My Philosophy on Teaching

The tenets of my teaching philosophy are bound by one simple principle: It is my responsibility to empower students with their education. I believe the classroom is merely the beginning of a student’s education. It is my goal as an educator to provide the framework that students need to ultimately obtain their goals. My primary goal as an educator is to develop my students’ potential to ensure their future success. With my students, I plan to instill in them the methodology to become critical thinkers who can adapt to the changes in their respective fields. If my students graduate and only know the material that was taught in class, I haven’t truly trained a scientist. If my students graduate as critical thinkers, they are well equipped to become world class scholars. In this regard, I utilize a variety of case studies, biological simulations, field work, and team-based learning to facilitate the dissemination of knowledge while building critical thinking skills. 

In my classroom, I strive to remove the wall between the podium and students. My pedagogical style incorporates the use of different learning modalities to accommodate the various learning styles of my students. At the end of each module, I adjust my delivery as necessary to meet the needs of the classroom. I encourage discourse and inspire verbal participation from my students at every meeting by implementing problem-based learning into my lectures so that students get the opportunity to develop their own skillsets. My desire is that altering my delivery will empower students to ease their own apprehension to ask for help meeting their own educational goals. 

In this context, I have an important task in any course that I design and instruct: help my students connect to the content. This is important because of the expectations that I have set for them. I engage with students so they can feed off of my enthusiasm, which I have found leads to a greater mastery of the learning objectives. I enrich my content by partnering each module of my courses with active and team based learning. As an example, cellular respiration is often area where students have difficulty synthesizing all of the information in a coherent story. To help students see the big picture and dissect each individual component, I dedicate one class session to concept mapping all the components across the board in the first half of the session. The second half of the session is where we act out of the stages in respiration theatre. Students and senior faculty have found this activity to be uniquely beneficial in preparing either freshman biology students or students in preparation for professional school qualifying examinations. This is not the only approach that I customize to ensure student mastery of the learning objective. This sets the blueprint for applying the knowledge to demonstrate the excitement that comes from an education in the biological sciences. 

As an educator, I am confident that my students will rise to the occasion, therefore I have very high expectations for each of them. Collaboration in the sciences is a powerful tool that helps forge new ideas as people with different expertise come together to achieve a common goal. That is why I find connecting students with each other through group work, projects, or labs to be a critical component of any biology course. “Team Assessment” is an example of student collaboration that I have used to help students in my discussion sections reflect on specific learning objectives as a group. For this particular type of assessment, students answer questions as individuals, and then come together as small groups to provide a single answer to

each of the same questions. Their grade is based on a weighted combination of their individual and group responses, and my students have responded very positively to this assessment type. Instead of simply providing my students with a set of structures/functions to identify and memorize, I apply inquiry-based learning techniques to promote group discussion and critical thinking. Taking this more inquiry-based approach helps students develop the necessary skills to solve new problems, which is a fundamental goal of science education. 

My final goal as an educator is to connect my students to the world in order to provide them with the necessary skills and experiences to prepare them for life after graduation. One necessary skill that students need to develop before they receive their degrees is communicating scientific ideas to others. These skills are developed through the use of oral presentations, posters, lab reports, and/or research papers, and are things that I will include in my courses. It is important that my students understand their responsibility in promoting scientific literacy in the world, so I would like my students to share some of these works outside of the classroom. Depending on the precise nature of the work, this could take the form of a poster session open to the campus and community or participation in a specialized conference. 

Providing students hands-on opportunities to explore various career paths and applications of biology outside of the classroom is another important connection to the world. Undergraduate research is an outstanding way to achieve this and lets students actively learn and engage with the scientific process. I was fortunate to have had these types of experiences as an undergraduate, which played an integral part in establishing my own career. However, not every student is interested in conducting research in a lab, so I am also looking forward to help innovate new opportunities to connect those students with biology-related internships and volunteer work in the campus, community, and beyond. It is my hope that the connections I help my students form will not only give them the skills and experience to be successful in their individual careers, but that these connections will be long-lasting and will help shape how they engage with society. I interpret this as meaning I have accomplished my goal in empowering students with their education. 

