Outside of my own research, I am very passionate about education in general. In my view, science education has the following three major goals: (A) to train the next generation of scientists by teaching advanced materials as well as getting young students interested in, (B) to inform the general public about the values of science and to advertise how exciting the works of us scientists are, and (C) to teach and encourage scientific thinking (rational, fact-based judgements). (A) goes without saying—it is crucial for long-term success of science, and it is also my way of paying back to the community where I learned and grew a lot. (B) is natural in some sense, since sharing what we love is a basic human instinct. However, it is also a social responsibility, especially in fields like particle physics and cosmology where scientists are funded mainly by the government for the values of fundamental science in and of itself. Lastly, it seems that (C) is becoming more and more important nowadays. We live in an era of (mis-)information, and interpreting information and maintaining a rational viewpoint amidst polarized discussions and controversies have become crucial skills for the betterment of our society.
Thankfully, being a teaching assistant since my sophomore year of undergrad, I have had a lot of opportunities to teach other students with varying degrees of academic background. During my senior year at Rochester, I also ran the Physics GRE tutoring program through the Society of Physics Students (SPS) Rochester Chapter.
Since getting to Stanford, I have had more opportunities to learn about and practice a broader range of pedagogies and properly learn about how to become a better educator. I have also served in the Mentors-in-Teaching (MinT) program and other programs run by the Center for Teaching and Learning and VPTL, discussing pedagogies and helping the other TA's improve their teaching skills.
Here are the classes I have taught so far:
My other teaching activities can be found in my CV.
In addition to teaching, I also enjoy mentoring/advising—really talking & listening to people and sharing my experiences. I have been blessed with many good mentors and leaders throughout my life, both academically and non-academically. I would love to pay back by being a good role model to others and sharing my experiences.
I volunteer for many mentoring/advising programs and local science outreach events. The details of my involvement can be found in my CV.