Philosophy

I firmly believe that a teacher is not a knowledge provider but rather a facilitator and a mentor for students. As a mentor, it is my responsibility to find or create multi-modal student-centered methodologies to present learning materials and present ample opportunities to cultivate critical and analytical thinking, creativity, and intellectual curiosity supporting the holistic development of my students and mentees. Throughout my academic and professional career over the last 10+ years, I have blended my research on cutting edge topics with science outreach activities . I have been actively involved in STEM mentoring and science communication with New York Academy of Sciences initiatives such as Global STEM Alliance as well as with Brookhaven National Lab.

Selected Teaching Experiences

A short course on XAFS, Brookhaven National Lab, Upton, NY

This course is designed for scientists interested in learning advanced XANES and EXAFS methods, including, molecular dynamics EXAFS (MD-EXAFS), reverse Monte Carlo EXAFS (RMC-EXAFS), machine learning – assisted XANES and EXAFS (ML-XANES and ML-EXAFS), and data analysis and are interested in advanced modeling methods applicable for nanomaterials research. Dr. Routh designed and taught interactive lectures on linear decomposition methods such as PCA and MCR-ALS along with Python based machine learning methodologies for XANES analysis.

Frontiers of Science, Columbia University, New York, NY

As a lecturer and Science Fellow, Dr. Routh taught “Frontiers of Science” course for Columbia College freshmen utilizing active learning classroom strategies from 2016 to 2019. Dr. Routh successfully applied the learnings from pedagogical research to combine reflective practices in his teaching goals which significantly improved students’ learning experience.

Frontiers of Science is a one-semester course that integrates modern science into Columbia’s Core Curriculum. Its goal is to challenge students to think about the world around them, and the ways in which science can help us answer questions about nature and ourselves. The course focuses on the commonalities of the scientific approach to inquiry as exemplified by four areas of active research and discovery. On Mondays throughout the semester, leading scientists present up to three lectures in each of the four modules. During the rest of the week, senior faculty and Columbia Science Fellows (PhD research scientists selected for their teaching abilities) lead seminars to discuss the lecture and associated readings, to undertake in-class activities, and to debate the implications of the most recent scientific discoveries.

Teaching Certifications:

• Center for Teaching and Learning Certification, Columbia University: Reflective teaching practice seminar
• National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN) Certification: Research mentor training workshop
• NYAS: Scientist Teaching Science Training Program
• Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science: Communicating your science