Welcome back to the Liberal Art Department’s Professor Profile Series. Last edition we featured an Honors Professor and since it was so well received we decided to feature another! This month we highlight Professor Michael Endl, Honors Astronomy professor.
Welcome to our series, Professor Endl! Tell us about your course and how long you’ve been teaching?
I am teaching the Astronomy Honors Course “Life in the Universe”. This is an intro-level course in Astrobiology for non-science and science majors alike. This semester is the third time I teach it at ACC, but it is heavily influenced by the AST309L course that I have been teaching at UT, starting maybe a decade ago!
In what interesting ways do you engage your classroom?
I totally enjoy teaching an honors course. The interactions and discussions with these bright students are the highlight of my teaching day. I try to have an interesting and engaged discussion in the classroom as much as possible and don’t care too much if it takes time away from my planned lecture. This course also includes a lab part which we primarily spend on the observing deck at RRC campus, using the telescopes to look at planets, nebulae, etc.
How does teaching an Honors course drive your passion for education?
As I said, the Honors course is the highlight of my teaching work in a semester. It’s fun and keeps me motivated to make this course as interesting and enjoyable to everyone in the class. It also helps with my regular courses, since I can adopt certain things that I see work very well in the Honors course.
Any advice for your students to help them be successful in your classroom?
Just be curious and interested. That’s all you need.
Interested in learning more about “Life in the Universe?” Watch this promotional video here.