Dr. Chad L. Davies
Division of Mathematics and Natural Sciences
Gordon College
Barnesville, GA 30204
c_davies@gordonstate.edu
 

Education

• University of Florida, 1989-1995
  Doctor of Philosophy - Physics
  Dissertation: "Numerical Studies of Large N Galactic Disk Systems"

Professional Record

• Graduate Assistant. -University of Florida, Depts. of Physics and Astronomy - 8/89-8/95.

• Adjunct Instructor - Division of Natural Sciences, Santa Fe Community College - 5/95-7/95. Supervisor: Dr. Sture Edvardson.

• Instructor - Division of Math and Science, Cloud County Community College - 8/95-12/99. Supervisor: Dr. Theodore Kalthoff.

• Director-Earl Bane Public Observatory-5/97 to 12/99. Supervisor: Mr. Charles Hein

• Assistant Professor of Physics, Gordon College – 1/00 to 6/04. Supervisor: Dr. DeWitt Moore

• Associate Professor of Physics, Gordon College – 7/04 to Present. Supervisor: Dr. DeWitt Moore

• Adjunct Professor, Montana State University - Summers, 2001 to 2005. Supervisor: George Tuthill

Committees and Assignments of Note

• Faculty Representative-Search Committee for Vice President of Student Affairs

• Senator-Gordon College Faculty Senate

• Parliamentarian-Gordon College Faculity Senate Executive Committee

• Faculty Senate Representative-Gordon College Faculty Welfare Committee

• Past Chair-Gordon College Technology Committee

• Cloud County Community College Presidential Search Committee-I worked as one of the faculty representatives on the committee charged with selecting the finalists in Cloud County Community College’s presidential search. My duties included review of candidate materials, evaluating and ranking of candidate credentials and conducting telephone and in person interviews.

• Director-Earl Bane Public Observatory-Working with the Cloud County Community College Foundation I secured a $14,000 private grant to refurbish and reequip the college’s observatory structure. The observatory, under my direction, sponsored quarterly public "star parties" that were well publicized and attended. Additionally, I have organized a yearly lecture in astronomy, first funded through the American Astronomical Society. I also promote the observatory as an educational outreach tool for local area schools. The observatory has received funding through a NASA IDEAS grant to extend this project further through cooperation with a number of local gifted education coordinators. The Observatory has just finished the construction of a new observing facility and I am now using it for weekly public nights.

Memberships in Professional Organizations

• American Association of Physics Teachers

• National Science Teacher's Association

• Georgia Academy of Sciences

• United States Cycling Federation

Honors

• Selected, Who's Who Among Teachers, 2002, 2004, 2005

• Nominated, Who’s Who in America, 2001

• Nominated, Who’s Who among Scientists and Engineers, 2000, 2001

• Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities, 1987

• Eagle Scout

Grants Received

• NSF ILI Grant, 1998-2000 – "Active Learning Based Introductory Astronomy", $27,500

• NASA IDEAS Grant, 1998-1999 – "Learning to Look; Providing Astronomy Resources to North Central Kansas", $10,000

• Earl Bane Foundation Private Grant, 1997 – "Observatory Renovation"

Presentations at Professional Conferences and Meetings

• "Radon Studies in the Rogue Valley" - American Nuclear Society Regional Meeting, 1989 - Oregon State University.

• "Counterrotating Bars" - IAU Colloquium 157 - Barred Galaxies - University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, 1995 (Poster Paper).

• "Counterrotating Bars"-26^th Annual Mid-America Regional Astrophysics Conference, 1996

• "Axisymmetric Evolution of Toomre N=0 and N=1 Disks"- 27^th Annual Mid-America Regional Astrophysics Conference, 1996

• "Teaching Physical Science using the Powerful ideas in Physical Science (PIIPS) Curriculum"-TYC21 Region 7 Fall 1997 Meeting, Kansas City Kansas Community College, October 10, 1997

• Community College representative on Science Education Reform Panel Discussion at the Kansas State University "Shaping the Future" conference, January 12, 1998

• "Integrating Physics Education Reform Curricula at a Small Rural Community College", TYC National Meeting, August 2, 1999.

