___
The parts that make this post very long:
* generic Cover Letter;
* full Resume;
* my Teaching Philosophy; and finally;
* my Reflection on Voices of My Students.
* Full Elementary Physics Course: two semesters, with lecture notes.
___ * my Reflection on Voices of My Students.
* Full Elementary Physics Course: two semesters, with lecture notes.
In the past, in addition to teaching, I was providing consulting services to teachers and administrators; I was a director of an institution for policy analysis and development and a member of a group implementing on a large scale Socratic approach to teaching. After moving to Boston I mostly just teach.
I teach my students how to use their brain for designing solutions to problems they have never solved before (i.e. be truly intelligent). Any problems, not just in physics, because the process of designing a solution is universal (unless, of course, instead of a brain someone uses a different organ).
Also read: Who I Am: Dr. Voroshilov: A Peek Inside!
Foreword:
(From the NASA's "Brief History of Rockets" https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/TRC/Rockets/history_of_rockets.html)
This is what teachers can do.
How do people become professionals?
By accumulating
professional experience.
How do people become experts?
By reflecting on accumulated professional experience.
The following pages provide full description of my highly diverse, broad and deep professional experience in the field of education, including the parts that make this post very long:
* generic Cover Letter;
* full Resume;
* my Teaching Philosophy; and finally;
* my Reflection on Voices of My Students.
* Full Elementary Physics Course: two semesters, with lecture notes.
* my Reflection on Voices of My Students.
* Full Elementary Physics Course: two semesters, with lecture notes.
Many people write what they think about education. I write what I know about it - as a professional and as an expert. Athletes and soldiers wear medals.
I have this.
Dear Visitor, welcome to the full description of my professional history.
The other day I was called in a hallway “Mr. V, hi, do you still teach physics?”
That was one of my
students from three or four years ago.
We had a brief
conversation.
“Of course, I do,
I love it!”
“Mr. V, you were
the best physics teacher I had”.
“Thank you.”
“And everyone
tells that you are the best”.
“Well, I know that some
students do not like me”.
“I don’t care what
people say on the Internet. All my friends say only good things about you”
“Thank you, I had
very good teachers, and I just try to do what I learned from them”.
I am a professional in the field of education with an more than ordinary professional experience, including teaching, and the above conversation is one of the items that support my self-assessment.
As a smart person (BTW: why would anyone wanted to hide that?), I am aware of the fact that for some HR experts, managers or other professionals
making this statement about myself may be seen as a negative sign, e.g. a bad taste, or a wrong type of sense of humor (e.g. a text with links to some materials prepared for my unsuccessful job interview :).
But I do not
see a reason why should I hide the fact that I have a talent even though some other
educators may not have it. It does not make me a better person than other people, but it does make me a better teacher than some of other teachers. Plus, I do not make a claim that I am good at
everything. I like working in a team. The most efficient team is the one which
is composed of people with complementary talents (especially in education).
I believe the following ten pages (more than ten years of teaching!) of good words of what my former students have said about me, represent me better than any official Resume.
I believe the following ten pages (more than ten years of teaching!) of good words of what my former students have said about me, represent me better than any official Resume.
The main reason for representing student feedback is to demonstrate that when I talk/write about education, I know what I’m talking (and writing) about; and I know this not just because of books I’ve read, or my theorizing on the matter. I know this because of books I’ve read, because of my own theorizing on the matter, but most importantly because of my own deep, broad, and successful (at least, according to me students) teaching experience.
I know teaching, because I do teaching, and I am good at it; it took time to become a good teacher; I am good at it because I have been constantly analyzing my teaching practice and making it better.
With best regards,
Voices of My Students (and this is a link to copies of some past evaluations)
“Professor V. is extremely passionate about physics, which made this course more enjoyable. Despite the technological difficulties that occurred during this summer term, Professor V. was able to manage the obstacles thrown at him, and execute teaching a difficult course remotely. In addition, the coursework was extremely beneficial in terms of preparing for the exams, and I never felt lost during the course.”
“Prof. Voroshilov, I’m at a loss for words to express my gratitude. In all of my years of school, from elementary, into high school, and through college, I have been blessed with top-notch teachers. But I’m pretty sure you take the cake. I was originally debating between taking physics at Harvard or BU, and all the signs pointed to BU. Honestly, I kind of think it was fate. I am not sure if it was just a good student – teacher match, but I thoroughly enjoined your lectures. You have an uncanny ability to present material, and it’s pretty clear (to me, at least) how much effort you put into your work as a teacher.”
“Prof. Voroshilov, I’m at a loss for words to express my gratitude. In all of my years of school, from elementary, into high school, and through college, I have been blessed with top-notch teachers. But I’m pretty sure you take the cake. I was originally debating between taking physics at Harvard or BU, and all the signs pointed to BU. Honestly, I kind of think it was fate. I am not sure if it was just a good student – teacher match, but I thoroughly enjoined your lectures. You have an uncanny ability to present material, and it’s pretty clear (to me, at least) how much effort you put into your work as a teacher.”
“Thank you, thank you, thank you! Mr. V, thank you for
putting up with all of us this summer!! I feel much more prepared for the MCAT.
And I loved the demonstrations! Thanks for putting all the time + effort!”
“Professor V, You designed this class so that those
who put in the effort would succeed, so I gave it my all and sure enough."
“I
want to say thank you for creating such a conducive learning environment for me
to succeed. I hadn't taken a physics class since my freshman year in high
school, so I was very nervous going into your class. I did not expect this
course to become my favorite science course so far at BU. Physics is a hard
subject, but you explained everything well and made sure we, as a class, had
the tools necessary to succeed with enough hard work on our end.”
“Professor Voroshilov is great – he explains concepts
very well, and makes great use of clicker questions, demos, etc. Prof.
Voroshilov also uses powerpoint, transparencies, videos, cameras, tablets, etc.
very creatively and effectively to reinforce material from lecture.”
“I didn’t like physics before taking this class and
now it’s one of my favorite classes.”
"I
hated physics before taking this course, and now after taking both 105 and 106
with Mr. V, I actually really enjoy it. He is one of the best teachers I've
ever had. Thank you"
“Best physics professor here, only one who cares if
students are learning the material. Proves you don’t need a PhD in physics to
teach this class. PhD in education is much more effective.”
“Needs to teach the fall/spring semester! Physics makes so much sense!!!”
“He is awesome! Clear when he presents, fun demos, good sense of humor Used real life examples to represent difficult to learn concepts, made class fun he is enthusiastic and experienced.”
“Mr. V's enthusiasm and passion for what he does was clearly reflected in his teaching. By doing a lot of demonstrations and connecting theory to real-life examples he made the material much easier to understand.”
“Makes concept sound simple.”
“I found that Professor V. was a fantastic professor to have! In particular, I appreciate that he put time into ensuring the online nature of the course was not a detriment to our lives, particularly as I work outside school. He hardly ever stumbled in the use of technology to provide us with the best in-class experience.”
“Professor V. has a strong passion and drive for teaching physics.”
“He worked hard to make sure the technology worked in a timely and organized fashion.”
“Professor V. is extremely passionate about physics allowing for this course to be more interesting than normal. His teaching style and presentations are straightforward, and allow for the material to be mastered as long as you work hard for it.”
“I loved Professor V. because he was never trying to trick students, and he truly hopes all students can be successful in PY105.”
“There are clear explanations for every single problem we encountered, alongside theoretical background of all derivations and processes studied. The instructor also appears enthusiastic, which is very helpful for courses like physics (easily monotonous with all the math involved)”
“He uses lot's of models and examples to teach.”
“He is very caring and thorough, tries to be clear with his expectations. We really appreciate how much time and effort he puts into his lectures, demonstrations, and the amount of his own time he puts into answering piazza questions. I have never had a professor who cares enough to answer piazza questions as often as Mr. V so I commend how much effort he puts in”
“I was at first a bit scared of Dr. V because of his extremely confident way of talking and how he occasionally comments students directly. However, I started to enjoy his class more and more, and now I find him to be an incredibly smart and entertaining professor. He knows how to keep one's attention. Moreover, he is extremely organized and doesn't waste time on anything, forcing students to pay attention at all time. Finally I love when he makes some small political comments.”
“Professor V is excellent, I have no complaints. He is enthusiastic and caring, as well as extremely knowledgeable. He was passionate and available regularly for help.”
“He is really funny without trying too hard. He's definitely one of my favorite personalities of the university professors I've had so far. I feel like every ruling he had regarding our class was fair, sometimes even too nice. I felt this class more than any other I have taken at this school benefited me. I spent a considerable amount of time preparing for the exams, and wasn't surprised by a single question on them. He really, really cared about the students, even if he didn't express it explicitly. He came off cold at first, especially in the responses he'd give to students on Piazza who were not doing well in the class. It was in his actions that I really noticed he cared, like spending days regrading exams after there were discrepancies, or changing the format of labs due to technical difficulties on the student's parts. A teacher who didn't care wouldn't have changed those things.”
“He was comfortable with the technology which made everything easier on our end as students. He was able to adapt quickly when things went wrong such as Echo360 shutting down, etc.”
“Dr. V is a very passionate instructor. His presentations are straightforward and cover a lot of problems. The questions are engaging and the experiments are interesting. Lots of great demonstrations”
“Great energy, the lecture is really easy to understand.”
“If I could give a 10 for Dr. Voroshilov, I would. Excellent teacher. Makes physics fun (which is a very hard thing).
“He is awesome! Clear when he presents, fun demos, good sense of humor Used real life examples to represent difficult to learn concepts, made class fun he is enthusiastic and experienced.”
“Mr. V's enthusiasm and passion for what he does was clearly reflected in his teaching. By doing a lot of demonstrations and connecting theory to real-life examples he made the material much easier to understand.”
“Makes concept sound simple.”
“I found that Professor V. was a fantastic professor to have! In particular, I appreciate that he put time into ensuring the online nature of the course was not a detriment to our lives, particularly as I work outside school. He hardly ever stumbled in the use of technology to provide us with the best in-class experience.”
“Professor V. has a strong passion and drive for teaching physics.”
“He worked hard to make sure the technology worked in a timely and organized fashion.”
“Professor V. is extremely passionate about physics allowing for this course to be more interesting than normal. His teaching style and presentations are straightforward, and allow for the material to be mastered as long as you work hard for it.”
“I loved Professor V. because he was never trying to trick students, and he truly hopes all students can be successful in PY105.”
“There are clear explanations for every single problem we encountered, alongside theoretical background of all derivations and processes studied. The instructor also appears enthusiastic, which is very helpful for courses like physics (easily monotonous with all the math involved)”
“He uses lot's of models and examples to teach.”
“He is very caring and thorough, tries to be clear with his expectations. We really appreciate how much time and effort he puts into his lectures, demonstrations, and the amount of his own time he puts into answering piazza questions. I have never had a professor who cares enough to answer piazza questions as often as Mr. V so I commend how much effort he puts in”
“I was at first a bit scared of Dr. V because of his extremely confident way of talking and how he occasionally comments students directly. However, I started to enjoy his class more and more, and now I find him to be an incredibly smart and entertaining professor. He knows how to keep one's attention. Moreover, he is extremely organized and doesn't waste time on anything, forcing students to pay attention at all time. Finally I love when he makes some small political comments.”
