Noyce Scholar Profile
Julia Barry
Undergraduate major or graduate field of study: B.S., Mechanical Engineering
Subject area(s) and grade level teaching focus: Physics, grades 9-12
Category of scholarship/fellowship:
Noyce Teaching Fellow
Name of Noyce institution:
Kennesaw State/M.A.T. Physics
Current academic or teaching status:
3 years teaching experience
School and school district:
Wheeler High School, Cobb County
Background:
I received my B.S in Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Tech in 2008. After being accepted as a Noyce Fellow at Kennesaw State, I completed the coursework and received my M.A.T. in Physics in 2010. I immediately began teaching at Wheeler High School and have been teaching physics and coaching robotics since then.
Why do you want to teach:
I enjoy three aspects of teaching: 1) The job is challenging and never boring. 2) My students have such an amazing variety of ideas and quirks. 3) I love learning. Teaching is an amazing opportunity to make a difference by providing future generations with the tools to develop solutions for important, real-life problems.
Describe a memorable teaching experience:
This year, I handed out a unit-long project requiring students to design a mission for food drops into war-torn African countries using their knowledge of projectile motion. Despite the unit’s brevity in comparison to previous years, the Unit 2 test scores were 16 points higher than previous years. After talking to the students, it was clear that the project was a major factor in their success. It was the first successful, rigorous project I’d given that directly affected performance on final tests, and I resolved to make more activities like it from then on.
What does the Noyce program mean to you:
It provided me with financial assistance, but the Noyce community has been far more useful. Without the network of professors, teachers, and fellow students, I would not have developed to the point I have.
