Sintayehu

I have been teaching physics at high school, undergraduate, and graduate levels in different countries and under various classroom settings since 1990. I have been, particularly, involved in teaching undergraduate courses since 1997. During this time, I have gotten a chance to teach general physics courses such as mechanics, electricity and magnetism, statistical mechanics, quantum mechanics, and optics at the level of standard textbooks. I have also frequently lectured on courses such as electrodynamics, quantum mechanics, statistical physics, and physical optics to senior undergraduates at Addis Ababa, Dilla, Adama Science and Technology, and Jazan Universities. I also have had the opportunity, most recently, to teach PhD courses in quantum optics and quantum optical processing as well as postgraduate courses in electrodynamics, classical physics, and statistical physics. Over the years, I have followed various approaches and teaching styles based on the background of students, nature of the courses, and available resources.

To help the students grasp the material in a more understandable way, I have mostly adhered to a problem-solving strategy, where they are encouraged to develop their own approaches and rely on independent study. I have observed that such an approach can facilitate the teaching process in the sense of evoking discussion and even sometimes lead to useful suggestions and recommendations for improvement. I discovered that it helps the students gain the confidence to participate in the teaching process since they have done some digging on the topics (or lesson) before class. I have observed that the students utilized the lesson as a means of clarifying the doubts and rectifying errors or wrong beliefs or understandings. This method would, therefore, be a crucial component of my methods of instruction in my future professional journey, since I firmly believe that the problem-solving approach improves student comprehension of the material and motivates them to perform even better.

I also involve the students in the process of teaching by way of, for instance, providing discussion topics and mini projects. With that, encourage them to undertake independent studies on a few chosen topics; my role, during this process, is restricted to offering guidance, counsel, and clarification on any unclear matters. I found that mostly the students take this opportunity as a challenge and so strive to overcome it. Even though such an approach has the potential to motivate the slow learners, it serves the bright students even better. Incidentally, forming a group encompassing the slow learners and bright students usually pays well when I earnestly play a day-to-day role of moderation and offer planned support as necessary.

The other important component is the setup where students collaborate in groups and have discussions. I have also noticed that such an approach immensely increases the collaboration among students and allows me to know each student better. Without a doubt, the students' active participation and freedom help to boost their self-esteem and enthusiasm for the material. With this rationale, I opt to include this approach in my teaching, especially in senior classes, where the learners are expected to aspire to be more independent.

The most recent opportunity I had to teach was in a classroom with an active board, which can be directly connected to the laptop, and hence images and sound can be readily uploaded. With the help of this technology, I was able to utilize the slides I prepared ahead of time, write directly on the board using magnetic ink, upload audio and motion via laptop-stored video, or use resources from other locations via a network with the freedom of saving at the end. I found it enjoyable, flexible, and attractive. This particular experience shows me how making use of the available technology can make teaching and learning enjoyable and, at the same time, enhance the degree to which the learning objectives are achieved. Definitely, in my future career, I strive to include the technology at my disposal to make my teaching more attractive and learning easier for my students.

While I was teaching at Dilla University, we used to have different programs at the same time. At that point, I realized the need for supplementing classroom instructions with a method that would enable students to complete their work without physically attending class. To make teaching possible in such a case, I have managed to get training in the technicalities of delivering a course in distance mode. Then, as the corona outbreak spread, I was forced to teach classes remotely on the internet, particularly with the Blackboard software. Thanks to my training and the capabilities offered by the platform I've been exploiting, I was able to interact with students and help them with their homework and other assignments. I would be more than willing to augment my teaching with the available technology, including distance mode. Such a method, in my opinion, endows the students with the flexibility of studying at their pace.

Basically the list of the approaches I have been using may be vastly long. If I am granted the opportunity to teach at your institution, I would combine a variety of approaches that might work for the prevailing classroom context, the school's philosophy, and the intended graduate profile. I am fully committed to continuing to teach in the way that serves the learner to build their intended career, following more friendly, interactive, and participatory approaches. As a demonstration, I have summarized my lecture notes, homework, assignments, and tests and written a monograph with the title {\it{Electromagnetism: Intermediate Level Questions and Problems}} (in press at Springer Nature), which can illustrate the depth and philosophy of my teaching. I am certain you will find that I have the necessary teaching techniques and a strong foundation in the subject to serve your students if you decide to have me as a credible colleague.