• "Teaching Astronomy Actively", American Association of Physics Teachers Summer Meeting, Guelph, Ontario, Canada, August 2000.

• "Assessing Student Attitudes in Introductory Physics", Georgia Academy of Sciences 2001 Meeting, Coastal Georgia Community College, Brunswick, GA, April 2001.

• "Student Attitudes in Introductory Physics", Teaching Matters 2003 Meeting, Gordon College, Barnesville, GA, March 18-19, 2003.

Publications

• "Stability and Counter-Rotating Disks in Two and Three Dimensions," Davies, C. L. & J. H. Hunter, Jr., 1994. Three Dimensional Systems, Proceedings from the Ninth Annual Florida Workshop, Kandrup, H. E. ed.

• "Counterrotating Bars," Davies, C. L. & J. H. Hunter, Jr., 1995. Waves in Astrophysics, Proceedings from the Tenth Annual Florida Workshop, ed. Hunter, J. H., Jr. & Wilson, R. E., Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci.

• "Counterrotating Bars," Davies, C. L. & J. H. Hunter, Jr., 1995. Barred Galaxies, IAU Colloquium 157, ed. Buta, R., Elmegreen, B. & Crocker, D., Eds., p. 461-463.

• "On the Effects of Including Counterrotating Angular Momentum in Simulations of Galactic Disc Systems," Davies, C. L. & J. H. Hunter, Jr., 1997. ApJ, 484, 79.

• Contributing Author to Ranking Tasks Exercises in Physics, ed. O’Kuma, Thomas, David Maloney and Curtis Hieggelke, 1999.

Workshops and Professional Meetings Attended

• Three Dimensional Systems, Proceedings from the Ninth Annual Florida Workshop, 1995

• Waves in Astrophysics, Proceedings from the Tenth Annual Florida Workshop, 1996

• Barred Galaxies, IAU Colloquium 157, University of Alabama, 1996

• Kansas Great Teacher Seminar, 1996

• Shaping the Future, Kansas State University, January 12-13, 1998

• Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 110^th Annual Meeting, Educational Symposium, "A Symposium on Teaching Astronomy to Non-Science Majors", Albuquerque, NM, June 29-30, 1998

• American Association of Physics Teachers Summer Meeting, Trinity University, San Antonio, TX, August 1-8, 1999

• American Association of Physics Teachers Summer Meeting, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada, August, 2000

• TYC Workshop Project Workshops:

• "Implementing Workshop Physics and Effective Microcomputer-Based Laboratories in Mechanics, Sound and Heat in Introductory Physics Courses (MBL I)", MiraCosta Community College, Nov. 11-14, 1996

• "Introductory Physics Conference 2-Implementing Active Learning Methods in Teaching Electricity and Magnetism (IPC II)", Lee College, June 17-21, 1997

• "Implementing Video Analysis and Effective Microcomputer-Based Laboratories in Electricity, Magnetism and Optics in Introductory Physics Courses (MBL II)", Green River Community College, Sept 18-20, 1997

• "Introductory Physics Conference 3-Implementing Active Learning Methods in teaching Waves and Optics (IPC III)", Joliet Junior College College, June 16-20, 1998

• "Using Conceptual Exercises and Active Learning Problem Sets in Introductory Physics (CE/ALPS)", Lee College, November 19-21, 1998

• Introductory Physics Conference 4-"Implementing Active Learning Methods using Internet Based Technologies (IPC 4)", Joliet Junior College, June 9-12, 1999

• Region 7, TYC 21 meetings, Barton County Community College, March 1995; Longview Community College, October 1996; Kansas State University-College of Technology-Salina, April 1997; Kansas City Kansas Community College, October 1997

Professional Services

• Grant reviewer for the National Science Foundation's Course, Curriculum and Laboratory Improvement program

• Test site for the Goddard Space Flight Center's "Radio JOVE" project.

