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Professor of the Year Dr. Charles Rains
By Steve Owens
Flip through any college catalog and theres a good chance that the course offerings in physics will be more than a bit intimidating to the average person.
For Charles Rains, that discipline is simply "fun."
That attitude and the joyous manner in which he shares it with PCs students earned the professor of physics the colleges Professor of the Year. Thats no small feat considering the college boasts five South Carolina Professors of the Year since 1991 - more than any other college or university in South Carolina.
Rains, however, accepts the honor with humility.
"I dont really do anything special," he said. "I like teaching physics."
On the other hand, when Rains begins to describe - as a gifted physics professor does - how this simple principle is applied and works on a day-to-day basis with his students, he is as eloquent a champion of the liberal arts as any of his colleagues on campus.
"There is a phrase I always use in the class when my students dont want to participate in a demonstration - Cmon, its all liberal arts. Lets go," Rains said. "I equate the liberal arts with trying and doing a lot of different things - making a good effort to learn about lots of things."
It is a gift to take complex theoretical principles and explain them in a meaningful manner - a gift Rains possesses in abundance and uses frequently.
"I begin with the applications," he said. "Physics is a big part of our daily lives and we never stop to think about the offshoots of basic science - in medicine, in automobile technology, in construction, and building materials. Its not just NASA and fancy research at IBM. Our image of scientists is still the Christopher Lloyd character in "Back to the Future" - the funny, eccentric old crackpot who is working on something that will never be used in real life."
Rains approach in the classroom is a simple one.
"I dont think Im a great professor," he said. "I just talk to students about what I like. I try to immediately make it applicable - to show them this is where it is in their daily lives. Then they dont seem to mind the math or the drudgery that comes with an equation or two."
Rains is perhaps best known for his demonstrations in class featuring gadgets and toys and pulleys and lenses. Modern-day experts in teaching and management methods praise this as the "top down" approach, although it was part of Rains repertoire long before he discovered the label for it.
"My teaching style is unique because I bring a lot of tools and toys into class and begin by describing the physical principle. That leads more into math and other areas, but first I want them to see the application," he said. "Even though it may be page 159 in their books, its easier for them to see that application for a CD player or how their seat belts work.
"Growing up, I always liked putting things together and taking them apart. I would buy little electrical kits and loved going around testing anything electric - measuring current and voltage. I destroyed several things. But one of the things I really thought was fun was carrying the tubes from the television down to the drugstore and testing them in the tube tester. Id look in the back of the radio or the TV set when they were turned on to see everything begin to glow and hear the crackle. Id watch my father and grandfather make things. I grew up hanging around carpenters and plumbers and watched people work with their hands."
Fortunately for PC, Rains never outgrew that childhood curiosity. Perhaps that is why his fascination with physics also translates well to a younger audience.
More than dozen years ago, Rains designed a course called "Everyday Physics" for some of the states brightest young students who attend the South Carolina Governors School for Science and Mathematics Summer Science Program in Hartsville. He remains among a handful of college professors called on annually to share their expertise with gifted students.
He also teaches a college-level physics class for students from nearby Clinton High School. Thats a lot of teaching for someone who once harbored dreams of designing aircraft - and brings echoes from his graduate school advisor who once cautioned Rains that joining the faculty at "a teaching school like PC" would be the death of his career in physics.
However, the decision was also the birth of something more powerful and compelling - a calling to teach and work with young, emerging scientists.
"(The Professor of the Year honor) makes me feel like I made the right judgment 16 years ago when I came to PC," he said. "When I got here, I was impressed by the professors who stayed here 30 years. There is something about teaching and loving the craft of it - something I never thought Id fall into.
"When I came to PC, I didnt want to teach. I wanted to go build airplanes or work with NASA. My plans were to stay here a year or two. After a few months, I realized that I rather liked the place, the students, and the ability, with a small faculty, to get to know everybody and socialize. After that next summer, I stopped thinking about updating my resume and began working on things that I could use to help teach. I just realized that I like teaching physics and being around students. Now I feel like Mr. Holland in Mr. Hollands Opus. Now teaching is the only thing I want to do."
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