Prof. Sam Krishnamurthy won the CoS Distinguished Early Career Teaching Award
It is a great pleasure to announce that our Prof. Sam Krishnamurthy was selected as this year’s winner for the CoS Distinguished Early Career Teaching Award! This is an award that recognizes faculty with outstanding classroom teaching, who have demonstrated sustained commitment to quality, inclusive teaching in a variety of settings.
Sam arrived in the Department of Physics at the University of Arizona in Fall 2022. Her exemplary teaching record, significant contributions to the Department's teaching mission, innovative teaching methods, and service to the Department make her highly deserving of the CoS Distinguished Early-Career Teaching Award.
Sam has taught a variety of courses in the past two years, ranging from large enrollment algebra based introductory physics to calculus based introductory mechanics, electricity, and magnetism for engineering major students, to honor courses for physics and astronomy major students. To demonstrate her commitment to excellence in teaching and the success of her students, she implements several evidence-based instructional strategies in classrooms that maximize student learning. As a result, she has consistently received high ratings from students in course evaluations.
Presently, she is involved in two projects investigating the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in physics classrooms. The first project, PALS, is a research initiative supported by the UA Center for Education Scholarship (CUES) and backed by a technology pilot grant from UCATT. The second project focuses on understanding if AI-assisted problem solving specifically through CHAT-GPT provides any learning gains in algebra-based introductory courses. She also participated in the culturally responsive curriculum development workshop this summer, which helped her to adapt current physics courses and potentially increase the retention of minority students in the major. Additionally, she has mentored young women, encouraging them to pursue their passions and helping them navigate and address the gender and racial imbalance in physics.
Congratulations to Prof. Krishnamurthy!