• Reviewer for the revision plan of Randall Knight’s introductory physics text, Physics, A Contemporary Approach

Courses Taught

Gordon College

• PHYS 2211/2212-Principles of Physics-Conducted a year long, innovative calculus based course using many of the Real Time Physics microcomputer based laboratory (MBL) materials developed by Thornton and Sokoloff as well as conceptual exercises and materials developed by Alan Van Huevelen (ALPS) and David Maloney (Ranking Task exercises). The course is taught in a traditional lecture/lab format. Students shown an average 58% gain in pre/post test scores using this method over the 22% improvement found nationwide in traditional lecture formats.

• PHYS 1111/1112-Introduction to Physics-Conducted a year long, innovative algebra/trig based course using many of the Real Time Physics microcomputer based laboratory (MBL) materials developed by Thornton and Sokoloff as well as conceptual exercises and materials developed by Alan Van Huevelen (ALPS) and David Maloney (Ranking Task exercises). The course is taught in a traditional lecture/lab format. Students shown an average 43% gain in pre/post test scores using this method over the 22% improvement found nationwide in traditional lecture formats.

• ASTR 1010/1020-Solar System Astronomy/Stellar and Galactic Astronomy-Conducted a year long general astronomy course focusing on the topics found in a typical introductory astronomy sequence.  The course used innovative teaching styles including computer based labs (CLEA), lecture tutorials, concept mapping and extensive in-class group work.  Lecture material was presented using computer based presentation software.

• COLQ2992-Chaos Across the Sciences-Developed and taught a lower division undergraduate general education course covering the topic of non-linear behavior in a rich variety of systems in fields such as physics, mathematics, economics, biology and art.  The course combined lecture with activities designed to allow students to get hands-on experience with ideas that form the foundation of the subject.

Montana State University

• PHYS580-Studying the Universe with Space Based Observatories-Taught an eight week on-line course for in-service educators for the National Teachers Enhancement Network (NTEN) at Montana State University.  The course combined traditional stellar and galactic astronomy material with innovative data reduction exercises using real data taken from a variety of space based observatories.  In addition to a strong content base, the students were asked to develop lesson plans to take the learned material back into their classrooms for use with their students. 

Cloud County Community College

• SC 100-Survey of Science-Coordinated and taught an interdisciplinary science course focused on introducing students to the fundamental processes and methods of science through the review of historically significant debates in science. The course included a heavy emphasis on critical thinking and model building.

• SC 103-Introduction to Physical Science-Handled all aspects of a 20-45 student lecture with laboratory sections included. Course covered the rudiments of physics, chemistry, astronomy, geology, meteorology and oceanography. The majority of the material used in the course in the last year has been taken from the Powerful Ideas in Physical Science (PIIPS) curriculum developed by the American Association of Physics Teachers and the Tools for Scientific Thinking curriculum developed through a collaboration of Tufts University, Dickinson College and the University of Oregon. The course emphasizes guided inquiry based approaches and incorporates students' projects at a fundamental level.

• SC 105-Astronomy-Conducted a one semester introductory lecture and lab course for astronomy for non-science majors. I was responsible for determining course materials and labs as well as those responsibilities stated above. The entire course was presented to the students using innovative multimedia methods that included the use of CD-ROMs, videodisks and lecture materials presented using Microsoft PowerPointÓ . Many of the labs used were from the CLEA Project of Gettysburg College which utilized computer simulation to allow students to take astronomical data in a number of situations when taking real data was not possible.

• SC 107-Meteorology -Conducted a one semester introductory course for meteorology for non-science students. I was responsible for determining course materials and labs as well as those responsibilities stated above. The course required the students to take meteorological data and use this to deduce basic relationships regarding the state of the atmosphere and how it changes. The course covered basic material at a non-mathematical level including heat transfer, moisture and cloud formation, pressure and wind and climatology.

