College Responsibilities

      The courses I teach most often are meteorology, geology and an honors course called "Research Methods in the Earth Sciences." When I am not teaching, most of my time is spent preparing lectures or labs, advising students, or serving on committees.

        I have written all the labs and lecture notes for each of the three courses. It is a never-ending task to improve and update this material. The meteorology labs have been published as a book entitled Laboratory Manual for Meteorology, An Introduction to Weather. 

        As for committees, I am currently a member of the Science and Math Center Advisory Board.
 
 

How to Reach Me

Mailing Address: Dept. of Physics, Eng. and Geoscience 51 Mannakee Street Rockville, MD  20850

Phone: 240-567-5234 Fax: 240-567-5119 E-mail: tdyroff@mc.cc.md.us

Geology and Meteorology Courses
        You can access the Departmental Web Site for a description of my courses (Click on Geology or Meteorology).  Please contact me if you have other questions.
 
 My Teaching Philosophy
        The introductory geology and meteorology courses I teach are designed to be appreciation courses. Although they are important courses for those wishing to major in one of these fields,  few of my students fall into that category.  Therefore, the courses are not designed to prepare students for more advanced subjects, as mathematics classes often are.  They are also not necessary life skills, as is English, for example.  Knowing this, my main goal when teaching introductory geology and meteorology, is to enable the student to understand, and therefore appreciate, these areas of the natural world.  If I am successful, it will make the student's life just a little more enjoyable.  If I had to reduce my objectives for GL 101 and ME 101 to a sentence, it would be:  I want to make these courses as interesting and enjoyable as possible without sacrificing the real learning and thinking necessary to appreciate each subject to its fullest. 
        I have a somewhat different approach for my honors course, H.P. 258, Research Methods in the Earth Sciences.  Students who take this course generally do have a science orientation.  Either they have previously taken one of my introductory courses and would like to learn more, or they have otherwise gained a strong science background.  These students must have a high GPA in order to qualify and are highly motivated to learn the methods of science.  Even though my general philosophy is still the same, the method for making this course "interesting and enjoyable" includes at a faster pace and allowing more freedom for each student to choose his or her course of study.
 
My Other Life
        I am presently in the process of constructing my personal web page.                                                                                            
                                                                                                                            Back to Top