Boyer (1997) suggested that the scholarship of teaching includes: well-informed teachers, teaching that is carefully planned and continuously evaluated, active learning activities that promote critical and creative thinkers, and the recognition that teachers are also learners.

My overarching teaching goal: to teach relevant content and foster skills for a successful and gratifying career in biology. Boyer's scholarship of teaching, the developmental theories of Chickering and Reisser (1993) and Perry (1970) and the backwards design approach of Wiggins and McTighe (2005) are guiding principles.

In the context of the scholarship of teaching, developmental theory, and backwards design, I try to enable student learning by:

1. Having students work with the scientific method through inquiry-based learning experiences,

2. Teaching critical thinking and problem solving skills,

3. Making the subject matter relevant to students' lives,

4. Emphasizing the interdisciplinary nature of the liberal arts, and

5. Suggesting that “right-brained” activities (e.g., photography, writing, composing music, etc.) allow for creative thinking, which is fundamental to success in science.

Classes I currently teach

Organisms to Ecosystems (BIOL140)
An exploration of the diversity of life, its origins, structure, function and interactions among organisms and their environment. We introduce key concepts in evolution and ecology, provide an overview of the features of major taxonomic groups and their evolutionary relationships.

Global Change Biology (BIOL329)
This class is about the science of climatology and biology, exploring and placing ourselves in nature, and a blending of that science and exploration for growth in mind, body, and spirit.

Special Topics: Nature Photography (BIOL380)
Explore, document, and strive to understand the natural world through photography. Two forms of questions will be asked: how can I document the natural world to understand some phenomenon?, and what ideas, comments, criticisms, etc., about life can I present in a nature photograph? We will address these questions outside in nature, as well as learning the basics of exposure and depth of field (technical aspects of DSLR cameras) and composing subject matter in context of self-reference and metaphor. View student photographs on Instagram: augienaturephotography

Secret Lives of Bald Eagles (BIOL465)
Bald Eagles are one of the most studied birds in North America, and, thus, we know the basics of their ecology, evolution, and behavior. Despite all this research, however, little is known about the details of how this bird migrates in fall and spring and its broad scale habitat preferences during summer and winter. Since 2014, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), Moline, IL, has fitted more than 80 eagles with modern telemetry (GPS-GSM) backpacks to assess the ecological and behavioral details—that is, the secretes—of how this species interacts with its environment throughout a given year. Each student in this class will virtually adopt their own USFWS marked eagle that has several years of known geographic and behavioral data. Using these data, students will perform mapping and spatial analyses of their eagle’s migratory behavior and winter ecology using a Geographic Information System (GIS). First part of the class involves learning GIS (specifically, ArcGIS Pro); then students will apply their new GIS skills to conduct exploratory research on their adopted eagle’s ecology and behavior; students finish up the class by developing a formal, in-depth research topic that attempts to reveal an interesting ecological secret about their eagle.

Research in Field Biology (BIOL465)
Students in this class conduct research on habitat restoration and management at an Augustana College Field Station. Data on restoration and management activities are collected in the field with GPS units, field notes, and digital photographs. These data are then added into a Geographic Information System (‘GIS’) for spatial analysis and final report writing/presentation. All students are taught how to use GPS’s, digital cameras, and GIS so no previous experience is necessary. Research in Field Biology runs every day for two weeks right after spring graduation and enrollment is limited to 8 students. The cost to enroll in Research in Field Biology is equivalent to an on campus 4-credit summer school class at Augustana College and covers tuition and room/board for the two weeks. Augie Choice may be used to help offset part of the cost of tuition.