Teaching Narrative

As a public health teaching assistant, I have encountered myself with many different types of students from all around the world. Each one of them has experienced different educational and learning strategies. As an international student, I can relate to many of those that come from different backgrounds. I have learned to integrate didactic and interactive strategies used in the American higher education system with conventional and experiential techniques used in my home country. I like to carry on my program of study from simple to more complex topics. Therefore, in Parasitology it is important to start with an introduction of the topic and then explore specific parasites in order of complexity: first the unicellular intestinal amoebas, second the multicellular tissular trematodes and lastly the intracellular complex protozoa. For this reason, I always start the class activity with a short review session of the topics covered before, followed by a full presentation of the infections under study, followed by clinical cases and public health concerns related to the diseases. After these activities are developed in the classroom, everyone moves to the laboratory, where the lab practicum takes place.

Review Session

The main goal of my teaching strategy is to restrospectively associate learned knowledge with present topics under discussion. Repetition is essential to consolidate the new learning as long-term memories that will eventually transform into knowledge. Therefore, I prioritize having a 10-15 minutes review session of the lectures and lab practicum learned the week before, to associate the similarities and differences with the lectures that will be given on that week. I also believe in developing theoretical and practical review sessions before the mid-term and final exams. These review sessions are usually longer (2-3 hours) since the material covered is very diverse. Each major evaluation is accompanied by a study guide and glossary to facilitate individual studying from students:

Review Session Sample (PDF)

Study Guide Laboratory Practicum (PDF)

Study Guide Theory Exam (PDF)

Final Exam Glossary (PDF)

Lecture Session

This is a great opportunity to summarize complex topics in a visually appealing manner for students. It includes a variety of slides, images, and videos that will facilitate the conceptualization of the diseases. All diseases start with a definition, followed by history, epidemiological distribution, vectors, parasitic forms, life cycle, physiopathology, clinical manifestations, diagnosis, and prevention. During and after the lecture session, students watch videos with descriptive content about the disease to better understand its diagnosis and prevention.

PowerPoint (PDF)

Video Sample