Patrick Kohl is a Professor of Physics at the Colorado School of Mines, coordinating introductory-level physics courses and undergraduate and graduate-level electromagnetism courses. He also serves on the Faculty Senate and on multiple governance committees. Pat’s commitment to maintaining the quality of higher education has been recognized with the Alumni Teaching Award, and his continued dedication to educational service at the Colorado School of Mines has been honored with the Faculty of the Year Award on five separate occasions.

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Pat is particularly interested in expanding the pedagogical tools available for physics education at Mines. This work includes introducing the Studio method to engage students at all performance levels and reduce the gender gap in the hard sciences. With a strong empirical background in atomic physics, optics, and solid-state theory, Pat takes a research-based approach to iteratively evaluating and improving each course. To that end, Pat has published on the efficacy of Socratic dialog, computer simulation, and representational format on student outcomes. Over the years, Pat has won over a million dollars in external grants to transition toward a more engaged classroom, and regularly gives talks on how to successfully implement active learning methods and critical thinking exercises to improve concept acquisition and academic performance in higher-education students.

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Pat received his PhD in Physics from the University of Colorado Boulder, where he was an NSF Fellow. He is now Professor of Physics at Colorado School of Mines, which offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in engineering, science, and mathematics.

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Read more about Patrick Kohl’s commitments to higher education here. 

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