Some disciplines tend to get thought of as not necessarily the easiest to grasp. In today’s episode, Dr. Ainissa Ramirez shares about how and why to make challenging subjects fun.
Podcast notes
Making challenging subjects fun
Guest: Dr. Ainissa Ramirez
http://www.ainissaramirez.com/bio.html

https://youtu.be/H5TNkGC4p3Q

“I learned that this thing of investigating and being curious around the world was the thing that people called science.” -Ainissa Ramirez

Early influences

The television show 321 contact

https://youtu.be/-4273oOYy7s

 

“By seeing my reflection in this young [African American] lady on television doing science, it gave me permission to say, ‘maybe I should be doing this.’”. -Ainissa Ramirez

Teachers as a big influence

Making learning fun
"When it comes to teaching, I try to come across as approachable." - Ainissa Ramirez

"I don't think I have the luxury to come off as extremely heady, because there's so much stuff that's going to prevent communication from [happening]." - Ainissa Ramirez

Service-oriented teaching approach
"I feel like it's my job to get you there. I can't get you there completely, but I can at least figure out where the gaps are and tell you where to head." - Ainissa Ramirez

More approaches for making learning fun

The importance of a hook
Experimentation vs memorization
Failure as data collection

"If we think of failures as data collection, they lose their sting." - Ainissa Ramirez

Materials research society

DemoWorks (a cook book for materials science experimentation with items you can buy at a local hardware store)

"It's the messy stuff where you learn." - Ainissa Ramirez

A call to get musicians involved in the call to make science fun
Adventures in giving a TED talk
Ainissa's TED talk

STEM education advocate via TED blog

"It's vulnerability that people really resonate with... If you're willing to be vulnerable, it is a position of power, because you'll connect with many more people." - Ainissa Ramirez

Great videos of Ainissa in action, getting people excited about science

Gina Barnett - Play the Part: Master Body Signals to Connect and Communicate for Business Success  (helps you get out of your way)

Importance of having passion in our teaching
"Get back in touch with that thing that made you excited and then share that with other people. Be a beacon for that." - Ainissa Ramirez