I hope to guide students in experiencing the scientific approach as valuable, and then let them decide how and where to apply this way of viewing the world in their own lives.”
Mark’s Story
Mark Hartman always knew he wanted to teach. During his undergraduate years at Case Western Reserve University, he was a physics tutor. As a graduate student in astronomy at Harvard University, Mark participated in the National Science Foundation’s Graduate Students in K-12 Science Education program (GK-12), where he worked with students at Cambridge Ridge and Latin Public High School for three years. Mark also worked as a content advisor on a video/web based professional development program for K-6 teachers in physical science.
Through these experiences, Mark was easily able to make the jump to full-time science education. He taught at the MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, where he worked with urban teens in after-school programs that teach them how to reinterpret scientific ideas using creative arts and how to apply their science knowledge to real situations in x-ray astronomy. “Working with urban students who have a perspective on the world that is so different from my own causes me to be that much more aware of and question my own perspective in teaching.”
Mark holds a BS in physics from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio and a master’s degree in astronomy from Harvard University. He teaches 10th grade physics at the Codman Academy Charter Public School, an expeditionary learning school.