Education & Professional History
Smith College, BA; University of Minnesota, PhD
I am a condensed matter experimental physicist with interests in correlated electron systems. I am also engaged in the scholarship of teaching and learning with interests in advanced lab instruction and approaches to creating classrooms and institutions that welcome diverse learners and teachers.
Having served as Director of the Perlman Center for Learning and Teaching from 2016-2020, I am invested in supporting faculty professional development and fostering collegial efforts to implement research-based effective practices in the classroom.
I am committed to collaborating with others to develop approaches to on ramp students for success when they arrive with varied levels of preparation for coursework and varied understanding of how to navigate college expectations and structures. I led the design and development of the hybrid Carleton Undergraduate Bridge Experience (CUBE), which started in 2016, and I taught CUBE until 2019. Currently, I am the PI on an NSF grant to the LACOL consortium that is exploring factors that impact adaptation and adoption of online resources to support student quantitative skill (QS) building and the factors that impact faculty and departmental choices about QS support (QLAB).
At Carleton since 2005.
Highlights & Recent Activity
My recent publications have focused on the scholarship of teaching and learning:
- M. Eblen-Zayas, K. M. Burson, D. McDermott, “Course modifications to support student mental health and move towards Universal Design for Learning”, The Physics Teacher 60, 628-631 (2022).
- M. Eblen-Zayas, “Reflect to Deflect: Using Metacognitive Activities to Address Student Perceptions of Instructor Competence and Caring,” In Picture a Professor: Intersectional Strategies for Interrupting Bias about Faculty and Increasing Student Learning, ed. Jessamyn Neuhaus, West Virginia University Press, pg 135-150 (2022).
- M. Eblen-Zayas, “Development and supervision of independent projects,” In Experimental Physics: Principles and Practice for the Laboratory, edited by Walter Smith, CRC Press, pg 289-298 (2020).
Organizations & Scholarly Affiliations
American Physical Society (DCMP, DMP, FEd)
American Association of Physics Teachers
Council on Undergraduate Research
POD Network
Current Courses
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Fall 2023
PHYS 290:
Independent Reading
-
PHYS 343:
Electronics and Lab
-
PHYS 356:
Special Project
-
Winter 2024
PHYS 356:
Special Project
-
PHYS 400:
Integrative Exercise
-
Spring 2024
PHYS 342:
Contemporary Experimental Physics and Lab
-
PHYS 400:
Integrative Exercise
This page provides a brief overview of some of my scholarly interests. I strongly encourage Carleton students who are interested in either experimental condensed matter physics research or educational research to talk with me about how to get involved. I enjoy partnering with students in my scholarly projects, and you don’t need any prior experience to be able to participate. Please reach out to learn more!
Interests
- Experimental condensed matter physics research on the electronic and magnetic properties of correlated electron materials.
- Scholarship on pedagogy, teaching, and learning, with particular interests in quantitative skills and the physics advanced laboratory curriculum.
Current projects
In 2016-2017, I conceptualized and led a multi-campus development and educational research pilot project that created a framework for developing online modules focused on quantitative skills (QS) and their applications, and assessed faculty use of and student engagement with modules. This led to an externally-funded research project (the LACOL QLAB project) aimed at improving understanding of effective practices for the use of online modules to support students’ QS development and factors that impact faculty choices about using modules (2019-present).
Selected peer-reviewed journal articles, conference proceedings, digests
- M. Eblen-Zayas, E. Altermatt, L. Muller, J. Leamon, S. Richard, “Supporting student quantitative skills across introductory STEM courses: faculty approaches and perceived needs”, 2020 Physics Education Research Conference Proceedings, edited by S. Wolf, M. B. Bennett, and B. W. Frank, 137 (2020).
- M. Eblen-Zayas, “The impact of metacognitive activities on student attitudes towards experimental physics,” 2016 PERC Proceedings, edited by D. L. Jones, L. Ding, and A. Traxler, 104, (2016).
- M. Eblen-Zayas, “Comparing electronic and traditional lab notebooks in the advanced lab,” 2015 Conference on Laboratory Instruction Beyond the First Year of College Proceedings, edited by M. Eblen-Zayas, E. Behringer, and J. Kozminski, (2015).