“Professor V is excellent, I have no complaints. He is enthusiastic and caring, as well as extremely knowledgeable. He was passionate and available regularly for help.”
“He is really funny without trying too hard. He's definitely one of my favorite personalities of the university professors I've had so far. I feel like every ruling he had regarding our class was fair, sometimes even too nice. I felt this class more than any other I have taken at this school benefited me. I spent a considerable amount of time preparing for the exams, and wasn't surprised by a single question on them. He really, really cared about the students, even if he didn't express it explicitly. He came off cold at first, especially in the responses he'd give to students on Piazza who were not doing well in the class. It was in his actions that I really noticed he cared, like spending days regrading exams after there were discrepancies, or changing the format of labs due to technical difficulties on the student's parts. A teacher who didn't care wouldn't have changed those things.”
“He was comfortable with the technology which made everything easier on our end as students. He was able to adapt quickly when things went wrong such as Echo360 shutting down, etc.”
“Dr. V is a very passionate instructor. His presentations are straightforward and cover a lot of problems. The questions are engaging and the experiments are interesting. Lots of great demonstrations”
“Great energy, the lecture is really easy to understand.”
“If I could give a 10 for Dr. Voroshilov, I would. Excellent teacher. Makes physics fun (which is a very hard thing).
“I love Mr. V.”
“Dr. V is a great professor. Cares about physics and
his students.”
“Loved Dr. V. Wish he taught during the school year as
well.”
“Fantastic teacher.”
“Make you work if you want to do well.”
“It’s a generally really cool course.”
“Mr. V was by far the best professor I have ever had
at BU. I wish he taught through the school year. He is always enthusiastic,
explains topics well, and has great models. I don’t think any other science
teacher at BU can match up to him.”
“Fantastic instructor. My favorite science professor
I’ve ever had. Amazing at making even the most difficult or boring subjects
interesting and fun. Absolutely hilarious. Won’t take physics if not with him.
Just needs neater handwriting.”
“He is a master. He knows his material. He wants to
help. That’s all I can expect from a teacher. He is great.”
“He tends to challenge us by truly assessing which of
my aspects are flawed.”
“He’s great. One of the best instructors I’ve had at
BU.”
“He really makes the class enjoyable.”
“Professor V is an excellent professor and by far my
favorite I have had in my three years at BU. It would be a delight to have him
teaching here during the school year as well.”
“He is a master. I think all professor should be able
to teach as him. That way students would not have to spend hours reading off of
lectures.”
“I can honestly say I had never seen a professor who
cared more for his students and how they do, as well as what they learn.”
“Best teacher I’ve had, bar none.”
“Explains things in a way that can be understood –
explains why we care. Great and interesting demos. One of the best science
professors I’ve had at BU. Actually wants us to do well. Lear expectations.”
“Val was a breath of fresh air after CH109 and 110.
Great lecturer; I almost became a physics major because of Val (and the TFs,
too). Explains well, is nice, has great presentation.”
“Incredible instructor; best one I’ve ever had at BU.
He above puts the chemistry department to shame in how thorough and passionate
his lectures are. I would change to a physics major or minor if he taught every
class.”
“The examples were very thorough and
thought-provoking. The demos were interesting and made of material more
applicable to real-life scenarios.”
“Punctual, respectful of class end-time (much
appreciated). Extremely knowledgeable about content, very effective at braking
things down to digestive pieces, and presenting it in a logical, glowing
manner. Highly engaging demonstrations. Great use of tools/props. Good energy
(especially for a 9 am class). Professor Voroshilov has a very
matter-of-fact/this-is-so obvious aspect to some of his statements, which I
personally like, but could be discouraging to some students. If that’s just his
personality, then I’m not saying he should change it, just be mindful of how
others might perceive it.”
“Honestly,
he is one of the best professors here in BU. He's engaging, loves teaching the
material, and helps the students out to understand the concepts.”
“Very
passionate, good at explaining topics and going through enough example
problems, experiments/demonstrations performed in lecture were helpful.”
“I love you Mr.
V, you make physics bearable!”
“Fair and quick
grader. Has a really funny and dry sense of humor. Felt prepared for tests.”
“The professor
is very enthusiastic and has a lot of experiments relating to the topics we're
learning.”
“Professor V.
presents himself as somewhat cold and calculating, and appears to not care for
his students. This is the first impression most people get, likely due to the
nature of the material not involving emotional response. In reality, Professor
V. cares deeply for his students, and it is apparent when he spends the time to
answer students questions, regardless of how complicated or simple it may be.
Professor V's teaching style keeps you motivated and engaged, and his
presentations are clear and direct.”
“I have always
dreaded taking Physics — so much that I waited until the summer after I had
completed all the other undergraduate requirements and still hadn't taken it. I
am very glad I waited and had Mr. V as a professor; he knows the material
extremely well and teaches it clearly and explains well. One of my favorite
professors thus far.”
“Mr. V has the most extraordinary way of teaching a
topic that most people fear. His sense of humor keeps the class amusing. I'm
happy that my physics experience was left in the hands of such a passionate and
instructor. The course always felt fair and prepared us for his expectations.”
“Amazing professor. Waited for the summer so I could
take PY105 and PY106 with him. Funny in his way and very fair. Always helpful.
Would only take this class with him.”
“I think he is very relatable and very funny. I think
he genuinely wants people who are willing to work to do well. He is very fair
with his grading policy. Many students who complain about him are just taking
advantage of him to begin with, and are being unfair to him.”
“The professor explains the concepts very well
although of the language barrier, and he tries his hardest for students to
understand, he grades the exams fairly.”
“Prof. Voroshilov is very good at what he teaches, his
slides are dense and helpful. Prof. Voroshilov is entertaining and teaches
well. Prof. Voroshilov is awesome!”
“Prof. Voroshilov is always extremely prepared for
lectures. Excellent lecture slides, demos and PRS questions, online class site
and resources are excellent and helpful.”
“I appreciated your sarcasm and the way you were
teaching us to be very specific with our question because this helped me to
become better with my analytical skills.”
“Very enthusiastic and approachable. Genuinely cares
about his students. Best professor at BU.”
“Thank you for making physics so much fun,
and for being such an awesome teacher! Happy teachers’ day! You were
definitely my favorite teacher! You always made our class very entertaining and
I was really lucky to have you as a teacher! Thank you for teaching me to
check my grades! Have a wonderful summer and stay in touch, I will read your
book and tell you what I think!”
“He really cares about his students and provides the
appropriate materials for their success.”
“Good instructor. Helps students learn well.”
“Good at breaking things down.”
“Passionate about teaching.”
“Very funny. Genuinely interested in the best ways to
teach material.”
“Mr. Voroshilov has a clear understanding of all he
teaches and is a master on the subject.”
“Mr. Voroshilov does a good job of doing example
problems with a simple approach to make material clear.”
“Enthusiastic and entertaining.”
“I really liked him. One of the best instructors at BU. He explained concepts very well, his exams were pretty straightforward and based off homework. He is really fair. He uses equipment’s to explain the concepts which makes it fun.”
“I really liked him. One of the best instructors at BU. He explained concepts very well, his exams were pretty straightforward and based off homework. He is really fair. He uses equipment’s to explain the concepts which makes it fun.”
“He is an amazing professor and
goes into depth about the material.”
“I love his lecture style! It is so
helpful that he does many example problems during class.”
“Dr. V
explains concepts extremely well; I am very rarely confused and if I am it is
often cleared up very quickly. He also is quite funny, making class engaging
and more entertaining (especially since it is such an early class).”
“Mr. V
clearly knows where students are more likely to be tripped off, and thus
reminds us in lecture to not make certain mistakes. He also explains concepts
in multiple ways to make sure students understand each theory.”
“-hilarious, kept lecture
entertaining -demos prevent you from falling asleep -always willing to answer
questions -really cares about students”
“Prof.
Voroshilov is a great teacher, very wise and clear. All exams have been
extremely fair so far, and he has done a great job at conveying the material. I
now have developed a much greater interest and understanding of the beauty of
physics. I look forward to PY106!”
“I enjoyed lecture he clearly cared
about the class and was straight forward.”
“He really
explains things very well, and does plenty of sample problems. The sample
problems really further the understanding of the course material.”
“Really enjoyed the dry humor. At first, I found
it a bit too much but as time went on I like it more and more. Exercises in
class are helpful.”
“Gives very fair exams.”
“Great explanation of concepts.”
“Very enthusiastic. Used lots of demonstrations.
Always made time for questions.”
“Gives many question examples. Each lecture has many
helpful visuals.”
“Very funny in some way. Goes over the course concepts
clearly.”
“Fantastic. Love his humor, makes class fun. Tons of
office hour availability which is great. Very good at explaining concepts.”
“Incredibly funny and encouraging. Really enjoyed the
class.”
“Very clear and knowledgeable. Funny. Made class fun
and attainable.”
“Cares about students. Jokes around with them.”
“Fantastic teacher. I suck at physics and Mr.
Voroshilov made it very straightforward, understandable and manageable. Also
hilarious.”
“Mr. Voroshilov has a teaching technique that is
almost flawless, and I wish more professors had the ability to make a class as
lively and interesting as Mr. Voroshilov has done this summer. He was literally
ready to risk his life to show us demonstrations, solved as many problems as he
possibly could, and was fair in exams. Way to go, wish more professors were
like you. Very intelligent, knows material very well.”
“Makes the class entertaining. I find physics to be
boring at times but he keeps things fun. Very fair grader and I like his
tests.”
“He is clearly passionate about physics. His accent is not a problem,
because he genuinely tries to speak slowly and clearly. His class
demonstrations are really helpful.”
“Very smart and very funny. Physics is hard but Val
made the experience more enjoyable. He’s great. No need to change”
“Mr. V did a great job of going through examples and provided plenty of opportunities to get help.”
“Professor V is overall a good professor who presents material efficiently and for the most part understandably.
I appreciate how he demonstrated phenomena we were learning about in class. I appreciate that he answered questions in class. He provided very good visual experiments to introduce new material.”
“He is very enthusiastic and knows his material.”
“Mr. V’s demonstrations are incredibly helpful to understand the concepts and be able to visualize what is occurring in the world and in class. He teaches the information very well and it is pretty clear what he wants from you. He is always willing to help students and genuinely wants them to do well.”
“This material was significantly more difficult than last semesters, but I found that the teacher presented this material more clearly and at a better pace. The experiments that he did in class were extremely interesting and kept the entire class engaged.”
“Very well spoken, encouraging and funny. Knows the material well and does a great job of explaining difficult concepts with clear demonstrations. Very open in office hours and willing to help. As a professor, he is at first glance abrasive, but with more understanding, very genuine and determined to provide the best for his students.”
“-straightforward, no “beating around the bush” -willing to help students -lectures timed well -clear slides -video recordings of lecture helpful -responds on piazza very quickly! Gives many examples to better the understanding of the materials.”
“Mr. V was enthusiastic about teaching and made the material very understandable. Great at explaining difficult physics topics directly and clearly.”
“I really appreciated all the different resources he provided us that aided in learning. The WebAssign homeworks were reasonable, the lectures were fast-paced but provided good example problems, having old slides helped me focus in lecture, and the demonstrations were always enjoyable and taught concepts well.”
“Very enthusiastic and passionate.”
