Aloys van Wolferen

Background

About Aloys van Wolferen

I love teaching, not so weird considering I come from family of teachers. The thing that does it for mee is seeing the moment it clicks and they connect the dots. In my opinion Motivated students are the best students no matter their level of knowledge. Enhancing student-student and teacher-student relations is a big part of the process, when we feel comfortable we dare to ask questions and dare submerge ourselves into the subject at hand, a process I will always fight for. I grew up in suburban Amsterdam and from a young age astronomy peeked my interest, and so my choice of study was predetermined. When I started studying, for me, it was also a given that I would take an extra year to give classes. Although I did not foresee it, giving classes did greatly further my personal development, it enhanced my explanation and presentation skills. It also thought me how provide feedback and how to help students with problems without telling them the answers. At the end of my bachelors I came to the realization that wanted to work more hands-on, that meaning either gaining more practical experience within the astronomy or astrophysics branches (i.e. telescope maintenance), keep teaching (not necessarily astronomy) or otherwise help improving development of others. My Bachelor thesis project was all I could have hoped for, it was practical and although it required some programming (Python) and data reduction I did not have to be behind a desk all day.