My goal in teaching is to generate those moments of surprise, surprise about new knowledge, surprise about not knowing some seemingly basic things about the world around us. At the same time, I want the students to feel that science is accessible and that, yes, they can contribute to it.
My career goal is to teach undergraduates and/or graduate students in introductory biology, animal behavior, ecology and evolution (for a teaching philosophy statement, click here). My lecturing experience includes a semester of teaching the principles of ecology with lab at both the undergraduate and Masters level at the University of New Haven. I also co-taught the large non-majors class “Social Issues in Biology” at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. This class focused on evolution, and the lectures were designed for the students to realize how an understanding of basic evolutionary principles can be very relevant to their lives. To see the powerpoint slides from this lecture series, which is a good example of my teaching style, click here. I have also had a variety of other teaching experiences – smaller series of lectures, laboratories, field trips, workshops – both in Sri Lanka and during my dissertation at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. Also importantly, I enjoy working with students on my research and advising their own independent projects. A Sri Lankan student, S. H. K. Satischandra, published his undergraduate thesis, and was recently invited to the US to give a presentation at the International Society for Behavioral Ecology, the only non-Ph.D. student to get such an award. |