Teaching Philosophy
Learning is a social experience. The best teaching takes advantage of this to create and strengthen conceptual connections. I have centered my teaching around active learning, which forces students to interact directly with the material they are learning, helping them to make connections and restructure existing knowledge.
Students enter a classroom for the first time with their minds full of preconceived concepts, intuitions, and perspectives. For learning to take place, students must assimilate the knowledge we present and make connections between the new information and what they already feel they know. Thus our job as educators is to help them form these new connections between the scientific concepts we want them to understand and their intuitive knowledge, even to restructure their intuitive knowledge in the process to facilitate making these new connections. It is not enough just to add to their pre-existing knowledge and eliminate their 'misconceptions.' This restructuring and building of connections so that information can be retained and fruitfully applied is what learning really is.
Success in science is not merely the result of aptitude or intelligence. No matter what teaching techniques are used now or developed in the future, a student cannot learn if they do not believe learning is possible. This fixed mindset, the idea that there are 'math people' and people who just don't get math, 'art people' and people who can't understand art, 'smart people' and people who try but will never do as well as their classmates, is harmful to learning. Many students, especially minority students, come into the classroom with this perspective. But it is the students with a growth mindset, the idea that if they just try harder – get a tutor, try a new study technique, get advice on a first draft – that consistently do the best.
Changing this perspective can have as great an effect on overall learning as implementing active learning about the subject in the classroom. But active learning can also be used to change this perspective directly. It can be employed to help students to generate their own ideas about the complexity of a student's identity, why getting feedback is helpful, and self-affirmation. These ideas, particularly when generated by the student rather than handed down from the educator, help to counter stereotype threat and encourage a growth mindset, that trying can help a student to succeed. This can form a positive feedback loop – when a student can see their own improvement, they are more likely to believe they can improve.
Read more about the impact of mindset and perspective on learning:
Yeager, D. S., Paunesku, D., Walton, G., & Dweck, C. S. (2013, May). How can we instill productive mindsets at scale? A review of the evidence and an initial R&D agenda. In white paper prepared for the White House meeting on “Excellence in Education: The Importance of Academic Mindsets.”
Students enter a classroom for the first time with their minds full of preconceived concepts, intuitions, and perspectives. For learning to take place, students must assimilate the knowledge we present and make connections between the new information and what they already feel they know. Thus our job as educators is to help them form these new connections between the scientific concepts we want them to understand and their intuitive knowledge, even to restructure their intuitive knowledge in the process to facilitate making these new connections. It is not enough just to add to their pre-existing knowledge and eliminate their 'misconceptions.' This restructuring and building of connections so that information can be retained and fruitfully applied is what learning really is.
Success in science is not merely the result of aptitude or intelligence. No matter what teaching techniques are used now or developed in the future, a student cannot learn if they do not believe learning is possible. This fixed mindset, the idea that there are 'math people' and people who just don't get math, 'art people' and people who can't understand art, 'smart people' and people who try but will never do as well as their classmates, is harmful to learning. Many students, especially minority students, come into the classroom with this perspective. But it is the students with a growth mindset, the idea that if they just try harder – get a tutor, try a new study technique, get advice on a first draft – that consistently do the best.
Changing this perspective can have as great an effect on overall learning as implementing active learning about the subject in the classroom. But active learning can also be used to change this perspective directly. It can be employed to help students to generate their own ideas about the complexity of a student's identity, why getting feedback is helpful, and self-affirmation. These ideas, particularly when generated by the student rather than handed down from the educator, help to counter stereotype threat and encourage a growth mindset, that trying can help a student to succeed. This can form a positive feedback loop – when a student can see their own improvement, they are more likely to believe they can improve.
Read more about the impact of mindset and perspective on learning:
Yeager, D. S., Paunesku, D., Walton, G., & Dweck, C. S. (2013, May). How can we instill productive mindsets at scale? A review of the evidence and an initial R&D agenda. In white paper prepared for the White House meeting on “Excellence in Education: The Importance of Academic Mindsets.”
"From Statistics to Field Methods, Designing Courses Around Active Learning":
Virtual STEMEd for Girls with AAUW
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Courses:
Introduction to Statistics
Graduate-level course for Science Education PhD students. I designed this course, through a combination of lecture and hands-on, data-driven activities, to develop proficiency in basic statistical analysis.
Selected student quote: “I learned so much from this course, and I feel confident that the foundation I got in this course is sufficient to help me teach myself the other parts of statistics that I may need in my social science research. I feel much more confident and fluent.” |
Conservation BiologyThis is an active learning based course that introduces the scientific foundations of conservation biology. It focuses on giving students the practical and conceptual tools to understand conservation theory and applied decision-making, including units on demography, population genetics, species interactions, biogeography, biogeochemistry, and economics.
Coursework focuses on in-class collaborative activities that work to build critical thinking skills. My responsibilities as a Teaching Assistant include developing and guiding in-class activities, giving selected lectures, and grading activities and exams. Grading focuses on providing timely and detailed feedback to promote both student learning and instructor assessment of teaching effectiveness. Selected student quote: “And you're an amazing TA, I truly have learned so much from you... It was so great having someone there to go if I couldn't understand it, and I wish more people and instructors in the school were like you. Thank you so much!” |
Madagascar Study Abroad
The Study Abroad program in Madagascar gives students the opportunity to combine coursework in biology, ecology, and anthropology with the experience of living and traveling in welcoming and beautiful, but challenging country. The every-day struggles faced by many Malagasy, some of whom the students build life-long friendships with, give students a new perspective.
As instructor and program leader, I am responsible for teaching courses, guiding independent projects, and giving field lessons.
Experiential Learning Course
Summer Study Abroad
Semester Study Abroad
As instructor and program leader, I am responsible for teaching courses, guiding independent projects, and giving field lessons.
Experiential Learning Course
Summer Study Abroad
Semester Study Abroad