Morzinski, Katie

Katie Morzinski is an Astronomy PhD student at UCSC working in adaptive optics and high-contrast imaging of brown dwarfs and extrasolar planets. Her teaching interests span science and engineering and include inquiry labs and curriculum development. Katie is interested in enveloping inquiry into the formal classroom, and was one of the first PDP design team leaders to experiment with summative assessment of a PDP inquiry via a rubric. In 2010 she was also one of the first PDP participants to bring an inquiry activity into the graduate-level formal UCSC classroom. She was the 2010 recipient of the Astronomy department's Excellence in Teaching Award, and has been on four PDP design teams. She recently directed a team of instructors teaching inquiry labs to grads, postdocs, and professionals at the CfAO Summer School on Adaptive Optics. Katie plans to continue developing and teaching authentic inquiry activities as she continues in astronomy research.