Teaching

Since my background is in experimental optics and signal processing, I tend to teach courses involving electricity, magnetism, optics, and labs.

Courses I Have Taught

  • PHYS 131 – Introduction to Physics: Newtonian Mechanics & Lab
  • PHYS 143 – Introduction to Physics: Mechanics and Relativity & Lab with problem-solving (Spring Term only)
  • PHYS 151 – Introduction to Physics: Relativity and Particles & Lab
  • PHYS 165 – Introduction to Electricity, Magnetism, and Optics & Lab
  • PHYS 228 – Atomic and Nuclear Physics & Lab
  • PHYS 235 – Electricity and Magnetism & Lab
  • PHYS 344 – Classical and Quantum Optics
  • PHYS 345 – Advanced Optics
  • PHYS 352 – Advanced Electricity and Magnetism
  • IDSC 250  – Color!

Teaching Philosophy

I believe that teaching is more than the transmission of facts, and learning is more than the regurgitation of those facts or the implementation of an algorithm. Teaching is really the process of enabling students to teach themselves. Learning is the process of gathering knowledge in order to have a broader perspective of the world, to solve problems, and to make decisions. Therefore, I believe physics is more than manipulating equations and solving word problems. Even students without a strong math background should have a conceptual understanding of the physical world to help them navigate everything from political rhetoric on climate change to determining whether an electrician is trying to scam them. Because of this my teaching has always stressed conceptual understanding, problem-solving, and the interplay between the two.

In class I use interactive teaching methods to gauge and expand student’s conceptual understanding (e.g., clicker questions, peer instruction, discussion, etc.). I also am known for using LOTS of worksheets containing conceptual exercises, in class problems, and additional practice problems. I try to connect the material in my courses to the world outside of Carleton, whether it’s giving students context-rich problems to solve (i.e., less constrained than typical exercises so that the problems are more like what they might be given in job or more like a question from a neighbor) or connecting the topic at hand to a real-world application. I frame my classes as places where students can practice the skills they will need as a professional scientist one day. These skills include communicating their work in a variety of formats to a someone outside their field and for someone in their field. I continually seek to hone my craft as an educator so that the learning students do in my courses support whatever career they choose beyond Carleton.

Selected Publications on Teaching and/or Inclusive Pedagogy

* Indicates the name of a Carleton Student

  • M-E. Baylor, S. Brahmia White. “Practicing Professionalism Framework: A Coherent Course Structure Aligned with Effective Practices for Physics Programs (EP3) Guidelines,” Submitted Educational Sciences: Pathways to Progress and Practice: Leading the Way in STEM Education Innovations and the Workforce (2025)

  • M-E. Baylor, L. M. Almanzar*, A. Frazier Jr.*, A. Mahabir*, J. D. Tasson, “Integrating Theory, Computation, and Experimentation as Equal Partners in the Undergraduate Radioactivity Lab,” Submitted to the American Journal of Physics, (2025). https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2508.06582

  • M-E. Baylor, J. Hoehn, N. Finkelstein, “Infusing Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Throughout Our Physics Curriculum: (Re)defining What It Means to be a Physicist” The Physics Teacher 60, 172-175 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1119/5.0032998

  • M-E. Baylor, “How positioning students in the professional physics community leads to a more inclusive community”, Nat Rev Phys (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42254-021-00385-4