“Utilize great experiments to really help students to understand the materials amazing”
“He had a great sense of humor, which made morning classes more bearable. Does a good job of presenting material.”
“Clear good demonstrations, funny guy, knows physics well.”
“Enthusiastic, cares about the students, and very funny.”
“Explains material well! amazing professor - makes physics understandable and relatable.”
“Enthusiastic, sarcastic, chill, lectures with intent for us to learn. Demonstrates that physics is not really as hard as we may have believed.”
“I found that Dr. V's presentation of materials was excellent. Even with difficult topics, the way he explains them helps students see an easier way to solve and think about issues.”
“I really didn’t like physics but the Prof actually made it comprehensible which I appreciate. He might not always be the nicest but I think he is well intentioned.”
“Overall, very good presenter and interesting to listen to.
There are a lot of examples that he does in front of the class which is nice. Gives another perspective on the material being taught.”
“He is very knowledgeable, uses good examples and presentations during the lecture, and does a good job making sure we understand the concepts. Explains material in a way that it’s easy to follow and understand for someone who struggled a lot in physics in high school.”
“Enthusiastic about the material, explaining steps for solving specific types of problems and the overall problem-solving strategy, very kind and willing to help students.”
“Dry humor that makes physics bearable. Grading is great. Definitely very friendly and funny, loved his humor.”
“Mr. V did a great job of going through examples and provided plenty of opportunities to get help.”
“Professor V is overall a good professor who presents material efficiently and for the most part understandably.
I appreciate how he demonstrated phenomena we were learning about in class. I appreciate that he answered questions in class. He provided very good visual experiments to introduce new material.”
“He is very enthusiastic and knows his material.”
“Mr. V’s demonstrations are incredibly helpful to understand the concepts and be able to visualize what is occurring in the world and in class. He teaches the information very well and it is pretty clear what he wants from you. He is always willing to help students and genuinely wants them to do well.”
“This material was significantly more difficult than last semesters, but I found that the teacher presented this material more clearly and at a better pace. The experiments that he did in class were extremely interesting and kept the entire class engaged.”
“Very well spoken, encouraging and funny. Knows the material well and does a great job of explaining difficult concepts with clear demonstrations. Very open in office hours and willing to help. As a professor, he is at first glance abrasive, but with more understanding, very genuine and determined to provide the best for his students.”
“-straightforward, no “beating around the bush” -willing to help students -lectures timed well -clear slides -video recordings of lecture helpful -responds on piazza very quickly! Gives many examples to better the understanding of the materials.”
“Mr. V was enthusiastic about teaching and made the material very understandable. Great at explaining difficult physics topics directly and clearly.”
“I really appreciated all the different resources he provided us that aided in learning. The WebAssign homeworks were reasonable, the lectures were fast-paced but provided good example problems, having old slides helped me focus in lecture, and the demonstrations were always enjoyable and taught concepts well.”
“Very enthusiastic and passionate.”
“Utilize great experiments to really help students to understand the materials amazing”
“He had a great sense of humor, which made morning classes more bearable. Does a good job of presenting material.”
“Clear good demonstrations, funny guy, knows physics well.”
“Enthusiastic, cares about the students, and very funny.”
“Explains material well! amazing professor - makes physics understandable and relatable.”
“Enthusiastic, sarcastic, chill, lectures with intent for us to learn. Demonstrates that physics is not really as hard as we may have believed.”
“I found that Dr. V's presentation of materials was excellent. Even with difficult topics, the way he explains them helps students see an easier way to solve and think about issues.”
“I really didn’t like physics but the Prof actually made it comprehensible which I appreciate. He might not always be the nicest but I think he is well intentioned.”
“Overall, very good presenter and interesting to listen to.
There are a lot of examples that he does in front of the class which is nice. Gives another perspective on the material being taught.”
“He is very knowledgeable, uses good examples and presentations during the lecture, and does a good job making sure we understand the concepts. Explains material in a way that it’s easy to follow and understand for someone who struggled a lot in physics in high school.”
“Enthusiastic about the material, explaining steps for solving specific types of problems and the overall problem-solving strategy, very kind and willing to help students.”
“Dry humor that makes physics bearable. Grading is great. Definitely very friendly and funny, loved his humor.”
“Great teaching style, and encourages thinking.”
“Russian spy. Knows his stuff.”
“I really enjoyed taking Prof. Val and would
definitely sign up to take another one of his course. You can tell he wants his
students to understand and do well.”
“Awesome guy. Loved being in his class.”
“Mr. V is awesome. I love his humor and he’s very good
at explaining concepts clearly.”
“I love professor Voroshilov. His dry humor is a
perfect cherry on top of this course.”
“Weirdly funny. Teaches clearly. Russian.”
“He always asks if we have questions: enthusiastic.
Too awesome!”
“I really like Professor Voroshilov. I think he is
great at explaining concepts and is very underrated. Very helpful in office
hours”.
“The course’s workload gave me the ability to learn a
vast amount of material in just a little time: most of science courses do not
do that. The professor was approachable, friendly and was willing to spend much
more time out of class than most for explaining topics.”
“Teaching -
efficient, effective, easy to digest Presentation - funny, honest, blunt
(Russian sense of humor is hilarious). Professor obviously cares a lot about
the success of his students.”
“He goes
through lots of examples in class which allows me to go back and look for
reference when trying to do homework problems, very helpful. He has a very dry
sense of humor that adds to the enjoyment of the class, and his delight over
doing in class experiments really lightens the mood of otherwise long difficult
lectures.”
“He helps explaining things clearly and goes slow on things so people can understand fully.”
“He helps explaining things clearly and goes slow on things so people can understand fully.”
“He is very knowledgeable about the
material and genuinely wants students to do well. He is always willing to meet
with students to help them. He explains concepts clearly and effectively and it
is very clear what he expects from students. Demonstrations are super helpful
in order to visualize the concepts occurring in the world.”
“Mr. V used a lot of demonstrations
in his lectures which was really helpful and fun to see! I appreciate how he
goes through practice problems in lecture. Mr. V is really helpful with
questions in office hours, but less so in lecture.”
“Mr. V is pretty engaging and does
a good job keeping the lecture material relevant and accessible. Thank you!”
“Funny, entertaining lecturer.”
“Dr. V is enthusiastic about
teaching and his class teaches a lot about problem solving which helps in other
classes outside of physics too.”
“Very good at explaining physics
problems in a clear, straight forward and encouraging manner.”
“Professor V. is a very
enthusiastic professor that has a very deep understanding of the material and
is relatively good at explaining it. Homework is very relevant and exams fair.”
“Mr. V had very good demonstrations
to model the physics we were learning and was very knowledgeable on the subject
taught. He had a sarcastic sense of humor which I very much enjoyed, and he
prepared us really well for the exams.”
“Funny, passionate and very open to
questions.”
“Demonstrations were so helpful and
fun!! Mr. V clearly loves physics and loves to teach. He made physics fun and I
learned physics!!”
“Experiments in class kept the
students awake and entertained, and his sense of humor is dry but humorous.”
“The demonstrations were great and
really helpful. The tests were extremely fair and were based on material given
in the homework as well as what was discussed in class.”
“He is very clear and concise with
his explanations of concepts. I also really appreciate all the practice
problems we do and the step by step examples he shows us.”
“Enthusiastic, lots of examples
shown to class, posts everything online which is very convenient.”
“Very nice guy, understanding.
Exceptional knowledge of the subject. Wants people to do well. Enthusiastic.
Always available during office hours.”
“Demonstrated experiments in class
that helped explain the material even further. Also made the class engaging by
asking question through webassign.”
“interesting, does many fun
examples in class that display the concepts well, funny”
“He used demonstrations well. All
work was returned timely.”
“Included fun and engaging
demonstrations. Related exam material to HW and lecture problems. Made things
challenging and engaging but not impossible. Good structure for learning!”
“Good examples, helpful for exam”
“Funny; intelligent; witty;
knowledgeable; i love physics so much more because of this man.
Fast paced, but easy concepts”
“The pace of his lecture is pretty
good. The exam is pretty fair, and it reflects all materials covered during
lectures.
“Very clear teaching style.”
“I appreciated the flexibility in
attending lectures and his responsiveness to questions on Piazza.”
“very enthusiastic and wants
students to do well”
“Great!”
“Explains topics very clearly with
helpful examples”
“He is good at entertaining
students and explaining concepts well too. Makes physics more enjoyable.”
“Straightforward teacher, exams are
fair”
“He is very clear and his exams are
very fair. He teaches us what we should know.”
“Professor Voroshilov explained
physics very well for how hard a topic it is. He showed us fun experiments and
tried to make lecture fun.”
“fair grading quick to return
assignments”
“Very funny and
entertaining. Clear and to the point. Very detailed course materials, fair
exams based o homework problems and lecture.”
“Professor V
was very passionate about the material and it was evident through his use of
frequent demonstrations. He also went though many examples in class which made
the theory more applicable.”
“He knows the
material really well (obviously) and is extremely clear about his expectations
and what he wants us to know and get out of the course. The course is
predominantly the basics and straightforward, but you get a really good
foundation of whatever you are learning.”
“Mr. V. Is very
clear about his grading criteria. He is clearly enthusiastic about his subject.
The homework and exams are a fair representation of what we have learned in
class. He knows the material and have good way of explaining them. Really good
at explaining concepts.”
“Mr. V is very
good making physics less intimidating and easy to understand. His
demonstrations of concepts in physics through small experiments are very
helpful in understanding the course material.”
“He is able to
clearly articulate and explain physics.
Great guy, and knowledgeable. Sometimes
difficult to understand and read handwriting, but it is math not English.”
“Mr. V is
really nice! He tries his absolute best to provide necessary information for
students to pass. He has EXTENSIVE office hours. I legitimately think he is the
hardest working teacher I've had at BU - he uses these presentations to explain
concepts and is EXTREMELY aware of things that people may not like (fast pace,
accent?) and tries his best to accommodate for this. He is doing really, really
well as a teacher and I understand why people prefer summer physics because of
this.”
“He was always
prepared for class. He posted the slides in a timely manner and despite the
class being and hour and a half long at 8:30 in the morning, he still made a
good effort in being enthusiastic.”
“The professor
does a lot of practice problems which are very helpful for solving the homework
and tests. Pretty good
enthusiastic.
Amazingly brilliant and makes physics
comprehensive.”
“The live examples he gives in class help.
Great Examples helped to explain topics visually
knows his students. Knows
physics and minds of students.
Professor Voroshilov is helpful and covers many examples and makes it
simple to understand concepts. Great at explaining very stimulating
Good at explaining, uses lots of examples in lecture,
very fair exams
Presents
very clearly and thoroughly. Adds humor, keeps students engaged.”
“The webassign homeworks were mostly helpful and the course
gives AMPLE opportunity to get a decent grade.”
“The course’s exams were fair and often tested all the
material learned in class. The homework, especially webassign helped prepare
for the exams.”
“The professor is a lovely person. Friendly and eager
to help”.
“He can explain concepts really well. Brings in humor
to make class more interesting”.
“Good professor, I am not naturally good at physics,
but he explains things well”.
“The homework and discussions helped me learn the
material. The professor was energetic and happy to help us learn.”
“Shows a strong willingness to help students and meet
their needs”.
