NC State Physics Education Research Group

Current Graduate Students

Evan Richards
email: etrichar at ncsu dot edu

    Evan was born in Dallas, TX and graduated in 1999 with a BS in Electrical Engineering from Texas A&M University, where his studies emphasized microwave and milli-meter wave device design. In 2000, he earned a MS (also in Electrical Engineering) from Georgia Institute of Technology. Evan then worked at TriQuint Semiconductor as a Product Engineer, starting in 2001. Soon after, he began classes at the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) to earn his Master's Degree in Physics in Spring of 2004. He moved to North Carolina and began work in Physics Education Research (PER) in the Fall of that same year.
    Given the emerging use of incorrect solutions in learning material (for example, see TIPERs "What If Anything is Wrong Tasks", or ISLE "Evaluation Tasks"), Evan is interested in what actions students exhibit when examining incorrect solutions. 
    As part of his duties at UTD, Evan ran the Undergraduate Electronics Laboratory. During his time at NC State, Evan has gained experience working as a TA and Instructor of Record in the SCALE-UP classroom, and he has been a TA for the Matter and Interactions labs. Additionally, Evan has contributed to the revision of the Matter and Interactions laboratories and instructor resources. He was also a member of the TA training design and development team for the NC State Physics Department. In addition, Evan led the design and development effort for the qualitative research laboratory housed within the Physics Education R&D group's facility and funded by the STEM Education Initiative.

Jon Gaffney
email: jdgaffne at ncsu dot edu
webpage: http://www4.ncsu.edu/~jdgaffne
    Jon was born near Pittsburgh, PA and graduated in 2001 with a BS in Physics and Mathematics from Bethany College in Bethany, West Virginia with a minor in Philosophy. In 2002, he began attending the University of Pittsburgh, where he earned his MS in Physics. After deciding that he wanted to do research in Physics education, Jon spent two years earning experience as an instructor at Pitt and Duquesne. He then moved to North Carolina and joined the NC State PER group in Fall 2006.
    Jon is interested in deduction and how students use deduction tools in a physics setting. More information about his research is located on his website.
   Jon has experience working as a TA in the SCALE-UP classroom and has been a SCALE-UP instructor of record. He is a SCALE-UP consultant and may be willing to help you establish a SCALE-UP classroom at your home institution. Send him an email for more information.

 Mary Bridget Kustusch
 email: mbkustus at ncsu dot edu
 webpage: Coming Soon

    Mary Bridget was born in Chicago, IL and graduated from North Park University in Chicago in 2004 with a BS in Physics and minors in Math and Biblical Studies. She spent two summers in REU programs, the latter of which introduced her to PER (at University of Illinos - Urbana/Champaign). After deciding that she wanted to do research in Physics education, Mary Bridget spent a year gaining experience as an instructor at North Park University. She then moved to North Carolina, and joined the NC State PER group in Spring 2006.
    Mary Bridget is fascinated by the connections among different knowledge representations in physics, especially those that require spatial reasoning. Her research centers on students use and understanding of cross products in introductory physics and focuses on the use of right hand rules.
   Mary Bridget has expanded her teaching experience at NC State by working as a TA in a SCALE-UP classroom; as a lead TA in the Matter and Interactions laboratories; as a coordinator for the TA training program revision project; and most recently, as the primary instructor of a Modern Physics course for engineers.

 Shawn Weatherford
 email: saweathe at ncsu dot edu
 webpage: http://web.mac.com/physics_god

   Shawn was born in Norfolk, VA and graduated in 2001 with a BA in Physics and Secondary Science Education from Elon College in Elon, North Carolina. Shawn was a North Carolina Teaching Fellow during his studies; for the next four years after graduation he taught at Walter M. Williams High School in Burlington, NC as a physics teacher.
    After taking a distance learning course for high school teachers from Bruce Sherwood, Shawn decided to attend graduate school and pursue research in physics education. He began graduate work in Fall 2005 and his research interests are closely related to one of the goals of the Matter & Interactions curriculum. That is, how introductory physics students use computational models to explain 3D visualizations with VPython.
    Shawn is a member of PTEC and closely follows the training of physics teachers at NC State. He stays abreast of innovations in teacher education programs and looks forward to offering insight and advice to academia on collaborations between credential granting institutions and in-service physics teachers. He is also an active member of the North Carolina Section of the American Association of Physics Teachers, holding a membership since 1999.
    Shawn has experience working as a TA in the Matter and Interactions laboratory sections and as a SCALE-UP TA.

 Brandon Lunk
 email: brlunk at ncsu dot edu  
webpage: Coming Soon

   Brandon was born near Watertown, New York and graduated in 2004 with a BS in Physics from UNC Chapel Hill, with a minor in mathematics.   While there, Brandon discovered a passion for teaching and gained experience updating the introductory physics labs and working as a supplementary instructor. After spending a year taking post baccalaureate classes at NCSU while pursuing other endeavors, Brandon discovered PERD and began graduate studies in the fall of 2006.
    Brandon is interested in the language barrier between physics experts and novices and how that affects novice reasoning about physics concepts.
    Brandon has experience working as a TA in the conceptual physics lab, as well as the Matter and Interactions laboratory sections. Currently, Brandon is a TA in the SCALE-UP classroom.

 Jeff Polak
 email: jmpolak2 at ncsu dot edu  
webpage: Coming Soon

Jeff was born in Greenfield, Wisconsin, a suburb of Milwaukee and graduated from the University of Wisconsin - Whitewater in 2006 with a BS in Physics, with a minor in mathematics.  Jeff participated in undergraduate research programs at the University of Illinois - Urbana/Champaign and NC State, both in Physics Education Research. He has been the TA for Matter and Interactions Labs. He also drives the van to most PERD functions and is really good at ball-in-a-cup.

 Meghan West
 email: mjwest3 at ncsu dot edu

    Meghan was born in Walnut Creek, CA. She graduated from the University of California at San Diego in 2004 with a BS in Physics and minors in Psychology and Mathematics (and one class in Physics Education Research (PER) that sparked her interest in the field). After 4 years in the “real world”, including one year of teaching Physics and Physical Science at Vashon High school in St. Louis, MO with Teach for America, and an independent research project in PER at Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville, Meghan decided it was time to pursue her career in PER. She began graduate studies at NCSU in the fall of 2008.
    Meghan is interested in teacher-student interactions and effective teacher interventions and strategies.
    Meghan has been a TA for Matter and Interactions (205-Mechanics).