I would like to be remembered by my students the same way that I remember my favorite teachers, who are inseparable in my mind from the subjects they taught. I want to pass on my excitement about Astronomy and Astrophysics to the students, as well as transferring knowledge, and to help them learn new ways of thinking and approaching problems. Astronomy and astrophysics are subjects where a combination of observational, theoretical and experimental data are needed to address just about any problem effectively. It is therefore important that all these aspects are addressed when discussing any given topic. Furthermore, it can be very effective to use analogy to aid learning by relating new information to prior knowledge, which aids in immediate learning and long-term information retention.
Small demonstrations are useful wherever possible.
For example, the problems of differentiating between scattered light and absorbed light based purely on observed extincted light can be amply demonstrated using an overhead projector, two glasses of water, some black ink, some milk and two pipettes. Combining sketches, notes, analogies and demonstrations gives several approaches to understanding the same concept. One way to get students to learn more is to make sure they ask questions and then, instead of directly answering a question, wherever possible I will reply with a series of easier queries which lead from the knowledge they already have to the bigger answer they are seeking. When grading I always make notes on the students' papers. I also take particular care to achieve total consistency in giving partial credit when grading.