Countless videos thumbnailed with equations cover the YouTube channel of El Camino College physics professor Michel van Biezen, 68.
Van Biezen might appear to be an ordinary teacher, but beneath the surface lies a passion for education that manifests in multiple forms.
Every video on his channel, which has 1.12 million subscribers, begins as van Biezen greets viewers with the introduction, “Welcome to I Lecture Online.”
Regardless of the topic — from physics and math to mechanical and electrical engineering — van Biezen’s lectures teach STEM concepts to students across the world.
“I don’t like to brag but I do apparently have the gift to teach,” van Biezen said. “I tend to be good at taking something that’s difficult to understand and putting it in ways that people can understand it. And I enjoy that part.”
Van Biezen’s own college studies began in Torrance, Calif., where he was once a student at ECC, graduating in 1978.
He later earned his bachelor’s degree in physics at California State University, Long Beach, in 1984, and then returned to earn his master’s degree in the same field in 1991.
During this time, van Biezen began part-time teaching at various colleges while working at Raytheon. Currently, he works as a project manager at Raytheon while teaching at ECC part-time.
“I always liked teaching,” van Biezen said. “But as a professor you don’t make a lot of money, compared to what you make as an engineer. Living in Southern California, it was an easy choice to pick engineering over teaching.”
Yet his passion for teaching never truly left his mind.
Amidst the high cost of living in California, he would work in engineering, as that was necessary to afford him a life with his family here in the state.
Not only was ECC where he studied but it’s where he met his wife. Together they have eight children — all of whom studied at ECC.
After settling back into ECC as a professor, his wife made the observation of his talent and passion for education.
She proposed the idea of him reaching more people through the internet, specifically on YouTube.
At first, van Biezen was resistant to the idea of being in front of a camera.
“The YouTube thing was my wife’s idea, she said, ‘You’re pretty good at teaching. Why don’t we start putting videos online of you teaching?'” he said.
But after three years of encouragement from his wife, he would eventually create the channel “Michel van Biezen” on Nov. 13, 2012, and upload his first video on the same day.
“She did the greatest amount of work — all the filming, the editing, the producing. And all the thumbnails, all 10,000+ thumbnails,” he said.
Nearly 13 years later, the channel now has more than ten thousand videos and over 200 million views in total.
“It’s interesting to see a professor that’s willing to actually engage with their students and go the extra mile to teach them both in person and online,” geology major Devin Wilson, 20, said.
Van Biezen has taught as a part-time professor at Compton College and Santa Monica College and currently teaches part-time at ECC and Loyola Marymount University.
“I think he’s very good, he explains his plans very well,” physics major Jacob Moss, 18, said. “We’ve had about five teachers teaching this class so far because it’s been a bit of a disaster so far […] He’s the one who’s by far adapted the best.”
Moss is in a life science class that van Biezen is currently serving as a substitute professor for.
Although van Biezen originally wasn’t used to filming videos, his YouTube channel has become a lasting endeavor.
“I began to feel comfortable in front of the camera, so we just kept doing it,” van Biezen said. “There’s so many different topics and so many people online asking for more topics. It’s a job that’ll never really be finished.”
