n 16.01.25 – Iva Tkalcec may be the winner of the 2024 best teacher award for the physics section, but you’re more likely to find her at a lab bench than in the classroom. That’s because she’s a firm believer in hands-on learning – and she tries to infect her students with the same passion.
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“I’d rather be running around with a screwdriver than grading student reports,” says Tkalcec. Her preference for real-world exercises over classroom lectures is no secret – she’s been teaching only lab classes at EPFL for the past ten years. She now gives a series of physics lab classes to first-, second- and third-year students.

Tkalcec’s pragmatic nature also influenced her choice of which field to go into. “I’d always preferred subjects that don’t rely on rote memory,” she says. “When it came time to pick a major, I hesitated between biology and physics – and chose physics because I figured there would be fewer things to learn by heart.” Later on, her predilection for applied knowledge brought her to EPFL for her PhD. “In Croatia, where I’m from, the focus is on basic research, but I’d heard that EPFL offers opportunities to study more concrete topics.”

After completing her PhD with a thesis on the use of steel in industrial files, Tkalcec unsurprisingly took a job where she could apply the theory she had learned. She began working for a watchmaking company in 2007 but kept close ties with EPFL: “I used the School’s mechanical spectroscopy lab to take measurements.” A few years later, EPFL offered her a job teaching a lab class alongside her regular work. In 2015, Tkalcec transitioned to teaching full time while keeping her role of research assistant at EPFL’s Mechanical Spectroscopy Group.

Transferable skills

“I’ve always enjoyed sharing knowledge, and I paid for much of my undergraduate studies by tutoring other students,” says Tkalcec. She continued teaching after moving to Switzerland for her PhD. “I served as a teaching assistant, and my job involved correcting student reports in French, even though my spoken French was rudimentary at best.” Twenty years on and her French has improved dramatically, while her love of teaching hasn’t changed. “In addition to the subject matter, what I really like is showing students how important it is to make the link between theory and practice,” she says.

She finds that lab sessions are the ideal place for doing that. “I think lab experiments are an essential part of physicists’ degree programs,” says Tkalcec. “They demonstrate how theoretical concepts work in real life and let students develop transferable skills such as teamwork and presenting research results.” She adds that lab experiments make it easier for students to grasp the material taught in textbooks and lectures.

Tkalcec runs her lab classes in association with Nicolas Turin and Antonio Gentile, who handle the IT, electrical and mechanical aspects. The physics lab is where she feels in her element. “What I enjoy less is grading exams,” she says. “My husband jokes that when exam time comes around, I’m more stressed than my students are!” Grading exams isn’t the only hurdle Tkalcec faces in her role as lab instructor. “It’s true that in the lab, I get to work directly with students on an individual basis, which isn’t always possible in a classroom. But the steady increase in EPFL’s student body is making it harder and harder to provide high-quality instruction.”

Guiding the use of AI

Another challenge that Tkalcec – along with many of her colleagues – faces is how to handle the impact of AI on education. “How can we be sure that the work students hand in is theirs and wasn’t generated by ChatGPT?” she says. “I’m not saying we should forbid students from using generative AI, since it can bring major benefits, but we need to guide students as they use it – explain what precautions they should take and what limits they shouldn’t cross.” She also points out that “this sort of vigilance will be useful in all areas of their life, both personal and professional.” Yet another example of Tkalcec’s pragmatic mindset.

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