Georgia Southern University is once again hosting Romanian lecturer Mihaela Udristioiu, Ph.D., as a Fulbright research scholar fellow. This marks her second visit, driven by a persistent curiosity to explore physics education and environmental science.<\/p>\n
Romanian lecturer Mihaela Udristioiu, Ph.D. has returned to Georgia Southern University for her second time as a Fulbright research scholar fellow.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was always a curious child,\u201d said Udristioiu. \u201cI love questions. The answers we find help us better understand the beauty of nature and the laws that govern our universe.\u201d<\/p>\n
That curiosity is what encouraged the Romanian lecturer to apply for the Fulbright research scholar program to work on physics education and environmental science with Georgia Southern University associate professor of physics Dragos Amarie, Ph.D.<\/p>\n
The two first met during a study abroad program in Romania in 2017, during the Science and Culture Study Abroad program. Amarie said the teaching style of Romanian universities was different from what he was used to.<\/p>\n
Udristioiu was especially interested in learning how university faculty in the U.S. engage with their students and create active learning environments.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow students understand physics is very important to me,\u201d Udristioiu said. \u201cMy American colleagues have shown me how much better teaching is when it is interactive and involves students.\u201d<\/p>\n
Things are a little different in Romanian universities, she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cRomanian universities teach differently than how we do in the States,\u201d Amarie said. \u201cThe lectures are formal, and you\u2019re doomed if you miss a single one.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI prefer a more student-centered approach, especially when it comes to teaching difficult science courses,\u201d he explained. \u201cClasses should be interactive. Students should be encouraged to ask their professors questions. Having them engage and question what we teach, that\u2019s how a student learns.\u201d<\/p>\n
Udristioiu, impressed by his teaching style, hoped to join Amarie in the States in 2020. COVID-19 had other plans. The study abroad program stopped, but their collaboration continued. Then, in 2022, she was awarded a Fulbright research scholar grant, joining Amarie in the classroom at Georgia Southern.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe did such a great job while she was here,\u201d said Amarie. \u201cThe Fulbright Romania encouraged Dr. Udristioiu to submit a new application to strengthen the collaboration.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s why she applied for the Fulbright grant again. She\u2019s back in the states now, working on a research project focused on air pollution monitoring, modelling, making predictions and forecasting.<\/p>\n
\u201cScience crosses borders, and collaboration helps us open new doors to knowledge,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Georgia Southern University is once again hosting Romanian lecturer Mihaela Udristioiu, Ph.D., as a Fulbright research scholar fellow.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":568625,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[199,79],"class_list":["post-568624","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-physics","tag-physics","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/568624","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=568624"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/568624\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/568625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=568624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=568624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=568624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}