Noyce Scholar Profile
Ian Caldwell
Undergraduate major or graduate field of study: Engineering and Physics, Undergraduate; Mathematics Curriculum and Instruction, Masters
Subject area(s) and grade level teaching focus: Mathematics and Physics, grades 9-12
Category of scholarship/fellowship:
Fifth year or post-baccalaureate Noyce scholar
Name of Noyce institution:
University of Colorado, Boulder
Current academic or teaching status:
1st year Graduate Student
School and school district:
N/A
Background:
I have coached circus arts with youth camps in Vermont and New York and with after-school programs in Colorado. At CU Boulder, I was a Learning Assistant for Foundations of Modern Physics, I volunteered for Partnerships in Informal Science Education in the Community (PISEC), and I worked for a year in Cindy Regal’s Physics lab which included a summer Physics REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates). I am currently working on a Mathematics education research project through the Noyce program.
Why do you want to teach:
I have always been passionate about teaching, though most of my experience is in non-traditional educational settings.
Describe a memorable teaching experience:
After three days with us at a youth circus camp in New York, one of our campers told me, completely seriously, “I’m not fat anymore, because now I work out.” The first few days of camp his lunches consisted of marshmallows and cookies. He started asking us coaches what we ate and began making his own lunches. He told me he was stretching and doing sit ups and push ups before going to bed every night. At the beginning of the summer, he had trouble throwing and catching a ball with one hand, and I had to muscle him through a forward roll. He spent 6 weeks with us. When he went home, he was able to juggle three balls and do dive rolls and cartwheels. He was 9 years old.
What does the Noyce program mean to you:
Noyce has given me an opportunity to start my own education research project. I hope to continue to do research when I have my own classroom.
