Teaching Philosophy
The opportunity to train and teach future generations of scientists and doctors is my major motivation to be an educator and mentor. I have found it very rewarding to watch students grow technically and conceptually under my tutelage, and have found that mentorship enriches my own learning and growth as a scientist. My primary goals as an educator in the life sciences are to provide a basis for understanding biological phenomena, an ability to evaluate evidence, and the tools to innovatively solve problems. I strive to create a learning environment in which students will not only master the concepts within a course, but also gain an appreciation of the fascinating questions in biology that have not been answered or explored. Inspiring passion in students will not only foster learning in the short-term, but also create lifelong learners and creative thinkers.
Learning is a process of understanding and mastering core facts and principles, application of these principles to solve problems, and ultimately the ability to identify outstanding questions and synthesize innovative ways to answer these questions. I intend to facilitate each of these learning stages through 1) traditional lectures integrated with active learning, followed by both informal and formal assessments; 2) concept maps and problem sets to assess students’ ability to connect broader ideas; and 3) scientific proposals and experimental designs by students to answer biological questions.
Teaching Experience
Instructor of Record
Introductory Biology, Elon University. I am currently an Adjunct Professor for an undergraduate introductory biology course at Elon University, which is a course is for non-majors and contains both a lecture and lab component. The overall goals of this course are to promote scientific literacy and to provide a fundamental understanding of the most important biological issues in society today. For this course, I designed a syllabus following a curriculum structured around 4 major Units: 1) The nature and practice of science; 2) Cells and Molecules; 3) Evolution; and 4) Biodiversity. My teaching style for this course was based on interactive lectures, with a built-in lab component. Assessments were in the form of lab reports, as well homework questions and Unit quizzes that I designed and implemented. Additionally, beginning with Unit 3, the course transitioned to online instruction due to the COVID-19 outbreak, for which I pre-recorded lectures and held virtual office hours and review sessions. This course gave me experience with course design, effective strategies to gauge student learning, and a variety of teaching techniques that I will continue to use and implement in future teaching roles.
Undergraduate Level Teaching Assistantships
Genomics and Genetics, Duke University (Fall Semester 2019). As a teaching assistant for this undergraduate-level course, I gave multiple guest lectures focused on molecular biology and also designed assessments to gauge student understanding of assigned readings and lectures. While it was a challenge to teach complicated molecular techniques to first-year college students, I was consistently impressed with the students’ background knowledge and ultimately their comprehension of the material covered. Many of these students began working in molecular biology labs on campus during the semester and the instructor of record and I were able to provide suggestions for labs and facilitate their placement. Additionally, I held a bioscience careers question and answer panel with other graduate and medical school students to introduce the undergraduates to some future career options. These students were highly engaged and dedicated and it was an excellent experience as a teacher to help them understand genetics and develop their interest in research.
Graduate Level Teaching Assistantships
RNA Biology, Duke University (Spring Semester 2019). My role as a TA in this graduate-level RNA biology course was to facilitate students’ discussion of assigned readings from the primary literature. During these discussions, I encouraged students to critically evaluate the research within the papers and to make connections to the lectures that preceded the assigned readings. Further, I aimed to steer the discussion towards students making broader connections to the general field or even to their own research. Finally, students proposed interesting future directions that could stem from the research and designed experiments to answer their questions both in the discussion sections and in midterm research proposals.
Virology, Duke University (Spring Semester 2018). As a teaching assistant for this graduate-level virology course, I was responsible for moderating student presentations of primary literature that the course instructors or I assigned. During these presentations, I facilitated active learning by asking questions of the presenters and the rest of the class. My goals were to help students to understand the techniques utilized and how these could potentially apply to their future research questions.
Mentorship Experience
I have had the privilege to provide one-on-one mentoring for two undergraduate students (Kevin and Sydney) during my graduate research. For both students, training was focused on gaining hands-on experience, as well as developing critical and creative thinking to answer scientific questions. I taught techniques both by demonstrating and by supervising, with an emphasis on gaining confidence and competence to perform experiments independently. Both of my students were highly successful in this regard. In fact, Kevin was hired to work as a technician for our lab for a year before leaving for medical school. Sydney graduated and has begun her own graduate research in molecular biology with a public health focus. In addition to gaining technical competence, both students were actively involved in experiments for my projects. They read and discussed the primary literature to gain an understanding of the basis and direction for the projects, and together we developed new experimental and conceptual ideas. In this way, I helped both students develop as independent investigators capable of identifying questions and designing and performing experiments to answer those questions. This mentorship experience has been incredibly rewarding and has inspired me to continue to train emerging scientists throughout my career.
Continuing Development
To continue to develop as an educator, I will seek future opportunities for teaching assistantships and to lead courses. I am enrolled in Duke’s Certificate in College Teaching program, through which I have received peer feedback for my teaching and am taking courses to learn additional effective teaching techniques. I will continue to test new teaching techniques and strategies in my own lessons and will implement those that I find most effective. Additionally, I will reflect on my own experiences and on the feedback that I receive to continue to develop as a more effective educator. As I progress through my career, I will continue to engage in teaching, mentorship, and outreach opportunities to augment my teaching methodologies and to serve my students to the best of my ability.