Summary
My goal as an educator is to create an environment in which students can learn to be critical thinkers and consumers, to build on science content knowledge, to reflect on their learning and their progress, and to see the relevance of science in their own lives. Although the specific content and my objectives and teaching strategies may differ in some ways based on the group of students and the topic at hand, my overarching goals remain the same. My role as an educator is to provide support for students so they can learn the concepts and skills they will need to be successful, learn the tools they will need to think critically about new concepts, and see how those concepts fit into the bigger picture. Because everyone will encounter scientific ideas and discoveries in their lives, whether through the news, teaching science to K-12 students, or in the laboratory, all students should have an understanding of the practices of science and the nature of scientific discovery. I have maintained this focus throughout diverse teaching experiences with students in middle school, high school, non-science-majors at a community college, preservice teachers in an integrated life science content and pedagogical methods course, biology majors—from freshmen taking an introductory course to seniors taking a research-focused developmental biology lab course, and inservice teachers in professional development workshops for graduate course credit.
My teaching and research are closely linked in that my research interests initially grew from my teaching experiences and those teaching experiences have helped to shape my research. In particular, I seek out ways in which particular teaching strategies and classroom environments can help students enhance their understanding. My research has focused on how instructors can help undergraduate students to be engaged in and reflect on their own learning to enhance that learning, and I have implemented those proven methods within my classrooms.
As I have developed as an instructor, I have continually reflected on and improved the effectiveness of my teaching methods. I use students’ performances on both formative and summative assessments to evaluate my success in teaching them concepts and use both within-semester and end-of-semester student evaluations as tools to reflect on the effectiveness of the course and my teaching methods. I also stay informed about current research on effective teaching methods through publications and through my engagement with organizations such as the National Association of Biology Teachers (NABT), the National Association of Research in Science Teaching (NARST), the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), and the Society for the Advancement of Biology Education Research (SABER).