Science prepares students to meet the rigors and difficulties associated with real-world challenges by developing their critical thinking, writing, and analytical skills. I am interested in providing students with the opportunity to build a well-balanced platform to inform their decision-making. As an educator, my student-centered teaching objectives include: 1) promoting independent and critical inquiry, 2) facilitating active engagement and responsibility for personal learning, and 3) preparing citizens that are adaptable, and able to problem-solve through collaboration.
|
Scientific Teaching & Student-Centered Learning
Science education should be approached with the same care and thoroughness that scientific research demands. By purposefully collecting data on student achievement within and across semesters, it becomes possible to design higher-quality assessments because our understanding of specific issues is scientifically informed. During their undergraduate careers, students should learn the fundamental principles that govern the world around them without relying on pre-conceived notions, personal opinion, or social media sources. I emphasize conceptual knowledge, interdisciplinary training, and science literacy in my teaching so that graduates leave the university setting with analytical, interpersonal, and adaptive skills.
Inclusive Learning Environment
University classrooms typically host a diversity of students and educators that vary in their experiences, gender, age, cultural or ethnic background, degree and quality of K-12 education, learning styles, socioeconomic status, physical and mental abilities, as well as personalities. I consider it critical to recognize the inherent diversity among students and remain aware of the different challenges that each student faces during their own academic careers. Because of these challenges, all students should have equal access to learning when they walk into a classroom. Therefore, it is imperative that we are conscientious of their needs and provide alternatives and accommodations for students that require them. Perhaps this translates into ensuring that supplementary videos are equipped with closed captioning for the visually impaired, or providing appointment-based office hours for those students that have children or who work a part-time job. As educators, recognizing diversity in the classroom also means explicitly reflecting on our own unconscious biases, experiences, and background that we inherently carry into each course that we teach. Simply being aware of our own privileges or hardships limits the impact these factors will have on the success of our students by promoting equal opportunity, accessibility, and inclusivity. In fact, I consider it important to continually educate myself regarding issues of diversity and equity in higher education and therefore regularly attend the annual Northern Nevada Diversity Summit: Exploring Diversity and Equity through Access, Retention, and Engagement (April 2016 and 2018).
Student Assessment
It is important to provide alternative platforms for new information to be presented upon in order to reach all learning styles. Formative (classroom-based) and summative assessments (exams, papers) should both be used during a course to promote success for all students by providing alternative opportunities to showcase their strengths. A traditional lecture can be parsed into manageable chunks interspersed with relevant media (video clips, TED talks, audio recordings or sound clips, newspaper articles or scientific literature), peer discussion, student presentations, or student-led debates. By spending the time necessary to set-up well-structured course website through online course management systems (e.g. Canvas, Blackboard), it is reasonable to require students to electronically submit pre-lecture quizzes or “homework” assignments that are automatically downloaded into a gradebook. For example, programs such as Pearson’s MyLab and Mastering (e.g. MasteringBiology) can be thoughtfully integrated in a course to encourage pre-lecture preparation by students which increases the complexity of in-class discussions. Student comprehension can also be measured in-class through individual participation using reasonably cost-effective tools such as programs for web-enabled devices (e.g. Learning Catalytics), course website-based quizzes, and paper or electronically submitted worksheets. As an example, in an introductory course for over 300 freshmen, I utilized Learning Catalytics to engage students in earning weekly participation points while simultaneously answering content-related questions based on lecture. For a class of this size, this “bring your own device” system enabled me to track attendance, check comprehension, and reward students that paid attention to lecture presentations without requiring a costly clicker device. Even for online courses during summer or winter sessions, it is possible to require active student participation and I have received good feedback on course evaluations with student comments such as “I actually thought that the material and comments provided by the instructor was better in this online course that I have had in most lecture classes”.
I believe that students should also be challenged with higher-order tasks such as the synthesis of research papers, discussion defense of academic hypotheses, and teaching of new material to their peers. In addition, as a previous outdoor educator, I feel that lab-based exercises that require student involvement in either already established research projects (citizen science) or scientific-based community outreach (judging an elementary school science fair) provide students with a productive, worthwhile, and hands-on experience as early biological professionals.
I believe that students should also be challenged with higher-order tasks such as the synthesis of research papers, discussion defense of academic hypotheses, and teaching of new material to their peers. In addition, as a previous outdoor educator, I feel that lab-based exercises that require student involvement in either already established research projects (citizen science) or scientific-based community outreach (judging an elementary school science fair) provide students with a productive, worthwhile, and hands-on experience as early biological professionals.
Instructor Development
As a young instructor, I am personally interested in feedback directed from both students and colleagues. I am always interested in continued professional development and training through conferences that focus on new models of instruction for the undergraduate classroom . I have both enrolled and co-led graduate-level courses designed to learn about Scientific Teaching methodologies (BIOL 792, spring 2016).
- STEM Teaching & Education Conference (April 2016) that focused on improving student learning through STEM-based projects in northern Nevada ranging from K-12 to the university level
- UNR Future Faculty Teaching with Technology 2018 certification program designed to assist aspiring educators in integrating technology into their course design.
- Community Engagement and Service Learning Fellow AY 2021-2022
- LGBQTIA+ Foundations and Allyship course (completed May 2022)