I'm a sixth year MD-PhD candidate at Duke University studying molecular cancer biology. My research interests include basic mechanisms of cell division, aneuploidy, and polyploidy, and how they contribute to oncogenesis. I am training to become a physician-scientist who runs her own lab while also seeing patients as a practicing oncologist. I want to incorporate teaching into my everyday life in my career, through giving lectures to undergraduate and graduate learners as well as through informal teaching of my patients and trainees. Throughout my time at Duke as well as during my time as an undergraduate at Tufts University, I have had the privilege of working with students and honing my teaching skills.
As an undergraduate, I served as an undergraduate teaching assistant for two different intro biology labs: Bio13 Cells & Organisms, and Bio 14 Cells & Populations. For the three years I assisted in the course, I was responsible for helping each lab group work through the assignment of the day. During these 3-hour sessions, we covered everything from Drosophila genetics to antibiotic resistance to beetle evolution. I learned how to listen effectively to understand what each group understood and where they might be getting stuck. I was also able to work with a wide range of students, from college freshman and sophomores to students completing post-baccalaureate degrees prior to applying to medical school. I collaborated with the graduate student TA each week during the lab, as well as with the other undergraduate and graduate TAs each week at planning sessions to go over the following week's lab. This experience built a solid foundation for the teaching and mentoring I was able to do in graduate school. (A2, A4, V1, V5)
As a graduate student, I have been a teaching assistant for several courses, the most notable being Biology 314: Regeneration Biology and Medicine. Through this TAship, I was able to take more responsibility, which included grading, giving lectures, and leading discussions. I designed several lectures (see examples) keeping student engagement in mind. Bio 314 is an upper level biology class, composed of mostly juniors and seniors who had already taken the introductory biology courses. My aim was to get them to think more deeply about the material, and be able to think critically about the information they were given and apply it to other scenarios. To accomplish this, I designed my lectures to be interactive, asking lots of low-stakes questions to the class to encourage participation. For one of my lectures, I also designed a game of Kahoot! to allow students to engage in a fun activity where there were no penalties for being wrong. Every class, we also had an in-class discussion question. This question was designed to be slightly challenging, but students were able to work in groups and use all their resources to come up with an answer together. I visited each group to see their thought process and guide them towards the right direction if needed. I made sure not to simply give students the answers, but provide scaffolding so they could arrive at the answer on their own. Small groups also allowed students who were not comfortable participating in the large group discussion to share their ideas. I was able to have peer observers on two separate occasions for this class to assess my abilities and get their feedback of the effectiveness of these methods, with one of them noting "Jane’s ability to engage students through her enthusiasm and thorough explanations was particularly effective. She consistently checked for understanding, used clear visual aids, and provided relatable examples. The in-class group activity facilitated discussion and peer learning. Her approachability and willingness to answer questions encouraged student participation." (A1, A4, A5, V2, K1, K2, K4)
Additionally, at the end of the semester, I was able to get student feedback about the course:
" [Jane] was very excited, open, and energetic in the classroom. She seemed genuinely interested in not only the course concepts but making sure we developed knowledge that ran deep enough to benefit us after this class."
"Jane was so engaged, positive, and approachable. She was one of my favorite TAs at Duke! She always had an easy to understand answer and genuinely cared enough to make sure you understood before she left. She also was willing to listen to and encourage your ideas, even if they weren’t what she was looking for. She was so supportive in creating a nonjudgmental environment!"
"She did a really great job breaking down complex topics and methods. I finally understood so many of the research method cited in scientific papers. Jane was also very happy to help and approachable for questions and for bouncing off ideas for our final projects. She made the learning environment great!"
I was also in charge of all grading for this course, which included the daily in-class questions, quizzes, paper discussions, and an end-of-semester project where students created their own regenerative therapy. I was careful to always grade blindly, so as not to introduce any unconscious bias I may have had. Additionally, I always left comments for the students when deducting points so they knew exactly what I was looking for in an answer, and model what they could do to improve next time. Additionally, I always graded all the answers to the same question at the same time instead of grading a full quiz for one student at a time. This allowed me to see any patterns in answers; I could easily tell if there was a specific concept that everyone was confused about, or if there was a subpopulation of the class who had grasped X concept but not Y. Then I was able to grade accordingly; if the majority of students fully missed the question, I no longer took points off, I simply gave extra credit to the students who got it right. I always made sure that students knew I was available during office hours or that they could email me outside of class if they needed extra help or had questions about how I graded their assignments. (A3, K3, K5)
Through these experiences, I have come to value the enthusiasm I have for these subjects and the power that enthusiasm holds to get students excited about learning. I support my students through low-stakes activities prior to assessments to set them up for success, and encourage participation through small group activities. I am excited to continue teaching throughout my career. I will have daily opportunities to informally teach as I counsel my patients, teach undergraduate and graduate students in my lab, and work with medical trainees. I will also actively seek out opportunities to formally teach courses to all levels of learners from undergraduate to graduate students.