When it comes to classroom subjects, physics can get a bad rap.
For one reason or another, students often assume they need to channel their inner Einsteins to earn a passing grade.
True, theres usually some math involved, but Dr. Matthew Antonik is there to assure students answers are usually closer than they think.
The key is connection, said Antonik, a newcomer to Allen Community College. Its just not as hard as people were taught to believe. But starting out, theyre already scared.
Suppose he uses a unit of force in his discussion 1 Newton plus 1 Newton equals 2 Newtons many of his students already have glazed eyes.
But if I say 1 pizza, plus 1 pizza equals 2 pizzas, then its something they can relate to, he said.
Physics is teaching what they know and what they see, he continues. This gets lighter, this gets heavier. Youre taking away from one thing to add to another. Everyone can do physics.
Assigning numbers to those concepts is where it gets tricky, Antonik noted. But what that tells me is, its not really the physics that people have a problem with, its the translation.
On a daily basis, students will stop by his office after class for help with a particular problem.
I dont know what to do.
So hell have them do the work, one step at a time.
They talk their own way through the problem, and they get the right answer, he said. Its up to me to let them know, you can do this.
ANTONIKs path to a teaching career took a bit longer than most, and it was very much by design.
As a teenager, Antonik said high school was a challenge because his studious nature often made him the target of bullies.
It got bad enough, I said Im not coming back, he recalled.
And he meant it.
His parents understood. As long as you have a plan, we dont care, they said.
