Benjamin D. Smith
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Benjamin D. Smith

Teaching Experience

I have been involved in various teaching roles since early in my academic career:

  1. Adjunct Principle Instructor
  2. Teaching Assistant

Adjunct Principle Instructor

Between January to July 2016, I worked as an adjunct principle-instructor at Brigham Young University-Idaho in Rexburg, Idaho, USA. I was responsible for designing and implementing the course layouts, instruction, and assessments for several classes of 20-30 students each:

  • PHYS 121, Principles of Physics 1: The first course in the calculus-based sequence of introductory physics for science majors. The course focused on Newtonian laws of motion and the concept of energy. In this course, I applied principles of peer-instruction active learning. [Spring 2016].

  • PHYS 220, Principles of Physics 3: The third calculus-based introductory physics course teaching principles of electricity and magnetism and how they relate to Maxwell’s equations. [Winter 2016].

  • PHYS 150, Beginning Physics Lab: This hands-on laboratory course introduced first-year students to the basics of experimental physics, with emphasis in experimental uncertainty, statistical analysis, regressions, and simple numerical modelling. [Winter & Spring 2016]

Teaching Assistant

  • PHSCS 105, General Physics 1: Applied, non-calculus physics course covering mechanics, heat, wave motion, and sound. (Tutorial Lab TA) [Fall 2010 – Winter 2011].

  • PHSCS 123, Introduction to Waves, Optics and Thermodynamics: Calculus-based course on waves, thermal physics, optics, special relativity, and introduction to modern physics. (Tutorial Lab TA), [Fall 2013].

  • PHSCS 108, General Physics Lab 2: Lab experiments in electricity, magnetism, optics, and modern physics; measuring and analyzing data. (Lab instructor TA), [Winter –Summer 2014].

  • PHSCS 245, Experiments in Contemporary Physics: In-depth, multi-period experiments in contemporary physics, experimental methods using advanced instrumentation. (Lab instructor TA), [Fall 2014 – Winter 2015].

  • PHYS 130: (Whetlock)[Fall 2016]

  • PHYS 295: (Freeman)[Fall 2017]

  • PHYS 292: (LeBlanc)[Fall 2018]

  • PHYS 297: (Freeman)[Winter 2022]