“Availability outside class, always willing to answer
questions”.
“Much opportunity to get help and improve”.
“Very knowledgeable and helpful.”
“Homework is relevant”.
“Good demos.”
“I really enjoyed the course and webassign, homework
was helpful”.
“Explains concepts thoroughly”.
“Funny, explains concepts well.”
“Instructor was organized and prepared for the
lecture.”
“Explains concepts slowly so easy to understand, great
having slides online for reference, in class examples and experiments.”
“The course is very organized and the Web CT content
is very useful. The professor is dedicated and explains concepts well.”
“Very good lecturer, extremely helpful during office
hours.”
“I really liked Dr. Voroshilov and think he does a
good job of explaining the material and does lots of demonstrations that make
class more interesting.”
“Very detailed powerpoints – they were very helpful in
studying for tests and doing homework.”
“Very nice man, very fair.”
“Good objective grading.”
“Labs are quick, easy and to the point. Homework is
generally representative of exams, usually is relevant to material. Discussion
is helpful. I like the webassign system.”
“Professor knew material well and was helpful in
office hours. Labs were fair, even though I hate labs.”
“Instructor Voroshilov is pretty good at explaining
concepts. He’s very funny which keeps people awake at 8 am. His PowerPoint
presentations are very thorough and helpful.”
“Fair grading, good TAs, relevant reading, and
helpful, accessible labs.”
“Helped to understand how physics is a part of
everyday life. The instructor really knew his stuff, and his demonstrations
were great.”
“Lots of visual aids to help understanding. The
professor is good and funny.”
“I thought he was well organized and explained the
concepts well. His emphasis on doing examples in class was very helpful! He is
also pretty funny when he wants to be, which is much appreciated at 8 am while
trying to learn physics. I found the professor, course and material so much
more interesting then PY105!!”
“Very helpful. Wants us to succeed!”
“He experiments with methods to be more effective,
very creative, very interesting and straight-forward.”
“The professor really enjoys the subject and has fun
teaching – good demos.”
“Professor Val is very effective in teaching concepts,
especially because it’s obvious he put a lot of work into it, in terms of
visual aids and notes. Very good professor, always available and helpful to
students.”
“He knows what he is talking about.”
“Always available and willing to stay beyond posted
office hours. Entertaining lectures, effective teaching style, approachable.”
“Wants us to do well in class.”
“Grading is fair.”
“He is an intelligent man.”
“I couldn’t have asked for a better physics
professor.”
“His demonstrations are awesome.”
“Loves teaching. Gives great examples and
demonstrations in class.”
“Hands down, one of the best professors I had at BU.
Great humor, makes physics very fun and exciting to learn, and has fair
examinations and grading policies. Great presentation skills.”
“Great instructor – knows concepts well, and can grab
our attention and keep it.”
“Very fair exams and homework.”
“The instructor is awesome with technology. He uses it
as a very helpful tool in ways other teachers haven’t or can’t.”
“Great instructor – really helps me to understand
concepts I am confused about.”
“Good lecturer. Knowledgeable. Better than D______y”
“Very clear and reasonable expectations.”
“Lab is helpful in understanding material.”
“Much material covered in a manageable manner.”
“Tests were straightforward and expected.”
“Very straightforward, no surprises, and everything he
did was relevant to the exams.”
“Good pace for amount of material.”
“The homework and exams were similar so studying was
well rewarded.”
“Great class – keep it up.”
“Professor V is great and during class his
introduction is most helpful.”
“Amount of homework was good. Just the right amount to
grasp/solidify material.”
“Fast, but well taught course.”
“He is able to present a lot of questions that are
likely to be present on the exam and he goes over it well.”
“Teaching is clear and concise. Examples on lecture
slides are for homework. Demonstrations are cool and help cement concepts.”
“Very effective at explaining concepts.”
“Clear explanations, very good lecturer, nice.”
“Hard class made somewhat easier or more manageable
because of Mr. V.”
“Very easy to understand and grasp concepts (even at
the faster pace).”
“Straightforward course.”
“Good pace and good amount of time introducing every
topic.”
“Challenging course. Covers all necessary topics.”
“Learn a lot in a very short time, but definitely able
to master material and comfortable in physics.”
“Lectures were interesting, exams were decent, and
homework helped a lot.”
“Summer course is fast paced, but worth taking with
Mr. V.”
“Super easy course.”
“Course is challenging but not anything impossible.”
“Tests are extremely fair. Homework and textbook are
very helpful.”
“He explains things clearly and labs are helpful.”
“I thought the test were extremely fair. I liked the
problems taught and I thought the material on the tests was covered in class.”
“Physics is fun due to this class.”
“Very good. Not difficult for someone not good at
math.”
“Teaches what needs to be known in a
clear/understanding matter.”
“Course is clear and interesting.”
“Very fair exams/assignments. Improve grading scale –
A is 95+, almost impossible in an already hard class.”
“Great at using real life examples and experiments.”
“Clear, easy to understand.”
“Well-paced course despite the course being compacted
in time.”
“Organization of material is superb. Professor really
really cares about his students’ success and learning. This is a very special,
conscious professor, aware of his work and its impact.”
“Loved it, great summer experience.”
“Difficulty of the course is fair. Homework, labs, and
attendance help boost exam grades.”
“Strength: his knowledge of the subject, his ability
to teach us; labs are too long.”
“Great course.”
“Webassign is a great practice. Well-spaced course out
a six week course.”
“Very funny and covers a lot.”
“So interesting. Does relevant problems. Makes exams
related to homework questions.”
“He really enjoys physics and the experiments were
cool.”
“Fantastic professor, hilarious, great and
enthusiastic. Nice guy.”
“There were a ton of examples during lecture which
were extremely helpful. He’s funny too and very willing to meet with students
in office hours.”
“Knows answers to all my questions. Grading scale is
ridiculous.”
“Very enthusiastic and interesting. Knows the material
well and can explain it multiple ways.”
“Very good at explaining concepts and keeping students
interested.”
“Awesome demos.”
“Professor Voroshilov is excellent. Very clear. Makes
students understand.”
“Very clear on the course policy and gives many
outlets of problems to do to understand the course material.”
“He knows what he is doing.”
“He emphasized his handwriting was hard to read so he
made sure people were following along so that no one would feel lost.”
“Strong points were his mastery of the course
material. He was always able to answer questions clearly. His demonstrations
were also great, and the slides were well-prepared. Lectures sometimes were
dull because we’d just worked through problems together.”
“The course covered a lot of content, but it was
presented in a way that made it relevant to life – the real world, so it was
interesting throughout.”
“Very clear verbally. Homework helps.”
“Good lab.”
“Fair exams.”
“Homework was very helpful in clarifying concepts.”
“Webassign – great tool.”
“Very fair in terms of time expected on studying and
homework. Webassign problems were relevant to tests and useful in conceptual
understanding the material.”
“Course is of adequate difficulty. Grading is very
fair. Love the class. Great introduction to physics. Don’t see anything to be
improved.”
“Exams and homework were very fair. Overall great
course.”
“Great professor, though could try to be less monotonous,
really funny sometimes. Overall liked him and class a lot.”
“The course was clear and well laid-out. It never felt
overwhelming or scary.”
“Labs were great.”
“Great course, loved it.”
“Material is very difficult conceptually, but Val does
a good job of explaining it.”
“The homework actually helped and the tests are very
fair.”
“Learned a lot. I liked that the labs were for
understanding material better.”
“He know the summer term is compressed, so he teaches
accordingly and his exams are fair and he clearly has taken that time
constraint in his mind. Also awesome physics demonstrations in class that are
intriguing and help understand the material better. Improve handwriting.”
“Course was not too challenging, slightly boring, but
I don’t really like physics.”
“Office hours with professor and teaching fellows
saved me.”
“Course: concise and to the point; could be shorter.”
“Labs are usually very helpful to reinforce concepts,
great that office hours last so long.”
“I like the way webassign works.”
“Obviously knows material very well and keeps class
engaged. Encourages participation.”
“Great.”
“He clearly cares about not only the material, but his
students’ grasp of physics. He did his best to show and not tell. Also,
examples in class made up for the fast pace. I respect how his exams clearly
reflect material from class and show a true understanding of presented
material. Improve: He has mastered how to teach this course. Only important
would be closer instruction of TAs.”
“Professor is very knowledgeable and explains concepts
well. His demonstrations are useful and fun.”
“He clearly loves physics. While he has typos a lot it
doesn’t ever interfere with clarity of lecture.”
“Instructor is passionate about material, quick to
answer questions (email and in person). Instructor knows about material well
and truly cares about students. At office hours, instructor is extremely
helpful and patient explaining concepts clearly. 10/10 experience.”
“The professor is good at explaining concepts. He
makes lecture interesting and is funny. He also is available for office hours
regularly.”
“Very fun. Some of the funniest moments in my college
experience. Great format.”
“Helps walk students through questions, does not mind
back-tracking in case a student doesn’t understand. Has a lot of visuals and
experiments that he does to help us understand the material better.”
“Very funny and engaging. Inspires interest.”
“Knowledgeable. Morbid humor.”
“Knowledgeable. Provides excellent class materials
(PowerPoint, recorded lectures etc.). Assignments indicative of challenge
level.”
“Enthusiasm and humor. Explaining how to keep going
through problems with variables.”
“Mr. Voroshilov was an excellent professor. He quickly
responded to all questions and was often available outside of class. He
included demonstrations during almost every lecture that were both helpful and
fun.”
“Strong lecture demonstrations. Good paring. Great dry
humor. Very knowledgeable and well organized.”
“Very clear. Fair. Encourages questions. Works well
with practical problems.”
“Mr. Voroshilov is really good at explaining concepts.
He helps me regain my confidence in physics. He is super helpful outside class.
I love his jokes.”
“Patient. Useful demonstrations. Useful practice
problems.”
“The professor is really clear. His lectures and
presentations do not simply gave explanations to memorize but rather comprehend
them. He accomplishes this through demonstrations with experiments. Engaged
students in problem solving. Also he makes the lectures interesting.”
“The professor is good at explaining
concepts. He makes lecture interesting and is funny. He also is available for
office hours regularly.”
Elevator
Pitch
One
of the first statements I tell my students is that the most important ability
for succeeding in a physics course (and in life) is not mathematics, or even
logic, it is imagination (and persistence).
Imagine
that you are on a plain (or taking a train, or a bus), and talking to your
neighbor.
Turns
out, he is in education; for years has been teaching math, logic, problem
solving, but lately mostly physics; developed and taught courses to middle
school students, to high school students, to college and university students,
to students with learning disabilities; has a M.S. in Theoretical Physics and a
PhD in Education with focus on teacher professional development; taught courses
to teachers; consulted school and district officials on managing innovations in
education; was a consultant to a state department of education to help with
writing a program for strategic development of the state system of education;
was an assistant to a director of a regional institute for teacher professional
development and an administrative assistant to the chairman of the board. I ran an institution responsible for development of analytical
documents and policy recommendation for the department of education of a city
of the size of Boston (and often did all this at the same time).
No
doubt, you would think that this guy was an expert in the field of education:
an expert in teaching, an expert in advancing teaching practices.
This
guy is me, Dr. Valentin Voroshilov. I was wearing all those “hats” in
Russia before I moved in Boston. My career was very promising, but I gave it up
for a chance to move my family away from a new “Tsar”.
