February 2019 Instructor of the Month, Michelle Spila

What do you teach?

I teach a course called Science 151, which covers scientific inquiry and data analysis. It's only a couple of years old, it started in 2016. This is a core course for an experience called InSciTE, which is the "Interdisciplinary Science Threshold Experience."

What do you tell first year undergraduate students to encourage them to take this course?

I usually highlight the skill development aspect, reminding students that university is more than just learning the facts and concepts and theories; it's also about those experiences that you choose to have and making sure you're having a fulfilling time at university. Sometimes you don't realize you should be doing that until third or fourth year.

It's a matter of reminding them that they have the opportunity to have those experiences right away, in first year, and we can help them do that. It's a great opportunity for them to take a little leap of faith.

What's the coolest thing about this subject area?

I think that would be the capstone project, because you get to pick your own topic. We've had students work on simple things like the science behind popping popcorn-she decided to look into, first of all, what causes corn to pop. Then she looked at microwave history, microwaving power and what microwave power results in the best bowl of popcorn. It was a simple project, but she delved into the science behind it; which I thought was really cool.

Your first thought might be "what kind of science is there behind popcorn?" But there's actually quite a bit, especially if you start looking at the physics behind microwaves. The project allows students to explore an area that they like and that they have an interest in, but it also encourages them to dive deeper into it.

It's hugely rewarding to see a student standing in front of a poster they created and talking about their final project and realizing they're the expert on that topic right now.

What's one of the highlights being an instructor in this course?

Seeing the light bulbs turn on when a student understands something after having done it themselves, and of course the growth that comes along with that. Students come in as wide-eyed, bushy-tailed undergraduates right out of high school, and then they go out volunteering for things, working in labs, and doing a crazy amount of extracurricular activities that they find the confidence to get into right away after first year. We just see such growth, both personal and academic, throughout the year-it's wonderful.

What was your favourite experience as an undergrad and how do you incorporate that experience into teaching your students?

One of my instructors that sticks out the most was a first-year geology instructor who was just so engaging in the class that I still remember some of the antics that he used. Things like demonstrating brittle versus ductile properties with a grapefruit-he brought in a huge grapefruit, put it on the overhead and then smashed it with his fist. Juice and grapefruit guts went flying everywhere to demonstrate ductile, that the grapefruit would bend and break before it would shatter like something more rigid would. He brought in a cake for Charles Darwin's birthday and the cake had a CD on it. We were all wondering "why is there a CD on this cake?" and he responds "CD… Charles Darwin."

These were crazy antics but that always made me think: he's crazy enough and brave enough to do those kinds of things in class, and there are other instructors out there that are equally as interesting. That kind of encouraged me to approach some of these instructors and be willing to talk to them and get to know them.

I always remind students that even though your professor might not use tactics like those, they're still real people and they still have an interesting story to tell.

What is one thing that people would be surprised to know about you?

I have a pretty decent artistic background, and even though I don't have time to enjoy it much these days I actually did a little sketching and painting when I was younger. I was hugely into music as well-I was always interested in anything on the creative and artistic side.