• SC 141-College Physics II-Conducted a semester long, innovative algebra based course on electricity and magnetism using portions of the Real Time Physics-Electricity microcomputer based laboratory (MBL) materials developed by Thornton and Sokoloff. Additionally, conceptual exercises and materials developed by Alan Van Huevelen (ALPS) and David Maloney (Ranking Task exercises) were incorporated. The course was taught in three two hour blocks where the traditional lecture/lab distinction was removed and an integrated environment was established. Students shown an average 50% gain in pre/post test scores using this method over the 20% improvement found nationwide in traditional lecture formats.

• SC 142/143-University Physics-Conducted a year long, innovative calculus based course using many of the Real Time Physics microcomputer based laboratory (MBL) materials developed by Thornton and Sokoloff as well as conceptual exercises and materials developed by Alan Van Huevelen (ALPS) and David Maloney (Ranking Task exercises). The course is taught in three two hour blocks where the traditional lecture/lab distinction is removed and an integrated environment was established. Students shown an average 75% gain in pre/post test scores using this method over the 22% improvement found nationwide in traditional lecture formats.

• CS110-BASIC (Introduction to Microsoft Visual Basic)-This course was taught as an introduction to computing for students in any field of study. The basics of computing were taught in a lab-centered curriculum, including the fundamentals if algorithm development, file management, loop and decision structures and array structures. The students were required to complete projects in their own as well as in groups.

• CS 114A-FORTRAN (Computer Concepts for Engineering)-This course was offered as an introduction to programming course for those students interested in engineering or an engineering related field. Emphasis was placed on the principles of programming in a project-oriented environment. Projects were assigned on an individual basis as well as to small groups.

University of Florida

• Phy 3055/3056L - General Physics Lab. I was responsible for the teaching and supervising of 2 or 3 student labs involving sixteen students each. This included preparation of some lecture and quiz materials, supervision of students as they worked through the weekly labs, grading of the lab materials and assignment of grades under supervisor review.

• Phy 2005L - Technical Physics Lab, 2nd semester. I was responsible for conducting 2 laboratory sections of approximately 15 students each. Duties included preparation of quiz materials and grading the weekly lab reports prepared by the students. I also assigned grades under supervisor review.

• Phy 3053/3054 Discussions - Recitation sections for the non-calculus based General Physics course. I was responsible for meeting three classes twice a week of approximately thirty students. During the meetings I went over the assigned problems from the text (Sears, Zemansky and Young, 7th ed.) as well, as those questions students might have done on their own initiative. I also wrote, gave and evaluated quiz materials and submitted questions for the lecture tests.

• Phy 3054 - General Physics lecture for students enrolled in the life sciences and health related pre-professional programs. Responsibilities included the preparation and presentation of lectures, submission of test questions and some organizational duties.

• Phy 2004 - General Physics lecture for students enrolled in agricultural sciences, architecture, and building construction /interior design programs. I was responsible for the presentation of introductory material in a lecture format to a class of 200 students. I wrote, gave and evaluated test materials and assigned grades to the students.

• Phy 1033 - A "Physics for Poets" class wherein the students from non-science disciplines were introduced to the fundamentals of physical thought and experiment. I was responsible for the supervision of the students in a non-traditional laboratory setting. Oftentimes this included class-wide demonstrations and/or one on one work. I was also responsible for the evaluation of the lab write-ups turned in by the students.

• Grading - I was, for the 1991-92 academic year, the Department of Physics (University of Florida) grader for the graduate level Electricity and Magnetism course taught from the text by J. D. Jackson (2nd ed.)

Santa Fe Community College

• Psc 1101 - Prepared and presented lecture materials for an "Introduction to Physical Sciences" course that covered the topics of Astronomy, Geology, Oceanography and Meteorology. Performed all testing and evaluation of this course as well as its administration.

Dr. Davies' Page at Gordon

Content copyright © 1999, Chad Davies. All Rights Reserved.
Graphics copyright © 1999, Kathy Davies. All Rights Reserved.