I believe students learn best when they relate the material to their own lives and experiences. People are better able to remember information that they actively connect with their own self-concept.
I believe students learn best when they engage independent integration of course material. Rather than provide students with the final conclusion to the lesson, I provide the building blocks and urge my students to put them together for themselves – to become true scientific thinkers.
I believe that accessibility of course material is fundamental to student learning. I employ principles of storytelling to keep lectures engaging and digestible for students. One key way in which I implement this principle is to guide students in applying course concepts to unfolding current events. The urgency of a historically meaningful event captures the students’ attention and provides links to course information that persist outside of the physical and temporal boundaries of a semester-long course.
I believe in continually improving my teaching skills. My teaching philosophy continues to develop through self-reflection and feedback; I am committed to expanding my teaching toolkit with evidence-based learning strategies.