At
the time, I had no publications in English. I
didn't even speak English. All my professional experience was bottled up inside me for many years to come. I had to start from a square one. First as a
janitor. Learning English using books, radio, and TV shows.
Today
I have recovered the most of my previous career (very proud of it!): I
work full time at Boston University, I teach (mostly physics) and I am good at teaching; finally I can clearly express myself beyond a physics course; I publish (in English!). I’m productive. I am also reentering the field of consulting and teacher professional development.
Based on my professional
experience, I consider myself a driven professional (educator), an eloquent expert (in human intelligence), a
productive author, and a collaborative colleague.
In the end, I have a very
broad teaching and research experience. In one word, I have become a TeachSmith,
so to speak. The journey from a teacher to a TeachSmith was long
and wavy, but not unique, has many shareable elements common to every
professionally growing educator (and summarized in book “Becoming
a STEM Teacher”).
To get to know me better, I
would recommend to check the following three web-links (would not take more
than 20 minutes of total time):
The
links to all six my applications to the NSF 2026 Big Idea Machine (from August 31, 2018 to
October 26, 2018):
1. Entry125253: High Frequency Data Streams in Education
2. Entry124656: objective measures of physics knowledge
3. Entry125317: National database teacher PD
4. Entry124655: role of NSF in funding education
5. Entry125719: The new type of a science course for science teachers.
6. Entry126205: The development of the uniform standard for measuring content knowledge in physics.
1. Entry125253: High Frequency Data Streams in Education
2. Entry124656: objective measures of physics knowledge
3. Entry125317: National database teacher PD
4. Entry124655: role of NSF in funding education
5. Entry125719: The new type of a science course for science teachers.
6. Entry126205: The development of the uniform standard for measuring content knowledge in physics.
My
connections:
linkedin: http://lnkd.in/YCKbb2
facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VVTeachOlogy
twitter: https://twitter.com/VV_TeachOlogy
“Executive Summary of Professional Experience”
(I) Teaching(A) Groups
5th-graders; 6-th graders; 7-th graders; 8-th graders; 9-th graders; 10-th graders; 11-th graders; 12-th graders; 2-year college students; 4-year college students; university students; school teachers; school administrators; district administrators.
(B) Subjects
Physics for Engineers (two semesters); Elementary Physics (two semesters); algebra, geometry; trigonometry; formal logic; problem solving; group theory (discreet and continuous); methods for teaching science courses; methods for advancing individual teaching practice; managing innovations in education (initiation, implementation, growth, support, assessment, audit).
(II) Managing/Consulting
Assistant to Director of an Institute; Administrative assistant to the chairman of a board. Director of Department of computerization and information technologies; Director of Center for Development of City School system; member or a team, leader of a group of consultants for schools and school districts (initiation, implementation, growth, support, assessment, audit of innovations in education).
(III) Learning
graduated from schools with high GPA; participated in a wide range of extracurricular activities; developed personal approach to teaching (flipped the classroom before the approach was described in publications); published papers on various aspects of advancing education; converted publications into PhD theses and then found an adviser; moved to a country without knowing the language; learned the language; learned how to teach using foreign language; started publishing in foreign language.
Dear Colleagues,
At the top of my Russian career, before I moved to Boston
(in 2002) I ran an institution which was an analytical branch of the City
Department of Education of a large city with about 1,000,000 citizens and about
130 schools (most of which would represent an equivalent of the combination of
American elementary, middle, and high school together). And before that I was
in the field of a teacher professional development (please, see below for the
details).
But my main professional achievement is being a good teacher.
I am a highly-experienced educator. I have been successfully designing and
teaching my courses and helping to design various courses to many educational
professionals. As an instructor, I am definitely above the average level, with
a solid formal proof of that fact in the form of my student evaluations; with a strong conceptual view on what teaching is and
how to teach effectively, efficiently, and sufficiently (http://www.cognisity.how/2016/10/book.html); with a strong experience in teacher professional
development (http://www.cognisity.how/2016/10/facilitating.html); with an experience in inventing and implementing into a
teaching practice new and effective teaching instruments helping students
develop deep understanding of the subject (physics), (http://www.cognisity.how/2018/04/MOCC.html; http://www.cognisity.how/2018/02/Algorithm.html; creativeness, and critical thinking http://www.cognisity.how/2018/02/thinkphy.html; http://www.cognisity.how/2018/03/ZPD.html).
The rest of this letter details my experience in the field.
“He is a master. I think all professor should be able to
teach as him. That way students would not have to spend hours reading off of
lectures.”
“I can honestly say I had never seen a professor who cared
more for his students and how they do, as well as what they learn.”
“Thank you, thank you, thank you! Mr. V, thank you for
putting up with all of us this summer!! I feel much more prepared for the MCAT.
And I loved the demonstrations! Thanks for putting all the time + effort!”
“Professor V, You designed this class so that those
who put in the effort would succeed, so I gave it my all and sure enough. I want to say thank you for creating such a conducive learning
environment for me to succeed. I hadn't taken a physics class since my freshman
year in high school, so I was very nervous going into your class. I did not
expect this course to become my favorite science course so far at BU. Physics
is a hard subject, but you explained everything well and made sure we, as a
class, had the tools necessary to succeed with enough hard work on our end.”
These are quotes from many nice words said about me by my former students.
I believe, such a feedback is one of the
greatest rewards any teacher can have.
Three times since my university graduation, I had to
re-start my professional career from a square one. This feedback is one of the
proudest achievements of my professional life.
Dear Colleagues,
I believe your view of an educator, is similar to mine,
i.e. at the core of an educator is a person who loves learning, who
is good at teaching, good at understanding the logic of learning and
teaching processes, one who can clearly express that logic to students and to
colleagues, the one who can think outside a box, who can create non-obvious
solutions to non-traditional problems, one who can help colleagues becoming the
best teachers they can be.
A good teacher is a teacher who can teach not only
memorizing and repeating various – even very complicated – patterns (that is
essentially no different from training animals doing tricks – BTW: that is what
all current AI-systems do); but also beyond; i.e. a good teacher is
a teacher who, in addition to solid knowledge and skills, can teach how
to think creatively and critically – which is the essence of Human
intelligence. Currently the AI filed has no common definition of Intelligence,
that is why I have developed my own. Intelligence is an ability to
create a solution to a problem which has never been
solved before (by the host of Intelligence; Cognisity.How/2018/05/AHLI.html). My definition not just grasps the
quintessence of intelligence, but is also operational, i.e. measurable (hence,
teachable). For me, the vital and ultimate goal of teaching is helping students
to advance their intelligent abilities, i.e. helping them become truly human
(and I teach this to my students, no matter what specific subject I teach at
the time; using my own technique: Cognisity.How/2018/02/Algorithm.html; Cognisity.How/2018/02/ThinkPhy.html).
“I have a very particular set of skills, which I have
acquired over a long career”. My student evaluations are the result of my
extensive and successful professional experience in the field of education.
I have no doubt, I would be a good fit as
a member of any professional team of educators.
What may make me stand out of some other educators is the
breadth and deepness of my professional experience.
I have a deep knowledge of the main subject I teach (M.S.
in Theoretical Physics), as well as augmented subjects (math, logic, problem
solving, human psychology, methods for teaching); I am an expert in teaching
methodology and teacher preparation (PhD in Education, experience in consulting
teachers and administrators); I have a deep knowledge of Human Intelligence; I
have an extensive and successful tutoring, teaching and research experience; I
believe, all this makes me a teach-smith (so to speak).
I have a successful experience in
designing and teaching courses for middle school, high school, college and university
students, pre-service and in-service teachers. I have a clear vision of the
structure of an effective on-site or online science courses (the latter should
be more than a standard combination of “talking heads”, hyperlinked texts,
screen simulations, and chat rooms).
A joke “those who cannot do – teach; those who cannot teach
– teach teachers” is definitely not about me.
I could have become a physicist. I could have gotten a PhD in Physics. Anyone who could get a B+ in elementary Quantum Mechanics can get a PhD in Physics. And I aced Quantum Mechanics, as well many other subjects, e.g. multivariable calculus, linear algebra, differential equations, hydrodinamics theory, particle theory, electrodynamics, renormalization group, and even taught group theory to university faculty. So, I could have gotten a PhD in Physics, but decided not to use my time to getting another badge of honor. However, to prove it to myself, in
2010 (not ever doing physics before that) I read some papers on high temperature
super conductivity, and then wrote mine own, which was published in a peer
reviewed specialized magazine (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921453410006179).
I love working with teachers, but not because I cannot
teach students – on the contrary, my student feedback tells me that I am a good
teacher. I love working with teachers because I am good at teaching, and I have
professional experience I would love to share. A large portion of my experience
in the field of teacher professional development was summarized as a chapter in
a book (Cognisity.How/2016/10/facilitating.html).
There is, though, the seed of truth in the joke. It is just
a fact that when someone is good at doing something, it does not
necessarily mean that the one can also clearly explain what the one does, and
why the one is good at it, because “clear explaining” is also a special
skill. I am lucky to have this skill, and happy to offer it to students and
colleagues.
My professional goal is very clear – I
work hard to maximize my professional output by applying all my skills and
experience. Three
times since my university graduation, I had to re-start my professional career
from a square one and but I think I may be ready to my last transition.
When I was receiving my MS diploma in theoretical physics,
I thought I would be becoming a physicist. However, when the Russian economy
collapsed, in order to feed my family, I turned to tutoring, and later to
teaching middle and high school students, and then college and university
students, and then teachers. At the time, schools were some of few places where
the government sometimes paid some money.
Soon I realized that students liked my teaching, and I
liked teaching students, and I started my second career – as an educator.
I joined a team of innovative teachers,
administrators, researchers, and consultants. Our team has been running various
teacher professional development activities, including a year-long projects
involving teams from multiple schools, with the end of a year bootcamp for
students and teachers. As the result, in addition to teaching, I also entered the
field of teacher professional development, and educational consulting, and got
my PhD in Education (specialization in andragogy, concentration in teacher
professional development). However, I did not like the changes in the political
atmosphere. But more importantly, leaving was the only way for me to save my son from being drafted in the Russian Army (which at the time was not much different from Somali pirates). In 2001 a miracle happened – I won a Green Card. Personally, moving to the U.S. meant for me being degraded - professionally and economically - but I saved my son and my free speaking spirit.
When I moved in the U.S. I started my third career from a
square one (my first job was a janitor at a supermarket). Since no one knew me,
and I knew no one, and I spoke just very basic English (which I learned myself
from books, tapes, TV and radio shows), the journey to reestablishing myself as
an educator was not quick and easy. But today I teach, I write, I research.
I am proud of my current achievements, but
I am always open to making the next step in my professional journey.
For example, I am always open to more teaching and to a collaboration on development of new approaches to
teaching and teacher professional development.
I have been involved in many collaborative projects which
had led to the development of new curricula, new course content, efficient
tools for managing teaching activities and learning experiences, facilitating
teacher professional development, running professional development workshops
for teachers and administrators.
I started my teaching career as a tutor. Tutoring may be
very helpful for gaining a deep understanding of numerous reasons for different
students to have various difficulties with getting a good understating of math
and physics.
