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Gravitational wave
George Mason University

Faculty & Staff Directory

Nishchal Thapa Magar

  • Adjunct Faculty

    Contact Info

    Headshot Dr. Magar
    Name
    Dr. Nishchal Thapa Magar
    Job Title
    Adjunct Faculty
    Phone Number
    703-993-1995
    Office Number
    Planetary Hall Room 222B

    Affiliations

    Departments

    Research Areas

    • Science Education

    Education

    Ph.D. in Physics (Physics Education Research), George Mason University, 2025
    M.S. in Applied and Engineering Physics, George Mason University, 2020
    B.S. in Physics, St. Xavier’s College, Kathmandu, 2017

    About

    I am a STEM education researcher with expertise in qualitative research methods. I earned my Ph.D. in Physics with a specialization in Physics Education Research. My research focuses on STEM Graduate Teaching Assistants’ pedagogical development, identity formation, and cross-cultural navigation, including work related to power distance in classroom dynamics.

    I am also an award-winning educator, having received the Mason Core Excellence in Teaching recognition six times, as well as the departmental Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award.

    Current Research

    My work employs qualitative research methodologies. I design interview protocols approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB), conduct semi-structured interviews, facilitate focus groups, and perform systematic coding and analysis using Dedoose. My coding frameworks are developed through both literature-informed and data-driven approaches.

    Teaching Focus

    I draw on my background in Physics Education Research to teach high-enrollment, lower-division undergraduate courses. I currently teach in an active learning classroom equipped with whiteboards throughout the room. My instructional approach combines structured lecturing with student-centered learning. Typically, brief conceptual explanations are followed by collaborative group problem-solving on whiteboards, peer discussion, and later, whole-class verbal sharing of ideas, an approach aligned with active learning and elements of the flipped classroom model.

    At George Mason University, I have taught the PHYS 260 ALT (Active Learning) section and the PHYS 160 recitation, as well as PHYS 263, PHYS 261, PHYS 246, PHYS 244, and ASTR 112 laboratory courses.

    Selected Publications

    Magar, N. T., Nelson, J. K., & Rosenberg, J. (2025, June). Enhancing STEM Graduate Student Teaching: The Cultivation of Teaching Skills and Identity among Graduate Students. In 2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition.

    Magar, N. T., Nelson, J. K., Rosenberg, J., & Brizzolara, N. (2024, June). Graduate Students’ Development of Teaching Skills and Identity. In 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition.

    Liang, Z., Magar, N. T., Koju, R. K., Chesser, I., Zimmerman, J., Mishin, Y., & Rabkin, E. (2024). Ultimate compressive strength and severe plastic deformation of equilibrated single-crystalline copper nanoparticles. Acta Materialia, 120101.

    Ghimire, N.J., Dally, R.L., Poudel, L., Jones, D.C., Michel, D., Magar, N.T., Bleuel, M., McGuire, M.A., Jiang, J.S., Mitchell, J.F., Lynn, J.W., & Mazin, I. I. (2020). Competing magnetic phases and fluctuation-driven scalar spin chirality in the kagome metal YMn6Sn6. Science Advances, 6(51), eabe2680.

    Awards

    Provost Summer Research Assistantship Award, GMU, 2025
    Graduate Student Spotlight, United States Education Foundation (USEF) Nepal, 2022
    Outstanding Physics and Astronomy Graduate Teaching Assistant, GMU, 2022
    Mason Core Excellence in Teaching, GMU, 2019–2021 (six recognitions)
    Winner, Intra-College Physics Elocution Contest, St. Xavier’s College, Kathmandu, 2016

    Contact Info

    Headshot Dr. Magar
    Name
    Dr. Nishchal Thapa Magar
    Job Title
    Adjunct Faculty
    Phone Number
    703-993-1995
    Office Number
    Planetary Hall Room 222B

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