TAs) across a wide range of disciplines. Their contributions to the classroom, lab, and field are essential to the university’s educational mission. To recognize the excellence of TAs across campus, the Graduate School supports the College of Letters & Science (L&S) in administering these awards.

Bonner has been a graduate student and TA in the department since Fall 2016.