Some tutors would help a student to do the homework, and
then a student would come back with a new homework, and then again, and again.
For me it felt like cheating. I wanted to teach my students how to do their
homework on their own. My goal was to help a student reach that level of understanding
so he or she would not need me anymore. It may have looked counterproductive –
money-wise. But in reality, it worked for me very well, because parents of my
students told about me to other parents, and I had plenty of clients.
Tutoring helped me to initiate the development of my
teaching toolbox tailored to students with different background. People usually
are eager to talk about gifted students, and how to help talented students to
realize their potential. Struggling students do not often attract the same
attention as gifted ones. Tutoring is like having a clinical practice. All good
students are good due to mostly the same reason (a good background), but when a
student struggles there might be numerous possible causes for that.
Teaching and tutoring physics, algebra, geometry,
trigonometry, problem solving, logic helped me acquire an integrative view on
various difficulties students may have and effective approaches to guide
students through those difficulties. My Doctoral work was focused on the
approach for igniting and supporting teacher’s sustainable desire to grow
professionally, and on methods for helping educators to design the most
effective path for their continuous sustainable professional development
(teaching teachers about teaching requires deep and wide understanding of
learning, teaching, and of the teaching subject).
In Russia I was a member of “Moscow – Perm Socratic group”
– a collaboration of educators dedicated to promoting the Socratic
Method of teaching (Cognisity.How/2018/02/Socrates.html).
I have a long and successful experience in teaching various
mathematics and physics courses, courses for pre-service and in-service
teachers and school administrators. I have been teaching Mathematics and
Physics to almost all possible categories of students (i.e. to middle- and
high- school students, 2-year and 4-year college students, university students,
to students with learning difficulties, and to school teachers). I also have been
teaching various curses for in-service teachers (in parallel with teaching math
and physics).
For a number of years, I had been working at a regional
institution for teacher professional development, providing various courses and
training to teachers and school administrators.
Individually and as a member of a team I was consulting and
auditing individual teachers, schools, and school districts regarding
educational policies, teaching technologies, learning outcomes, and quality of
education in general. Alone and with my colleagues, I was traveling to towns
and villages of the Perm Region to meet with teachers and administrators and
helping them with adjusting teaching and administrative strategies and
techniques in order to achieve better learning outcomes of their students;
including preparing strategic plans for systemic development of a school, a
district and a regional education system.
My administrative experience involves running a department
of computerization at Perm Institute for Continues Teacher Education, working
as an assistant to the Director of an Institute and as an administrative assistant to the President of the Board, and
later running the Center for Development of the School System of City of Perm,
which was an analytical branch of the City Department of Education (my last
position before moving to the U.S.).
I was hired by the Perm State (a.k.a. Region, a.k.a.
Oblast') department of Education as a consultant to help draft the “Program of
the Development of the State Educational System for the five-year period”. This
was one of the highest levels of the recognition of me as a professional
educator and a consultant.
After I moved in the U.S. and re-entered the field of
education, I have been teaching Boston University PY105/106 Elementary Physics
courses, as well as College Mathematics, Physics and Problem Solving at ITT
Technical Institute (Norwood, MA), Wentworth Institute of Technology,
Bridgewater State University, BU High School Academy.
During the years of my teaching practice I have developed
numerous math and physics middle-, and high- school and college curricula,
syllabi and lesson plans; problem sets, worksheets and hands-on activities. I
have an experience in developing websites and using such ones as webct, moodle,
blackboard, webassign, masteringphysics, wileyplus; creating new
demonstrations, filming movies and posting them online, using Java applets and
audience responds systems (eInstruction, Turning Technologies); developing
laboratory experiments and writing manuals. I have been and am using different
teaching strategies, including different media to motivate students to learn
and to help students to master a subject.
My years of personal tutoring and teaching provided me with
invaluable insights into how people learn and how to help them to master a
subject and to become a more efficient learner (my teaching philosophy is
summarized at Cognisity.How/2017/11/method.html). I have been sharing this experience with many students,
teachers, and colleagues. I have strong communication skills, deep
understanding of pedagogy, wide teaching experience, and competent in using a
variety of educational software products.
I firmly believe in a scientific approach to teaching and
to research on teaching. A teacher should be able to state specific goals, list
the assumptions, formulate the criteria of a success, and establish measuring
tools and procedures, and a researcher should be able to do the same as well. I
am also convinced that contemporary technologies will allow to bringing
teaching to a new level.
My personal teaching experience has always been entangled
with my research and consulting practices, and this entanglement represents one
of the most helpful assets I have and use when working with students, colleagues,
teachers, and administrators, because I usually know what students, colleagues,
teachers and administrators may want or need, what obstacles they may encounter
and need to overcome, and how to help them to do that.
I am a team player, the goals of my team always set limits
and directions for my personal professional goals. Throughout all my
professional life as an educator I have always had good relationships with my
students and colleagues. I always respect all my students and they know it, and
they respect me back even if at the end of the course they do not have the
grade they would like to have.
I am confident that my teaching, research, and
administrative experience would let me to be a serious asset for a team of
innovative educators, specifically, effective instructional designer.
Sincerely,
P.S. What usually confuses HR associates is the fact that
never in my life I was holding only one professional position. Since the time
when I was a middle school student, in addition to taking classes or having a
full-time position, I had always had some additional job or jobs on a side, and then
later in my professional career I held at least two official positions, and
sometimes even three. And I firmly believe that my “extra” experience only
amplifies my experience, no matter which specific professional position I would
hold.
When I was becoming a manager, my mentors taught me that the number one quality of a manager is character, because without character one cannot be decisive, cannot make decisions, especially if they involve risk, hence cannot properly execute his/her function as a manager - making decisions. However, I have also learned, that character is important for anyone to succeed. The fact that I re-stared my career three times, and twice overcame severe financial hardship proves that.
When I was becoming a manager, my mentors taught me that the number one quality of a manager is character, because without character one cannot be decisive, cannot make decisions, especially if they involve risk, hence cannot properly execute his/her function as a manager - making decisions. However, I have also learned, that character is important for anyone to succeed. The fact that I re-stared my career three times, and twice overcame severe financial hardship proves that.
Physics Department; Bridgewater State University
Resume
Education:
PhD
in Education: “Organizational and pedagogical conditions
for helping teachers to master project-based approach for designing their own
teaching practice”.
(a study on the methods for motivating teachers towards
continuous professional development; which has become a
chapter in a book).
Moscow Academic Institute for Innovations in Education; Moscow,
Russia, 2000
M.S. in Theoretical Physics: “Homogeneous Relaxation in Weakly
Non-Ideal Non-Equilibrium Bose Gas”
Perm State University, Perm, Russia, 1985
Areas of expertise:
A) administrative practices related to running a unit
of an administrative structure, such as a department, or an institution,
including but not limited to:
1. strategic and tactical planning
2. observing, guiding, coordinating, evaluating the
performance of employees
3. analyzing individual reports, preparing and
presenting cumulative statements
4. managing everyday workflow
B) consulting on developing teaching practices at
different levels (individual teachers, teams of teachers, schools, school
districts)
C) auditing teaching practices of individual teachers,
teams of teachers, schools, school districts
D) public relations – representing the team of
developers to different groups of prospective clients (teachers,
administrations of different levels)
E) analytical practices:
1. developing and employing various
analytical tools – surveys, interviews, tests
2. conducting analysis and
presenting reports
F) developing and teaching various courses for pre-service
and in-service teachers, including but not limited to:
1. philosophy of education
2. role of teaching in human practices
3. curriculum development and lesson plan preparation
4. assessing learning outcomes of students
5. classroom management with and without differentiation
6. how to become an effective teacher (the role of self-reflection
in professional development)
G) developing and teaching various Math and Physics
courses for undergraduate students (non-physics majors, including pre-service
and in-service teachers):
1. preparing a syllabus
(structuring the course, building up learning paths)
2. writing/composing lecture notes
and problem sets
3. developing problem solving
strategies and guiding techniques
4. lecturing, guiding, tutoring
students (including teachers in service)
5. developing, testing, performing
physics demonstrations and laboratory experiments
6. video and audio capturing,
editing, posting, streaming
H) teaching creative courses as such “Lateral
thinking”, “Problem solving strategies”
I) as a faculty member of a research university:
facilitating, monitoring, consulting faculty on developing curriculum,
preparing lectures, incorporating various teaching activities into a course,
analyzing the learning outcomes of students.
J) using and consulting on using online teaching
instruments (blackboard, webassign, mastering physics, etc.) and personal
response systems
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Boston University, Boston, MA; Physics
Department: 09/2007
- present time
Lecturer (PY105/PY106 courses):
Responsibilities: Curriculum development; developing and
editing lecture notes, homework assignments, laboratory manuals, exams;
lecturing, overseeing work of teaching fellows and learning assistants.
Boston University, Boston, MA; Physics
Department: 03/2007
- present time
Lecture Enhancement Coordinator (Physics
Department Demonstration Facility Director)
Responsibilities: Cooperating with the faculty on using
existing and developing new physics demonstrations and helping faculty with
implementing contemporary teaching research-based techniques into the teaching
practice.
Bridgewater State University, MA; 2010 - present time
Visiting Lecturer: Algebra Based Physics.
European Journal of Physics; 2013 - present time
a reviewer, physics education.
European Journal of Physics; 2013 - present time
a reviewer, physics education.
Wentworth Institute of Technology,
MA; 2008 - 2012
Adjunct Lecturer: Algebra Based Physics.
Boston University, Boston, MA; Physics
Department: 08/2012
– 08/2013
PDGK12 program/ Program Manager:
Responsibilities: Organizing and guiding teaching fellows –
participants in GK12 project – on the use of physics demonstrations in Boston
schools.
Boston University, Boston, MA; Physics
Department: 08/2012
– 08/2013
BU ERC Lecturer:
Responsibilities: Curriculum development for and leading
workshops “Physics - Demystified” for BU students.
BU Academy, MA; 2009 - 2012
Substitute Lecturer: Elementary Physics
ITT Technical Institute, Norwood, MA; 06/2004 – 2011
Adjunct Physics Instructor:
Responsibilities: Teaching Physics, College Math I and II,
Problem Solving
Boston University, Boston, MA; Physics
Department and School of Education: 09/2006 – 06/2007
Adjunct Instructor
Responsibilities: Teaching Physics to in-service high school
teachers
Boston University, Boston, MA; Physics
Department: 09/2004
– 03/2007
Lab Tech Coordinator
Responsibilities: Coordinating a preparation and carrying
out of undergraduate teaching labs; managing the equipment; developing new
teaching labs; consulting TFs
Boys and Girls Club of Boston, Roxbury
Clubhouse, Boston, MA; 07/2004 – 11/2004
Teacher’s Assistant, Math and Science
tutor:
Responsibilities: Tutoring in Math and Science to Club
Members
Wentworth Institute of Technology, Boston MA: 01/2004 –
05/2004
Physics Laboratory Instructor: Department of Applied Mathematics
and Sciences.
Responsibilities: Guiding students through a variety
of Physics I and Physics II laboratory work
Tutor: Academic Resource Center. 01/2004 – 05/2004
Responsibilities: Tutoring students in Mathematics (Algebra,
Geometry, Trigonometry, Calculus) and Physics
Center for Development of City School
System, Perm, Russia: 2000
– 2002,
Interim Director:
Responsibilities:
managing teams of professionals of an institution
responsible for development of analytical documents and policy recommendation
for the department of education of the City of Perm.
