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Graduate Profiles

Scott Daniel BSc Hons Major in Physics, 1997 BsC DipEd, 1999

Why did you choose your degree at Macquarie University?

"I chose Macquarie for three reasons. 1. The high academic level of the advanced science program was a big draw-card, along with the prerequisite waivers it offered. Fourteen years on, I'm still great friends with some of my fellow students from the advanced program. 2. I enrolled in a physics education program, and Macquarie has an excellent reputation for its education faculty. 3. I love the outdoors and I was drawn to the extensive and beautiful grounds."

Employment (July 2007): Teacher Training/Development

"Currently I am working at a science centre in South Carolina, where I'm developing and running workshops for local science teachers. These are designed to provide innovative, inquiry-based learning activities to cover the school curriculum.

This morning I left for work at 6.30am. This week our science team is running teachers' workshops at a local technical college. Before the teachers arrived I spent an hour setting up the equipment for my workshop, and then worked on developing a catapult and 'mission impossible' student challenge for an upcoming student camp. We spent the morning and afternoon running the workshops with teachers, and then after the teachers left I worked on a home-made pyrotechnic volcano that will be used in the climax of the student challenge. I prepared the equipment for the next day, and then drove around town approaching pizza places for empty pizza boxes to be used to make solar ovens. On the way home we bought some mentos and cola to trial the mentos geyser.

I really enjoy sharing my curiosity and love for science with other teachers, making those personal connections, and on a deeper level I get satisfaction from knowing that the few ideas and skills I can share with teachers will be multiplied one hundredfold as they share it with other teachers and use it in all their classes year after year."

How has your degree from Macquarie University helped you progress your career?

"My degree equipped me with a sufficiently deep understanding of physics and science such that I can distill the essence of different concepts into activities and experiments appropriate for students at different levels."

Reflections and advice

"The main thing I treasured about my studies at Macquarie was the flexibility. Although I completed majors in mathematics and physics, I also studied French, Russian, psychology, animal behaviour, and many other diverse subjects far outside my main specialty. This allowed me to follow my interests and tailor my studies to eventually graduate with a degree that was unique.

My physics degree has allowed me to pursue adventures in science education that have led me around Australia and overseas. I have taught students robotics in the Torres Strait Islands, kayaked to Pentecost Island (home of land-diving) and then conducted numeracy 'train the trainer' workshops in Melanesian Pidgin with local villagers, explored the mathematics of gears with automotive mechanic trainees in Port Vila in French, developed and delivered 'Science for Starters' workshops in outback New South Wales, made and played musical instruments over the School of the Air with primary school kids in Western Australia, blown up man-made volcanoes, water rockets, and mentos geysers in South Carolina, and played 'The Girl from Ipanema' banging water-filled glasses over the radio in Tasmania. The combination of practical experience and theoretical understanding Macquarie developed in me, equipped me to succeed in these diverse science education situations."