Teaching

My teaching journey started right after my undergraduate studies. I graduated with an Optometry degree in India and taught neuroanatomy, neurophysiology and general anatomy to pre-med  and optometry students for 6 months. Here I honed my pedagogical skills and the ability to plan for and execute active learning experiences to help students from different backgrounds make sense of basic life sciences. During my Master’s in Vision Science at the University of Waterloo, I taught tutorials on physiological optics, color perception and was the sole TA for practical sessions on visual perception courses. In addition I created a repertoire of demos to better help conceptualize concepts in perception and optics. 

At the University of Massachusetts Boston, where I earned my PhD, I had the opportunity to teach full undergraduate courses on visual perception and research design and methods in psychological studies to a highly diverse student body, many of whom were first-generation college students or students who came back-to-school after a break. The experiences at UMass Boston were a 180 degree shift from my teaching experience with OD candidates who all had completed some form of undergraduate degree and pre-med courses. At UMass Boston the classroom demographics, and therefore dynamics, were extremely different and challenging  due to strong differences in the starting point among students in their understanding of basic scientific concepts. In order to engage all students equally well, I shifted my teaching methods and changed my syllabus. 

To achieve this, I developed a curriculum based on example-building and demonstrations. I designed formative assessments that would both guide me and the students to see their own learning trajectories. These in-class assessments included pre and post-class quizzes on core concepts, providing valuable insights into concept retention and areas needing reinforcement. All assignments included example-building where students had to come up with an example to explain concepts/research methods. Complementing these formal evaluations, I made it a routine to engage in casual conversations with students before and during class, serving as informal check-ins on their progress and needs. This process of responsive curriculum design and formative assessments ensured that each student received the support they needed to succeed. I find this approach deeply rewarding and plan to refine and implement these strategies in my future teaching endeavors. These experiences collectively have honed my ability to adapt my teaching style to meet the needs of students from various academic and cultural backgrounds.