This portfolio was made in pursuit of the Teaching with Technology Certificate, sponsored jointly by Information Technology Services (ITS), the Graduate School, and the Office of Human Resources. Materials presented here are from teaching samples generated while employed as a Graduate Teaching Aide in the Department of Aerospace Engineering. 

Penn State’s online course management system is currently ANGEL. Many instructors use ANGEL because it has numerous helpful features such as automatic roster maintenance, a gradebook viewable by both instructors and the students, online assessments, and other features. A screen shot of the course homepage for the Fall 2013 offering of AERSP 309 Astronautics can be found below.

An additional feature of ANGEL that is beneficial is the built in email system. Below is a sample email I sent to the Spring 2014 AERSP 304 Dynamics and Control of Aerospace System students during syllabus week:

In addition to static modes of communication, ANGEL has a calendar feature. Items listed in the calendar show up as announcements on the students’ ANGEL homepage. Below is a screenshot of the September 2013 calendar from AERSP 309.

Another static form of communication available on ANGEL is the syllabus tab feature. Here, one can put the syllabus in a location that should be easily accessible to both the students and the faculty of the course. A screenshot of the syllabus tab from the Spring 2014 offering of AERSP 304 can be found below.

Recently, I have begun using a Tablet PC when I lecture. The downside of using this technology, however, is that one requires a technology-equipped classroom – generally what are known as either ITEC or PTEC classrooms at Penn State. Using this technology innovation in the classroom has a strong advantage, however, in that everything one writes can be recorded in a document that can later be shared with the students. The obvious downside of using traditional chalk and blackboard is that every time one fills up a board, it must be erased before new material can be added. One may find below a screenshot of a lecture I presented in AERSP 309.

The full lecture that the screenshot was taken from is available as an example class presentation. That presentation is available as a PDF here: AERSP 309 Lecture 9-7-12.

In addition, for every examination I conduct an exam review. These are often multi-hour course meetings where I present conceptional highlights from lecture and I often work sample exam-style problems. In order to save time and to provide students with material that they can review at their leisure at home, I typed up review slides in PowerPoint for both AERSP 304 and AERSP 309. A sample screen shot from AERSP 304 can be found below.

The downside to using PowerPoint is that it can be rather time-consuming to write and maintain the slides, particularly when there are large numbers of figures or equations. The upside to using PowerPoint is that generally I have found that I can write the slides once, then re-use them with edits from year to year. The Fall 2013 final exam review for AERSP 309 is available as a PDF as an example of a multimedia file I created for the course here: AERSP 309 FA13 Final Exam Review. The Spring 2014 final exam review for AERSP 304 is available as a PDF an additional technology example here: AERSP 304 SP14 Final Exam Review.

Students may find these discipline-specific links to be helpful as they pursue their studies:

• American Astronomical Society (AAS): www.aas.org. AAS is the major organization of professional astronomers in North America. Many aerospace engineers that specialize in astrodynamics are members of AAS.
• American Helicopter Society (AHS): www.vtol.org. AHS is an international technical society for engineers, scientists and others individuals working on vertical flight technology. Many aerospace engineers that specialize in rotorcraft are members of AHS.
• American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA): www.aiaa.org. AIAA is the largest technical society dedicated to the aerospace profession.
• Federal Aviation Administration (FAA): www.faa.gov. AIAA is a federal agency of the United States that seeks to provide the safest, most efficient aerospace system in the world.
• Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE): www.ieee.org. IEEE is a technical organization whose mission is to foster technological innovation and excellence for the benefit of humanity. Many aerospace engineers are also members of IEEE.
• National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA): www.nasa.gov. NASA is a federal agency of the United States who is responsible for the country’s civilian space program, and for research into aeronautics and aerospace engineering more generally.
• Penn State’s Department of Aerospace Engineering: http://www.aero.psu.edu/. I am a 2 time alumni of this Department, which has research projects in the areas of aeroacoustics, computational fluid dynamics (CFD), dynamics and controls, experimental fluid dynamics, flight science, rotorcraft engineering, structures and materials, space propulsion, turbomachinery and wind energy.
• Sigma Gamma Tau National Office: http://www.engr.wichita.edu/ae/sgt/sgthome.html. SGT is the national aerospace honor society.

In short, technology innovations have revolutionized the way instructors think about teaching. While old technologies such as chalk have continued to endure, new innovations such as PowerPoint and Tablet PCs have begun to change the way many people approach teaching. A convincing reason to use technology is that today’s students are often abreast with current technological trends; by using technology that appeals to them, one may be better able to communicate ideas through alternative technological mediums. Technology is a pedagogical tool – normally, it is not a means to an ends. Current technologies are limited in that they are often at the mercy of one’s own skills, and those of the system administrators of needed information systems. My personal and professional goal as an educator is to be on the cutting edge of my field – both as a researcher and as a teacher. Using modern technologies in the classroom enables me to further my goal of being a more effective instructor. In my personal experience, students appear to appreciate the use of technological innovations in the classroom such as the use of a Tablet PC, PowerPoint review slides, and lecture podcasts. I would recommend to colleagues that they consider revisiting their pedagogical approaches to teaching; using technology may be an effective strategy to improve one’s own efficacy in the classroom.