Texas A&M Physicist Tatiana Erukhimova Earns National Recognition For Undergraduate Teaching Excellence
As a 2017 Texas A&M Presidential Professor for Teaching Excellence and a 2021-2024 Eppright Professor in Undergraduate Teaching Excellence, Erukhimova has excelled for nearly two decades in teaching large introductory physics classes, combining high expectations with devoted support to transform the relationship her students have with physics. Her approach to teaching can best be summarized by her keynote presentation delivered at Texas A&M’s 2018 Transformational Teaching and Learning Conference and again last month at the 2024 Susan M. Arseven ’74 Conference for Women In Science and Engineering, titled “It’s not business, it’s personal. Teaching large classes, one student at a time.”
AAPT officials cite the culture of Erukhimova’s classrooms as one of engaged, communal learning supported by innovative and research-backed pedagogy. She forms a community of mutual support where all students are expected to help each other learn. For content delivery, she uses a mix of engaging lecture, scaffolded problem-solving, peer instruction with in-class questions and experimental demonstrations almost every day. Erukhimova’s courses personify the active learning encouraged by recent research. Students must be awake, engaged and thinking at all times. The outcome of this, beyond students who are excited to be in class each day and courses which fill up long before other instructors, is students who learn and perform better in their courses.
Through her mentoring, Erukhimova has had a significant impact on students beyond her own classroom. In October 2014, she gave a series of presentations on effective teaching practices open to all graduate students in her department. Since then, she has been a mentor and advocate for graduate students who have opted to pursue instructional faculty positions at universities, offering them resources and materials, guidance and suggestions on course structure and pedagogy, and being an open ear and perspective for continuing advice.
Erukhimova’s passion for inspiring learning through science also has motivated the creation of several innovative programs at Texas A&M that integrate education with science outreach and community service. Her signature program, the DEEP (Discover, Explore and Enjoy Physics and Engineering) Program, created in 2012, involves undergraduate students working throughout the year in small teams led by graduate physics students to design and build interactive physics demonstrations for use at future outreach events, none bigger than the annual Physics and Engineering Festival that attracts thousands of visitors from across the country to campus each spring. The popular Physics Show that she’s hosted from more than 30,000 people since 2007 also involves student volunteers, many of whom have been involved in creating the Real Physics Live online videos series used in K-12 education and also help Erukhimova take physics to local community festivals, football games and other campus events and settings. Research studies conducted by Erukhimova and her collaborators have shown the positive impacts of facilitating these programs on developing students’ STEM identity and sense of belonging, as well as on the development of important career skills such as communication and teamwork.
This story source was originally published by Texas A&M Arts & Sciences.