Mr. Gazer (BSc, BEd, MSc)
Teacher at Joseph M. Demko School
Teaching Major/Minor:
Physics / Mathematics
I also teach:
Quick Links
Education
Bachelor's of Science (BSc)
Physics
2012 - 2015
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8 months as a research assistant
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24 months as a teaching assistant ​
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About Mr. Gazer
Hello! My name is Mr. Gazer and I am a physics and math educator in Alberta, Canada. I am an experienced and enthusiastic educator with 13+ years of varied teaching experience including university teaching (1000+ hours), adult education, personal tutoring, academic mentoring and a list of invited public science talks.
My classroom is an engaging and inclusive environment where students are safe to ask questions and explore their curiosity about the world around them in an authentic way, a way that represents the real nature in which science is actually done.
As a science teacher, I emphasise that the subject is far more creative and dynamic than it is often presented as (i.e. as little more than a static set of facts to be transmitted) and I am personally driven to re-establish our relationship with science as one of curiosity, exploration and the unknown rather than rigidity, rote-ness, and rights and wrongs. It is exactly this attitude of openness, acceptance and growth on which I ground my class learning environment.
Mr. Gazer by the Numbers
Tutoring for
13+
years
(2010 - present)
Helped
57
different students 1-on-1 since 2019
Taught physics for
1000+
hours at the
university level
Tutored
750+
hours
since 2019
2
Wrote
research theses in stellar astrophysics
Physics for Everyone!
Physics for Everyone! is an adult education class (ages 50+) that I developed in 2019 for ELLA (the Edmonton Lifelong Learning Association) and since taught in 5 different semesters.
ELLA audiences are of diverse personal and professional backgrounds, making for a truly rich and unique learning experience for not only the students, but instructor too!
Some of the title slides of the lessons can be seen to the right - for the full course outline of January 2023's class, see below.
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Work & Teaching Experience
Adult Education Instructor
Edmonton Lifelong Learning Association (ELLA)
Jan 2019, Jan & Oct 2021, Jan 2022, Jan 2023
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taught an originally-developed course (Physics for Everyone!) to a diverse audience ages 50+
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created and delivered all course content and activities across 5 different ELLA semesters (both in-person and online)
Physics, Math & Chemistry Tutor
Self-employed, 2010 - Present
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provided 1-on-1 tutoring help (in-person and online) for hundreds of students over 12+ years in all STEM subjects
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supported in HS/university level physics, chemistry & math
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designed and facilitated exam prep (diplomas, MCAT, LSAT)
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650+ hours in 1-on-1 sessions since 2019
Business Analyst
AltaML (2021)
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designed and led client workshops for gathering technical and business requirements for a software solution
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translated between the technical developers/management
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built and implemented end-to-end AI/machine-learning solutions solving real, tangible business problems
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synthesised technical/business in presenting to clients
Data Specialist
AltaML (2019 - 2021)
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built efficient, accountable ETL pipelines for enterprise clients
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implemented architecture for populating/serving AI models
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scraped, wrangled, cleaned data in Python/Azure/AWS
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synthesised scientific domain knowledge with statistical techniques to provide developers guidance in model-building​
Teaching Assistant (TA)
University of Alberta (2015 - 2017)
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taught to both student and adult audiences about physics and space science through running the University of Alberta Observatory
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maintained the operation of observatory telescope equipment and trained volunteer operators to facilitate viewing sessions
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provided weekly help to students in a drop-in physics center
University of Alberta (2015 - 2017)
Research Assistant (RA)
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classified 30 unidentified binary star systems using X-ray, ultraviolet, optical and infrared data from the Milky Way as part of the Galactic Bulge Survey research collaboration
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performed data scraping, wrangling and cleaning, detailed statistical modelling and error analysis, data visualization, technical writing and public speaking
Teaching Assistant (TA)
McMaster University (2013 - 2015)
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taught 770 hours of physics/engineering classes in both the laboratory and in tutorials (TA-led lecture sessions)
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classes: Mechanics & Waves I+II, Electricity & Magnetism I+II, Physics for Life Sciences
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developed lecture material, conducted lab sessions, proctored exams, marked labs performance/reports & assignments
University of Alberta (2013 - 2015)
Research Assistant (RA)
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built and maintained computational simulations of Galactic star cluster evolution in Python
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designed and implemented realistic thermal, gas and gravitational dynamics with solutions in C/Python
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summarised literature and individual scientific results in thesis
