Colleen Countryman

Assistant Professor, Physics and Astronomy

School: School of Humanities and Sciences

Phone: 607-274-7779

Office: Center for Natural Sciences (CNS) 264

Specialty: Physics Education Research, Development and Assessment of Smartphone Apps and Simulations, Active Learning Techniques, Educational Technologies, Instructional Videos, Introductory Physics for Life Sci

Colleen Countryman's Curriculum Vitae - colleencountryman-cv.pdf (229.71 KB)

I teach all levels of physics with the guiding philosophy that "to learn physics, you must do physics!" I utilize Ithaca College's SCALE-UP Performance-Based Physics Lab to employ active learning techniques and seamlessly integrate laboratory and lecture in order to increase students' engagement, understanding and sense of belonging in physics.

In short, one of my driving goals is to make physics fun!

Most recently, our PHYS 101 class was highlighted in the Ithaca College Innovative Learning series. We take advantage of the fact that physics is all around us, so we can do engaging and robust physics labs from home!

An example of innovative teaching techniques that take advantage of the remote learning environment!

Teaching Experience

Since being welcomed into the Ithaca College community in 2017, I have taught courses in both our algebra-based and calculus-based introductory physics series, thermodynamics, classical mechanics, and our Learning Assistant Practicum. I believe that collaboration and interdisciplinarity are critical to our understanding and appreciation of the world, so I have also co-taught courses within the School of Music and our IC Squared program. Previously, I have taught courses and labs in introductory physics for engineers at North Carolina State University, and calculus courses at Virginia Polytechnic Institute.

Research Experience

My Physics Education Research background allows me to extend the reach of Ithaca College's long-standing excellence in teaching. I graduated with my Ph.D. in Physics from NC State in 2015 with co-advisement by Professors Robert Beichner and Michael A. Paesler, and my dissertation resulted in the publication of the NCSU MyTech mobile app, which has over 10,000 users worldwide.

I am currently working with Ithaca College students to develop and assess mobile apps, simulations, and supplementary instructional videos. Check out our electric field simulation and other projects in action!