Science is More Than Problem-solving: Building Inclusivity and Belonging by Practicing Professionalism
Dr. Baylor is currently a Professor of Physics and recently completed a 4-year term as Chair of Physics and Astronomy at Carleton College
Abstract: When I’ve asked potential physics majors to reflect on what it takes to be a physicist, their responses essentially write themselves out of the identity that they seem to be striving for. Their narrow definition of what it takes to be a physicist can lead students to feel as if they don’t belong. To help broaden students’ definition of who a physicist is so that they can see themselves in the field now, I have been developing the Practicing Professionalism Framework for my courses. This Framework not only helps me help students understand the course content, structures, and skills better, but it also helps motivate in a natural and compelling way that being a physicist is broader than what they assume. Although I will present this framework, its implementation and its impact on students in a physics context, throughout the talk I will help the audience consider how it can be expanded beyond physics to other STEM disciplines.
About: Dr. Baylor is originally from Columbia, Maryland. She completed her BA in physics at Kenyon College, OH in 1998. That said, she has more undergraduate credits in Chinese and studied abroad at Nanjing University. After Kenyon, Dr. Baylor spent 2 years teaching middle and high school physics and astronomy at the Maret School in Washington, DC. Then she spent 2 years at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center as an optical engineer designing telescopes to study the aurora on Jupiter and optical test beds to study MEMs mirrors and shutters for use in the Near Infrared Spectrometer in the James Webb Space Telescope. She completed her PhD in physics in 2007 at the University of Colorado at Boulder where her thesis was "Analog Optoelectronic Independent Component Analysis for Radio Frequency Signals". She was funded through the NSF IGERT Program. As part of that funding, she was able to do an internship for Hans Laser in Shenzhen China working with high power lasers for engraving applications. After completing her PhD, Dr. Baylor took a year off and was a visiting professor at Carleton College for 7 months and vacationed for 4 months (traveled to China, volunteered with Habitat for Humanity, went whitewater rafting, etc.). She did a 2-year postdoc in the Electrical, Computer, and Energy Engineering department at University of Colorado at Boulder where she collaborated with the Chemical and Biological Engineering department to make integrated optofluidic devices in photosensitive polymers. Dr. Baylor is currently a Professor of Physics and recently completed a 4-year stint as Chair of Physics and Astronomy at Carleton College. She was awarded an APS Innovation Fund grant in 2021 to develop the APS EDI Fellows Program to support physics educators who want to address EDI issues in their classrooms, but do not feel prepared to do so. She served as a member of the APS Committee on Education from 2019-2021, serving as chair during 2020. Currently, Dr. Baylor is a member of APS Panel on Public Affairs (POPA). She is an avid whitewater rafter having rafted across the US and in Italy, Scotland, and India. She builds a LEGO kit with her husband each Christmas. This past Christmas they spent 3 days building the Titanic! She adores her husband Bryan and cat Juliet.