Institute for Continuous Education, Perm, Russia: 1997 -
2000
Associate Professor: Department of Teachers’ Skill
Development. (1995 -1997 as a part time employee)
Responsibilities:
Taught a wide spectrum of courses to school teachers and
principals of the city of Perm and Perm region
Examined teachers’ curricula, Evaluated of the quality of
teaching in physics and mathematics
Courses developed and taught
included:
Methods for Problem Solving in Mathematics and Physics
Modeling of Mental Processes of Students while Problem
Solving
Methods for Preparing Educational Tests
Planning Effective Teaching Activities
An assistant: to the Director the Institute.
Member: of the consulting group
for schools and school districts.
An administrative assistant: to the President of the Board of the Institute.
Director: Department of computerization and
information technologies.
Perm State Technical University, Perm, Russia: 1988 -
1997
Assistant Professor: Physics Department.
Responsibilities:
Teaching a wide spectrum of courses to undergraduate
students
Training students in Math to prepare them to study Physics
Developing physics and math curricula
Developing educational aids for students
Courses developed and taught included:
Mechanics; Thermodynamics;
Electrostatics; Magnetism; Optics; Atomic and
Nuclear Physics
Fundamentals of Quantum Mechanics; Algebra, Geometry,
Trigonometry, Pre-Calculus, Calculus
Methodological development included:
Curricula in Physics for Undergraduate Students; Midterm
and Final Physics Exams;
Collection and compilation of Physics Problems and
solutions for Undergraduate Students
Perm State University, Perm, Russia: 1985 -
1988
Hardware Engineer: Department of Computerized
Calculations:
Responsibilities: Various type of a technical support for
effective running large computers based on IBM-type architecture
Middle and High Schools, the City of Perm, Russia: 1991
– 2001
Teacher/Tutor:
Teaching a wide spectrum of courses to students
Developing curricula and midterm/final tests for courses
taught
Training students to Math/Physics competitions
Developing and testing learning tools for students with
learning disabilities
Courses developed and taught included:
Algebra; Geometry; Trigonometry; Fundamentals of
Probability Theory; Physics
Methodological development included:
High School Curriculum in Physics with Elements of
University-level Physics
Math Curriculum for High School Students in Physics Classes
Introductory Lectures on Basic Quantum Phenomena for High
School Students
Midterm and final physics exams
SELECTED CONFERENCES AND PUBLICATIONS
(more at Cognisity.How and GoMars.xyz/lc.htm)
What is “Teaching” and “Learning”? A short essay, where I summarize my
views on what is teaching, what is learning, and why everyone should
learn physics these days: Cognisity.How/2017/11/method.html.
Project-oriented form of teacher professional development / Presentation at 2016 PhysTech conference:
Materials from a one-day workshop with Prof. Novak for
teachers: “Educational concept mapping”
An actual level of difficulty of test problems and its
subjective perception by students //
2009 AAPT Winter Meeting, Chicago, Feb. 15 (2009).
Making the Transition from Introductory to Upper-Level
Courses // 2009 AAPT Winter Meeting,
Chicago, Feb. 15 (2009).
On a Definition of Work // The Physics Teacher, Val. 46, May 2008, p. 260.
Energy from nothing? // Physics Teacher, Vol. 45, No. L1, p. L1, July 2007.
On Putting Physics First // “Interactions”, March/April 2007, p. 6 -7;
Physics First or Physics in Parallel? // 2007 AAPT Summer Meeting, Aug. 1 (2007)
The Comparison Between Russian High School And American
College Curricula // 2007 AAPT Winter
Meeting, January 2007.
Constructing Learning Aids for Teaching Algebra-based
Physics / Poster, AAPT summer
meeting, 2006
Learning aides for students taking physics. (a broader version of Phys. Educ. 50 (2015)
694-698, http://stacks.iop.org/0031-9120/50/694)
A Map of Operationally Connected Categories as an
instrument for classifying physics problems. // (Mar. 2015)
“To test or not to test?” This is NOT the right question. // edutopya.org (Mar. 2015)
On electron pairing in a periodic
potential // Physica C: Supercunductivity, V 470, # 21, November (2010),
pp. 1962 – 1963 // http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.physc.2010.08.007.
Classification of Educational
Self-Determination of Students // in the journal “School Principal”, Moscow,
Russia, 2001.
Universal Algorithm for Solving School
Problems in Physics // in the book "Problems in Applied Mathematics and
Mechanics". - Perm, Russia, 1998. - p. 57.
On the Necessity of Modeling by a Teacher
of His/Her Own Pedagogical Activity // in the book “Development of Scientific
Intercommunications in Eurasia”. - Berezniki, Russia, 1997. - p. 172.
Application of Operationally-Interconnect
Categories for Diagnosing the Level of Students' Understanding of Physics
// in the book “Artificial Intelligence in Education”, part 1. - Kazan, Russia,
1996. - p. 56.
Quantitative Measures of the Learning
Difficulty of Physics Problems // in the book “Problems of Education,
Scientific and Technical Development and Economy of Ural Region”.- Berezniki, Russia,
1996. - p. 85.
I summarize my views on what is
teaching, and what is learning (my philosophy; the short version of it is available in Appendix III).
click here to go directly to Appendix III
What changes does US
education reform need?
Education needs its own “Manhattan Project”, or “Apollo
Program”, which would reexamine the well-established paradigms, and would guide
a broad search for new connections and correlations; which would combine newly
presented advances in artificial intelligence with neuroscience to study and
analyze multi-layered universe of individual, group, and institutional learning
and teaching; which would bring in education newly developed technologies,
including AI, virtual reality, augmented reality, top level robotics.
This type of a program can be initiated via
institutionalizing a collaboration between various professional and scientific
groups by establishing a specific institution – an Institute for Learning and
Teaching (the name is tentative, of course).
Within this Institute, professionals from various
universities, intuitions, and companies would be able to join their effort and
expertise (more at http://www.cognisity.how/2017/11/PILT.html).
My reflection to the voices
of my students.
First, one might ask why do I post all
that feedback, isn’t this just bragging?
No, it is not just bragging.
I write on education (www.Cognisity.How), and I want to demonstrate that I know what I am
writing about.
I know about education not from books or
theorization.
I know about education from books, from my
own theorization, and from my own highly successful teaching experience, from
my whole educational practice.
I believe that having this type of a
feedback shows that overtime I have made a transition from being a teach-er to becoming a teach-smith :) (www.GoMars.xyz/teachsmith.html)
The first two paragraphs above are copies
of the thank-you cards I got from two of my former students, the rest is the
quotes from end-of-a-course (elementary physics I and II) student evaluations
from 2008 to 2017 about me and the course I have designed. Those quotes
represent about two thirds of positive (mostly) views expressed by students
(the other third expresses sentiments very similar to already presented). It is
worth noting, that many comments go beyond just “he is a nice guy”; many
comments underline the fact that the course is designed to help students to get
good understanding of physics.
Do I have any negative reviews from my
former students?
Of course! (the copies of full evaluations are available
on https://www.cognisity.how/2019/09/feedback.html and (the older one) http://gomars.xyz/mathhealth/myinfo.htm
but why would I presented here everything negative about
myself? :) )
Having only positive reviews is unnatural
for a teacher of a large class. When one has several dozen students with
different backgrounds, different expectations, different cultural habits and
psychological inclinations, it is inevitable and unavoidable to have student
who did not like the way one teaches (due to a list of possible reasons).
The first question is – does the teacher
have more positive or more negative reviews?
Well, in my case, if I had more negative
reviews than positive ones, I would not be allowed to teach these courses for
so many years.
Since I am a teacher, it seems natural to
me to evaluate my skills by comparing them with the skills of other teachers.
Unfortunately, I have no access to statistic on other BU physics department
faculty; I would even think that this statistic might not even exist.
“Fortunately”, www.ratemyprofessor.com gives some glimpses of “comparable” “data”. Surly, no
one can take seriously what students post on this site, at least until hundreds
of students would express their opinions on the same professor. However, even
with this amount of “data” we still can see some interesting patterns. There
are faculty whose average rating is high because the most of the students’
ratings are high; there are faculty whose average rating is law because the
most of the students’ ratings are law; there are faculty whose average rating
is average because the most of the students’ ratings are average. But there are
also faculty whose average ratemyprofessor rating is average because students’
ratings are very opposite (some give a high rating but
some give a lower one). So far my ratemyprofessor rating is of the latter kind
(good thing is that my official BU student reviews aren't such; but one can ask
a general questions – what is more important, the average rating or the highest
one?).
_________
This is the glimpse of some of the reviews
taken from the ratemyprofessor:
GOOD!
Mr. V was honestly the best professor I have had at
BU. I never take the time to rate my other professors but Mr. V is worthy of
the praise. He made the summer course worthwhile. His demonstrations were great
and his humor always made my day. Go to office hours, do the web assign, and
you will learn a lot. He is an awesome human. Thank you
BAD!!
Not fair. First exam was easy. But other exams were
ridiculously hard. Exams are much more difficult than HW problems. Handwriting
is horrible and it is difficult to understand him. Never tells what is exactly
on the exam. Expects you to study everything he gives (labs, discussion,
lectures, webassign, etc). Not clear at all.
GOOD!
I was very worried coming into this class, having
ALWAYS struggled with classes like Physics. I was also worried when I heard Dr.
V's strong accent. However, after taking 2 straight summer courses with Dr. V,
he has proven to be an incredibly nice, caring, and funny professor who really
wants his students to succeed! GO TO OFFICE HOURS, DO HOMEWORK
BAD!!
Very difficult to understand. Homework questions are
not like questions done in class. Goes through too much material far too
quickly. Do not take this class over the summer.
GOOD!
I took PY105 in the summer and although I honestly
dislike physics, I did enjoy Mr. V's lectures. I guess his accent's gotten
better because our class was the first to not complain about it (2016). The
exams are generally difficult but graded more leniently that most other BU courses
IMO. I'd love to have him for physics again for 106, he's chill.
BAD!!
Very hard professor and moves at the pace of a fast
train. he does not go through examples and thinks people understand concepts
when they do not really. i really wish he would solidly lecture/explain more.
GOOD!
Val is a great professor. He is somewhat difficult to
understand and his handwriting is atrocious, but overall he does a good job
getting the concepts across. He has some awesome in class demos which are fun
to watch. He tests very similar to the homework problems, so if you understand
the homework fully you'll be fine.
BAD!!
Expects you to have read ahead of class
and memorized everything. there is no required textbook, but he takes class
problems, homework, and test questions from the one that he recommends, which
is not helpful at all. he speeds thru things and doesn't give one time to write
or properly digest the info. if he's teaching, take physics later.
_________
You would probably prefer having a GOOD teacher,
and tried to avoid the BAD one. But the fact of the matter is those two
descriptions depict the same person, i.e. me (BTW: on the first day of
each new class I always show to my new students a much longer list of pros and
cons)!
I think this is very solid proof of the
fact that different students have different learning styles and different
teachers have different teaching styles, and sometimes those styles match and
sometimes they don't.
It is clear that students’ opinions about
me are polarized, and I am absolutely fine with that.