- M. Eblen-Zayas, T. Brenner, B. Colwell, C. Carter, B. Schuster, S. Schlotter, “Impact of substrate heating during growth on transport and magnetization response of Eu-rich EuO thin films,” 11th Joint MMM/Intermag Conference Digest, 1170 (2010).
- M. Eblen-Zayas, A. Bhattacharya, N.E. Staley, A.L. Kobrinskii, A.M. Goldman, “Ambipolar Gate Effect and Low Temperature Magnetoresistance of Ultrathin La0.8Ca0.2MnO3 Films,” Physical Review Letters 94, 037204 (2005).
- A. Bhattacharya, M. Eblen-Zayas, N.E. Staley, A.L. Kobrinskii, and A.M. Goldman, “Low-temperature glassy response of ultrathin La0.8Ca0.2MnO3 films to electric and magnetic fields,” Physical Review B 72, 132406 (2005).
Selected external funding
- National Science Foundation Division of Education IUSE Grant $290,940 (2019 – 2024) IUSE: Online modules for quantitative skill building: Exploring adaption and adoption across a consortium, PI: Melissa Eblen-Zayas, Co-PIs: Sundi Richard (Davidson College), Laura Muller & Jonathan Leamon-Morgan (Williams College)
- National Science Foundation Major Research Instrumentation Grant $305,000 (2010 – 2013) MRI-R2: Acquisition of an x-ray diffractometer for powder and thin film materials characterization, PI: Melissa Eblen-Zayas, Co-PIs: Cam Davidson & Steve Drew (Carleton College)
- National Science Foundation Division of Materials Research Grant $144,590 (2008-2012) RUI: EuO Thin Films as a Laboratory for Exploring Metal-Insulator Transitions and Colossal Magnetoresistance, PI: Melissa Eblen-Zayas
This page provides a brief overview of some of my teaching interests. I enjoy being in the classroom teaching and continually growing in my own practice, learning from students about their experiences in the classroom and how that can make me a better teacher, talking about teaching with faculty and staff to explore potential new partnerships or learn from each other’s approaches, and supporting other faculty as they develop new teaching strategies or experiment in the classroom.
Interests
- Teaching core courses throughout the introductory and intermediate physics curriculum and advanced courses in Electronics, Solid State Physics, and Contemporary Experimental Physics with a focus on increasing my use of research-based approaches to enhance inclusion and equity. Occasionally teaching an environmental studies course.
- Thoughtful consideration of how technology can enrich teaching and learning in the residential liberal arts college context.
- Incorporating academic civic engagement projects in physics and environmental studies courses and developing new models for project streams to connect curricular and co-curricular opportunities.
Experience
- Proposed, designed, and developed the hybrid Carleton Undergraduate Bridge Experience (CUBE) beginning in 2016 to provide incoming first-year students the opportunity to review quantitative skills, explore their application to many disciplines, and create an early connection with the Carleton community. This program included Carleton’s first online course. Taught CUBE from 2016-2019.
- Participated in a subcommittee of the AAPT Committee on Laboratories that developed recommendations for the undergraduate physics laboratory curriculum: J. Kozminski, N. Beverley, D. Deardorff, R. Dietz, M. Eblen-Zayas, R. Hobbs, H. Lewandowski, S. Lindaas, A. Reagan, R. Tagg, J. Williams, B. Zwickl, AAPT Recommendations for the Undergraduate Physics Laboratory Curriculum (2014)
Textbook chapter
- M. Eblen-Zayas, “Development and Supervision of Independent Projects,” in Experimental Physics: Principles and Practice for the Laboratory, ed. W. F. Smith, CRC Press (2020).
Selected peer-reviewed journal articles, conference proceedings, digests
- M. Eblen-Zayas & J. S. Russell, “Making an online bridge program high touch,” Journal of College Student Development 60, 104 (2019).
- M. Eblen-Zayas, “Development of a materials science course to serve diverse constituencies,” ASEE Annual Conference Proceedings (2013).
Current Courses
-
Fall 2023
PHYS 290:
Independent Reading
-
PHYS 343:
Electronics and Lab
-
PHYS 356:
Special Project
-
Winter 2024
PHYS 356:
Special Project
-
PHYS 400:
Integrative Exercise
-
Spring 2024
PHYS 342:
Contemporary Experimental Physics and Lab
-
PHYS 400:
Integrative Exercise