My Teaching Philosophy
I believe that fostering enthusiasm and improving learning outcomes in my students starts with investment on my part. I want to make it clear in my classes that teaching is one of my priorities, and it’s something I will constantly strive to improve with the help and feedback of my students. I want to keep track of pedagogical research in order to craft every lesson and assignment individually, with a focus on student retention and understanding. I want to highlight the big ideas, to make sure that they are retained instead of memorized minutiae. Finally, I want to create a classroom environment where I am an ally to the students in their learning process, not an adversary.
My Teaching Experience
This past year I co-created a 3-credit upper division course about Astronomy Communication (reading, writing, and presenting in academic astronomy) from scratch at Penn State. I was then co-instructor of record for this course with Mariah MacDonald during Fall 2019 and Spring 2020. It was extremely rewarding, and quite fun as well! We hosted out-of-class Writing and Coding hack-sessions (with hot chocolate and snacks!) where the students could come in during the evening and collaboratively work with both peers and professors. Recently, we submitted a request to permanently register the course as an undergraduate class and got it approved for future semesters as the most hands-on graduate student TA opportunity in the department.
If you are interested in adapting this class for your university or accessing teaching materials, please reach out to me via bsrc@berkeley.edu.
My Outreach Philosophy
There are three main branches where I have focused my outreach work: improving the public’s perception and knowledge of SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) as a scientific endeavor, supporting women in STEM, and providing access to STEM opportunities in underserved communities such as my hometown (Anderson, South Carolina).
My Outreach Experience
Summer Camps
I have created and run a series of summer camps hosted at the Montessori School of Anderson for 5th-12th grade students. All of the weeklong camps have had different themes: Computer Science, Astronomy, and Problem-Solving. See some of the highlights below!
I have also been a mentor for Howard Isaacson’s Intro2Astro course, a free online summer class that introduces budding researchers (early undergraduate). In 2020, we had over 60 students from almost every time zone in the world!
Women and Underrepresented Genders in Astronomy (W+iA) at Penn State
For a few years, I was one of the co-leaders of Penn State’s Women and Underrepresented Genders in Astronomy group (W+iA), sharing my co-leadership with brilliant astronomers Emily Lubar and Shirin Zaidi. W+iA hosts weekly cookie meetings where we discuss topics such as impostor syndrome, the “leaky pipeline” for women in astronomy, and cognitive distortions. We also set up meetings with visiting non-male speakers, host social events (previous events have included attending soccer games, cartoon and ice cream parties, and going to craft fairs), and provide a support network for undergraduates through faculty and staff members. We started a W+iA library of volunteered resources, featuring papers by women in the department, resources about diversity and inclusion, science books written by female authors and fiction with strong female role models (especially if they’re scientists!).
SETI Outreach
I have been featured as a remote guest on podcasts, including the StarTalk radio show hosted by Dr. David Grinspoon. We discussed technosignatures in general, the NASA technosignatures workshop, and the future of SETI. Check it out here! My other podcast appearances include the Cosmic Companion and the Wow! Signal.
I have also given a set of half hour feature talks about SETI at Penn State’s AstroNight event, the Montessori School of Anderson, and State College Astro on Tap.
My work has been featured in Vice and Wired, among other publications.
Other
I have been a volunteer for great Penn State-based programs such as AstroNight and the ENVISION: STEM Career Day for Young Women.
In 2015 I went to Norway for an Artistic Residency at the Global Hands-On Universe conference. I helped create A Brief Introduction to Particle Physics* as an introduction to the Global Science Opera 2016.
*Music, art, and filming and video production were all original work by Nico Lecoeuche, Malena Rice, and I.
If you would like to contact me about a teaching or outreach opportunity, please send an email to bsrc@berkeley.edu
Dr. Sofia Z. Sheikh 