Probably I am the only professor who is accused of a "grade deflation", the quote:
Probably I am the only professor who is accused of a "grade deflation", the quote:
“grade deflation is
the craziest concept to exist in a university setting. This is a physics
course. A 93 should be an A period. In what world is a 93 not an A?”
That is when everyone talks about grade inflation.
The large part of my first lecture is
devoted to presenting to students my views on physics, on teaching, on
learning, on grading, and on my expectations about students. (for example, take
a look at this short video: https://youtu.be/E8776nfGNX8; over the years I have posted many short YouTube
videos, including videos on what is physics and how to solve physical
problems).
I always mention a simple fact, that
different students learn differently, people have different learning styles,
and different teachers have different teaching styles, hence, there is always a
chance that my teaching style does not math somebody's learning style. What to
if that happens? Well, a student will have to make a decision – stay or go to a
different teacher. So far (knock on wood) I represent a good match for the
majority of students taking BU PY105 and PY106 courses.
Among negative reviews (you can check the actual feedback this is a link to copies of some past evaluations) the most common
themes are: an accent (Russian), handwriting (guilty, my handwriting is not
much better than the one of a regular doctor), too fast (well, the average
speed of covering the material is equal to the total volume of the material
divided by six weeks of the course), do not answer questions in full (that is
sometimes true, it depends on a question, sometimes I just cannot spend much
time on repeating the material learned two weeks ago and only can point at the
material which is needed to be reviewed again), too forward/direct with students (for
example, when asking direct questions; an interesting observation – you ask a
direct question to a student in a lecture and the student “shrinks”, but there
is almost no problem if it happens on office hour).
I believe that for any teacher the list of
positive reviews from students should present the best recommendation for a
teaching job.
When I left my comfortable life in Russia
and moved to the US I did not have professional network to rely on, or money,
or language. It took me some time to finally land at Boston University physics
department as a laboratory assistant. Gradually my English got better, and my
knowledge of the new academic environment got clearer. After three years I got
a promotion to run a demonstration facility. A year after I started teaching BU
elementary physics courses, and I have been teaching physics since then. During
the last several years, in addition to my full-time position at the demonstration
facility, I also have been teaching, and traveling to different conferences
with posters or presentations, and publishing various papers, but my dream has
always been to became a full-time physics instructor.
I have an experience in research on
teaching physics, I have an administrative experience, I have been helping to
school teachers and administrators to improve teaching environment, but at my core I am a physics teacher.
My teacher philosophy, my views on what is teaching
and what is learning are presented in my book “Braking the Mold of Conventional
Thinking: a Personal Quest for Teaching Philosophy” available at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/665204
(the short version of my teaching philosophy is attached as Appendix I).
P.S. This link http://teachology.xyz/mathhealth/myinfo.htm leads to a page with links to copies of some actual
evaluations form the past.
__________________________________
Finally (August 17, 2017; then 2018; then 2019)!
The complete elementary Physics course
(two semesters) is available online. Now everyone can see and hear what I do in
a class.
This is important for me because of many
different reason, one of which is that I advocate for the maximum openness in
education.
Appendix II
I always tell to
my students that there are science courses which represent the material simply as
a collection of a disconnected facts. Courses like that do not represent
students with the scientific way of thinking. Many people in the field of
education for a long time have been propelling the idea of teaching students
how to think critically, but they could not offer the method for how exactly
this could be done. However, the method has been around for at least several
hundred years, and is called – science thinking. The true science course has to
guide students through the scientific way of thinking using the course material
(i.e. facts) as the building bricks of the science students learn. This is how
my physics course is developed and taught.
Naturally, not
all student like my approach, the evidence shows that some of them do.
Appendix III (some technical elements of my teaching are described
at http://www.cognisity.how/2016/10/facilitating.html)
Teaching Statement (for the broader version,
please follow to: http://www.cognisity.how/2017/11/method.html)
Dear Colleagues,
Below you find a very short version of my
teaching philosophy, which has been presented in great details in my book “Becoming
a STEM teacher”. In
chapters “What is Learning”, “What is Teaching”, “How I flipped my classroom
without even knowing it”, “What does “Thinking as a Physicist” mean?”, and
others I lay down the results of my reflection upon years of my (mostly successful)
teaching (click here for the full list of posts on education).
I believe that learning is more than just
acquiring a certain set of skills and prescribed amount of knowledge. Learning
is an important cultural process which happens when pupils (students) are being
brought into the realm of relationships and traditions which should allow them
(a) to prosper in the current society, and (b) to become active agents of the
social progress.
I believe that a teacher is more than just
a “walking knowledge storage” who imparts this knowledge on students and judge
how good students have become at reproducing the knowledge imparted onto them.
My definition of teaching is: “Teaching is guiding students through a
specifically designed set of learning experiences (a.k.a. student activities)
to help them to develop or advance desired skills and knowledge.”
A teacher is a guide, who had become an
expert in a certain field, and now helps students to begin and to walk a path
to becoming an expert in the field he or she wants to become an expert. In
order to guide students as efficiently as possible, a teacher has to use (and
often develop) specific tools/instruments students should use when immersed into
situations specifically designed to help them mastering designated skills. A
teacher might be not the one who designs the whole set of student activities
and corresponded learning tools, but he or she generally should have a deep
understanding of the reasons for the use of the activities and tools.
Students are not empty vases needed to be
filled up with wisdom, not tabula rasa on which a teacher scribbles smart
things. Students have certain world views, they have certain understanding of
how the nature works, and a teacher cannot ignore ideas, conceptions,
preconceptions (some of which might be incomplete or incorrect) students have
when starting a course.
The goal of learning is to achieve a
higher level of competency. Passive learning does not work. Strictly
speaking, passive learning is not really a learning, it is just a precursor for
an actual learning. A true learning happens when students are actively
trying to merge new knowledge (usually presented to them by a teacher live or
via mediating media – books, videos) with the previously internalized
knowledge. Very often students run into contradictions, some of which are often
called “mistakes”. However, the only truly real way of learning is through
making mistakes and reflecting on how those mistakes had been corrected.
One of the most important qualities of a
teacher is ability to guide students through mistakes they make (maneuvering between
giving away the answer and making students feeling desperate).
When assessing student’s progress, a teacher
is not a judge, but rather an auditor who has to present to a student the
accurate measure of student’s achievement (or a failure).
In the end, the most important measure of
a teacher’s success is good feeling students have about themselves, the course,
the work students done during the course and the results of the work; and also
the reputation of a teacher students pass along to fellow students.
That is why the simplest definition of a “teacher” is “the person about whom
someone said at least once – I’ve learned something valuable from that guy!”.
My ultimate goal is to change students’ aptitudes
about themselves and about physics. Many students are afraid of taking physics because
they have an impression that physics is only for selected few, that succeeding in
physics requires super intelligence. This impression is wrong. Anyone who is
capable of solving quadratic equation and knows the multiplication table can
learn physics. There are only two requirements for achieving a deep
understanding of Physics:
# 1 - a good teacher;
#2 - a good student.
Being a good teacher means having a proof
of a successful teaching (e.g. the voices of my students).
Being a good student means putting effort
in learning.
If you are a good student, you don't give
up, you try and try again, and you are actively guiding your or learning by making
your teacher work for you. If something is not clear for you, if you feel like
you don't understand something - it's not your fault; it only means your
teacher needs to find the right way adjusted specifically to you to help you to master the
subject.
If a teachers does good job, students not only learn
the subject, but they also change their attitude to more positive side.
For example, my students always demonstrate the
positive shift in their attitude.
Appendix IV: more on management, what it is and how it functions
As
a manager, I don't have a management style, and I don't think anybody should.
I
don’t think terms like style, fad, stylish, fancy, fashionable should be used
for describing management.
As
a manager, I have a managing strategy.
There
are 2 types of managers: “politicians” and “practitioners”.
For
“a politician” the number one question is always “how would this decision
affect my power?” “A politician” hires people who are best for him/her.
For
“a practitioner” the number one question is always “how would that decision
affect the well-being of my system?” “A practitioner” hires people who are
best for the job, for the position.
I
am a “practitioner” manager. And believe in the power of a team.
A
team is a group of people united by a common goal.
A
common goal is not the same as a common mission. People may have a common
mission but not being members of a team. For example, the Lunar Mission had
many different teams.
A
mission is a reason for existence of the system. Take it out of the system and
the system is not needed anymore, and can be easily removed.
And
a goal is that benchmark which has to be reached in order to fulfill the
mission.
For
example a mission of a scientific institution is advancing science.
A
mission of an institution of higher education is “advancing” people; preparing
people for a success in a certain professional field.
To
fulfill that mission an institution of higher education has to function in a
specific way; the main function an educational institution is teaching.
An
effective managing strategy is based on the application of scientific method to
managing. When a scientist begins a study, every research begins from observations.
It’s not just passive watching, it involves deliberate activities as well. For
example, if you want to observe Brownian motion you need to make a microscope
in use it.
A
manager has to know his/her people. That requires asking questions, many
questions. Asking a question is like taking a blood sample to evaluate the
state of a body. Everyone who: 1. Has
required credentials and experience; 2. Can talk in full paragraphs (able to
establish strong communication); 3. Reflects (able to adjust actions) is fit
for the job he or she needs to do.
A
manager has to set the mission, establish goals, and then a manager has to help
people to formulate their goals, if they have goals, to clarify them, if the
goals are clear, a manager helps to establish steps for achieving those goals, if
the strategy is clear, a manager helps with achieving those goals, that
includes providing resources, training, and that may require interactions with people
and managers from the outside.
Appendix V
I
think about things beyond education, too.
As a
byproduct my mental activities, I have some ideas I find practical, and I posted
them on YouTube for anyone who would like to use them:
Sincerely,
Dr. Valentin Voroshilov
On a personal note:
I am a person who has strong opinions on matters (I believe the U.S. needs more people like that, people who can lay out strong reasons for their statements and take a "blow" of a disagreement). This is one of my favorite Russian wisdoms (more in a different post):
I am aware of the fact that my chance to find many professionals with views similar to mine is slim. The demand for "professional correctness" is taken to such an extreme that it has become a demand for personal conformity.
I believe in telling truth. Truth is facts. Facts are science. I believe in science. Facts
can be upsetting or encouraging, but facts cannot be offensive.
As a master in my field, I have no reservations to offer my specific critique of people whose actions overlap with the field of my expertise (human intelligence). I know (and fine with that) that the chance that my writing will
have a significant effect is negligible. But the butterfly effect exists, so the chance is not exactly zero.
On a personal note:
I am a person who has strong opinions on matters (I believe the U.S. needs more people like that, people who can lay out strong reasons for their statements and take a "blow" of a disagreement). This is one of my favorite Russian wisdoms (more in a different post):
Welcome!
Thank you for visiting!
And don't judge the blog by its "cover", please.
Appearances can be deceiving.
If
then you should not read this blog.
Although, if you can't handle the truth, you cannot solve any problem, because the first step of a problem-solving process is accepting the fact that you have a problem.
Thank you for visiting!
And don't judge the blog by its "cover", please.
Appearances can be deceiving.
If
Although, if you can't handle the truth, you cannot solve any problem, because the first step of a problem-solving process is accepting the fact that you have a problem.
van
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