The goal of being an excellent educator is one of the most challenging and rewarding roles I can have. I take personal pride in having the opportunity to shape the minds of the next generation. Because I believe in teaching students to be life-long learners, I recognize that I am also a life-long learner. I am honest that I still have much to learn, and, as any good scientist, I am always cultivating methods to improve myself. I realize that my students will be my future peers. I understand that when students are taught and trained well, the future of biomedicine is strengthened. 

The central tenet of my teaching philosophy is rooted in a simple but profound belief: it is my responsibility to empower students with their education. I view the classroom not as the endpoint, but as the foundation of a student’s intellectual journey. My primary goal as an educator is to cultivate each student’s potential, guiding them toward academic excellence, professional success, and civic responsibility. Through intentional mentorship and innovative pedagogy, I strive to develop critical thinkers capable of adapting to the evolving demands of the biological and health sciences.

I am committed to preparing students not merely to recite information but to engage with knowledge in ways that are analytical, interdisciplinary, and practical. A student who graduates having only memorized what was taught has not been fully trained as a scientist. However, a student who graduates as a critical thinker—capable of asking bold questions, synthesizing complex data, and applying knowledge to new situations—is prepared to become a leader in science and society. To support this transformation, I implement a wide range of high-impact practices including case-based learning, biological simulations, field work, and collaborative problem-solving exercises.

In my classroom, I intentionally break down barriers between instructor and student. I design inclusive and flexible learning environments that honor diverse learning styles and foster a culture of curiosity, engagement, and academic rigor. I continuously assess the effectiveness of my instructional strategies through feedback and performance metrics, modifying my delivery to meet the evolving needs of each cohort. My use of problem-based learning not only reinforces conceptual mastery but also empowers students to take ownership of their learning. This pedagogical approach reduces students’ apprehension and builds the confidence necessary for meaningful academic inquiry.

I believe that enthusiasm is contagious, and I work to model the kind of intellectual curiosity I hope to inspire in my students. Each module I teach is purposefully paired with active learning strategies to deepen engagement. For example, when teaching the complex topic of cellular respiration, I dedicate one class to concept mapping followed by an interactive “respiration theater” session where students dramatize the metabolic stages. This multimodal approach has consistently yielded strong learning outcomes, particularly among pre-professional students preparing for entrance exams or upper-division coursework. I frequently develop similar activities across various topics to reinforce synthesis and long-term retention, emphasizing both the wonder and utility of scientific discovery.

I hold high expectations for all of my students, not because I expect perfection, but because I believe in their ability to rise to the occasion. I view collaboration as a cornerstone of scientific training. In every course I teach, students engage in team-based learning, peer-to-peer instruction, and cooperative problem solving. For instance, I regularly incorporate “Team Assessments,” where students first respond to questions independently and then re-evaluate them as a group. This dual-layered process not only reinforces content mastery but also develops communication, reasoning, and leadership skills—essential qualities for scientific professionals.

Beyond the classroom, I strive to connect students to real-world applications of biology through undergraduate research, community-based internships, and science communication activities. I view science as inherently public and believe students must develop the ability to clearly and confidently share their ideas with others. My courses regularly integrate writing assignments, oral presentations, and poster sessions. I encourage students to present their work to broader audiences—whether through campus events or local conferences—as a way of reinforcing the societal relevance of their training. My ultimate goal is to help students understand their role as stewards of scientific literacy and advocates for equity in health and science.

I am also committed to expanding opportunities for experiential learning, especially for students who may not envision themselves in research careers. While undergraduate research remains a transformative experience for many, I also work to develop pathways that connect students to biology-related roles in public health, environmental advocacy, biotechnology, education, and other sectors. These experiences are critical for building transferable skills, expanding professional networks, and cultivating a lifelong connection to science. It is my hope that students leave my courses not only with knowledge but with the confidence and community needed to succeed beyond the university.

To be an educator is to embrace one of the most rewarding and enduring responsibilities in academia: shaping the future of science through the students we teach and mentor. I take great pride in contributing to the intellectual and professional growth of my students, many of whom I will one day call colleagues. I believe that effective teaching is dynamic and that I, too, must remain a lifelong learner. I am committed to evolving my pedagogical practices through reflection, assessment, and continued professional development. As I support my students in becoming agile thinkers, compassionate leaders, and socially engaged scientists, I, too, am continually transformed by the process of teaching.