Dr. Shanen Sherrer,
Assistant Professor of Biochemistry

Interview with CITL, Summer 2022

Dr. Shanen Sherrer is Assistant Professor of Biochemistry. She earned her PhD in Biochemistry from Ohio State University and she has been teaching at St. Mary’s College since 2017. Her student-centered research program encompasses interdisciplinary approaches while showing the applicability of research for understanding human health. Currently, the Sherrer group is studying the biological outcomes of DNA damage caused by environmental sources.

CITL: What is your favorite topic to teach and why?

Shanen Sherrer: I love to teach Biochemistry I (CHEM420), which is the introductory biochemistry for majors and non-majors, because I can use that particular classroom as a connection to current events that are going on, or I can tell them about observations they're seeing in the kitchen, or health concerns (because about a third of the students who register are actually interested in medicine in one way or form). I love to have those connections and discussions with them. This is their foundation. So this course starts the buy-in and they start off hesitant and then grow into very confident scholars. Even if they're not a biochemistry major, they are very competent in talking about biochemistry and showing other classmates that aren't in the course yet but thinking about it, in advertising the class, and that's the most rewarding thing I see.

CITL: If someone was to visit your classroom, what do you think would stand out to them? Or what would you hope that they would?

Shanen Sherrer: I would hope that they noticed it's not a one-direction conversation. We're not asking a question and then getting a short answer and moving on, but seeing a flexible “teaching moment,” where if a question is applicable to the concept, we dive deeper right there while I have their attention. Or, if they noticed that we're mentioning something that we already talked about, I'm bringing it back to show that it's not one of those cases where you learn something once and then forget about it, but you bring it along and add onto it, and let them try to practice those connections.

CITL: Do you have any particularly memorable teaching moments?

Shanen Sherrer: We have at least one every semester through a series of activities to teach them methodology, which is usually the struggle for biochemistry students. We give them the basics in labs, but we can’t do it all due to lack of time and resources, so, to teach the rest, I have a hypothetical research scenario as a three-piece series. The third one in particular is where it gets very memorable– in teams they have different resources and things to check off, like, “What is the gene? What is the protein? How do you identify the structure? How do you identify the activity? How do you do it before someone else? What machines can get you there?” And usually, in this exercise, they start to notice it takes more than one machine to get all the information. I said if it's not on our list, you don't have it, but I'm not saying you can't have it; you’ve got to be creative. One time I noticed they were writing that they got kinetics with this machine that I love to use, but that I know I didn't put on their list, so I asked, “How did you get that?” And they said, “From a generous donor!” “Very helpful.” So those times at the end of the semester I just love to see them flex their muscles. And I say, “Look, you do know this! Have fun!”

CITL: What are you working on now in terms of your own teaching?

Shanen Sherrer: In my general chemistry course, I feel like that is where the impression starts, for me as a teacher for the chemistry and biochemistry majors. I noticed no matter how transparent I am, there seems to be a distrust in the information. I have to be cognizant of the fact that this is the first time they'll have a teacher teaching with a different style from what they’ve had before. There’s not a manual to teach the subject and they're not used to that idea. They think it has to be standardized: everyone reading from the same script which is not the case. So I'm trying to get them to be more open-minded. I decided that goal will be most achievable if I push their identities as the students, the future generation of scientists, to become my future scientific peers. I use that type of language to help bring down that barrier, to let them feel like they're included, and start to say, “Yes, this is uncomfortable. But she's walking me through, she's not going to let me just fall.”

Another teaching technique I’m working on is the use of cards. Every day, for optional 1/3 of a point, they can tell me how they prepared for class. They can also ask me a question or tell me what they learned. My goal is just to get them to think about the class. Even if they write, “I didn't think about the class,” by telling me that in the notecard, I got them to think about it. I feel like the notecards were the number one element that helped bring down the barriers because a lot of students are scared to ask their question in class. I can say, “someone asked this question, so I think you all should hear this,” and they perk up and then ask, “What about this? And what about that?” It just breaks the ice or brings a question we didn't think about. But the other reason it's helpful for them is that if they do it every day it guarantees a bonus towards their next exam. Sometimes they tell me they’re having a crisis and I remind them, “we're human; you don't have to give me excuses. But now that I know I want to help: these are the things you can do.” That's all in the notecards.

CITL: Can you tell us about your favorite teacher?

Shanen Sherrer: I would say it would have to be my statistics teacher in high school. He made statistics fun when I thought it was the most boring thing possible. I remember he always tied it in with a personal story. He showed that he cared. He had small sections on purpose. He rewarded us when we did things as a class; gave achievement marks; showed us how to achieve that next step, what's out there to keep us in the field, instead of teaching from a book and then walking away. He gave me that curiosity for “what else is out there?”

We were all required to have the TI 83 calculator. It cost $100; it was expensive for an oldest child of four from a split family. But he showed us why it's important before requiring it, and he gave us demos, because he assumed a lot of us in the class had never touched one before. Then he took it a step further, and brought out a TI 95 which was this big ol’ console that can drive a car if you can program it right. And he gave demos, and we were like, “this is what you can do with stats?!” He gave us a reason to try. I have my same TI 83 calculator that my dad sketched my name on out of fear someone would steal it ,and I'm very proud of it. And that's my reminder of a teacher who helped you figure out the basics… and it still works.

CITL: What are you reading, listening to, or watching at the moment?

Shanen Sherrer: I like to watch TV shows, and right now I'm watching a lot of medical ones. If I get through season one, I'm stuck with it because I want to see it through to the end–I did not expect Grey's Anatomy to last so long! Every year, they say they're going to end and it doesn't. But I've seen it since episode one, so I'm still in. I also watch crime, suspense shows like NCIS. In fact, there's another one that just keeps going! Mostly watch those genres because I find biochemistry used one way or another. For example, NCIS has a biochemist on staff and she talks to her instruments and I know it's unrealistic. Sometimes I watch the show just to see how unrealistic it is!