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Teaching philosophy and courses
A record of undergraduate and graduate teaching in the Department of Physics and Atmospheric Science. Dr Hewitt’s current appointment carries a reduced teaching load.
Philosophy
Linking theory with experiment
“My goal as a teacher is to inspire a love and appreciation for physics by linking theory with experiment, the reality of the world around us with our physical understanding of it.”
The emphasis is on reaching diverse learners, and on building student confidence, independence and scientific reasoning rather than recall.
“My philosophy is to engage the students with multiple lecture styles and to experiment with technology in order to assess its merit.”
In practice
The approach draws on the learning pyramid, which puts retention from peer teaching near 90% against roughly 5% for lecture alone. Methods used include lecture demonstrations, concept tests in the Mazur style, and computer modelling — Excel spreadsheets to visualise wave equations, and ray-tracing programs for optics.
Quality teaching also functions as a recruiting tool: it is where most physics students first decide the subject is for them.
Courses taught at Dalhousie
- PHYC 3540 — Optics and Photonics
- PHYC 1100 — Introductory Physics (regular stream)
- DISP 1510/01 — Introductory Physics (Integrated Science Program)
- PHYC 2240 — Medical Imaging
- PHYC 6601 — Experimental Techniques in Materials Science (team-taught graduate course)
Training in the lab
Most teaching now happens through supervision. Students in this lab build and align their own instruments rather than only operating software, and most publish before they leave.