FAMILIAR FACE Lecturer Matt Buehler, a 2013 alumnus, enters classroom as new chemistry teacher The strength of any academic department was rooted in two sources: the enthusiasm of the students and the passion of the professors. A teacher who instructed with joy and sincerity was able to change the attitude of the most reticent student towards any subject. Matt Buehler, a 2013 alumnus who joined the Chemistry Department as a lab technician and teacher, was that kind of teacher. During the 2012-13 school year, Buehler worked as a teacher's assistant, often helping lower-level chemistry students during classes, labs and supplemental instruction sessions. Buehler joined the faculty after graduation, facilitating five general chemistry labs and one organic and biology lab in which he incorporated his experience as a teacher's aid. As a recent graduate from the Chemistry Department, Buehler knew the chemistry professors well. He learned various teaching methods from them, which he was able to use in his classes. "I learned most of what I know from Dr. Province, who was one of my chemistry teachers," Buehler said. "Dr. Province was awesome. I learned to just generally care for the students, to sit down and talk with them and get to know them as a person. At bigger schools you don't get to do that." According to freshman nursing major Brandon Womack, Buehler taught with a hands-on approach, letting his students learn by trial and error before he willingly stepped in to explain an experiment. Junior Lisi Padilla worked with Buehler when he was a teacher's assistant during his final year at Harding, and she also had him as a new technician for organic lab. Padilla described Buehler as a talented and kind professor who conveyed difficult material clearly. "He's really encouraging," Padilla said. "We're a smaller class, which makes it a lot easier to ask questions and learn the material. I'm so glad Harding hired him. He's young, but you can tell he loves chemistry, and he wants the students to love it too." Buehler looked for ways to transfer his passion for the subject of chemistry to his students. He recognized that not everyone would come to love the subject like he did, but he sought to give everyone else an appreciation for the science. "My number one goal that I always want to accomplish is for people to gain an appreciation for chemistry," Buehler said. "Even if they don't learn it fully, and even if they don't understand everything completely, I want them to appreciate it. It's a beautiful science. It really makes you see the world in a different light." Buehler's teaching skills and passion for his subject were handed down to him from chemistry professors he had as an undergraduate. Because he taught with such a clear purpose and contagious energy, Buehler was an asset to his department and capable of influencing his own students in the same way. Mandy Valentine 156 STUDENTS average cost of s 1 00 chemistry book: 3-hour l~bs4Q chemistry ma1ors: 99
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