Teaching Philosophy
(Photo: The Long Term Ecological Research Education Executive Committee, meeting in Virginia in summer 2011.)
I am committed to being a successful educator, and much of what I have learned about teaching has come from my experience in the classroom and doing science education research. I have spent the past eleven years working with K-12 science teachers, leading professional development, teaching K-12 students, and mentoring graduate and undergraduate students who are trying to learn how to communicate science. For the past five years, I have also helped conduct science education research, which has helped me to better understand how teachers and students think, and how I myself might be a more effective educator.
My objectives as a teacher are to connect my student to science on a personal, emotional, and mental level. I want to make sure that the students not only learn content, but are able to connect that content to decisions within their own life and personal well-being. I also believe that it is important to ensure that students emerge from the class liking science better than they did when they came in. I find that many students dislike science just because it is science, either due to pre-conceived notions or unpleasant past experiences. I want to empower every student to believe that they can be scientists and attain the skills necessary to be successful both in the classroom and outside the classroom. In order to be successful, students must connect the knowledge they already have to what they are learning, so it can be anchored and retained instead of memorized and forgotten.
In order to meet these objectives, I use several different teaching methods within the classroom. I first formatively assess what sort of knowledge students are walking in the door with, so I can meet them where they are in their learning process. I believe in active learning, where students are engaged members of a learning community. This may include taking opinion polls in class, working with their neighbor to figure out problems, holding discussions and online forums, working in the laboratory, and generally helping the students to build their own knowledge by their participation in the learning community. By making the students actively involved, it helps them question what they are learning and adjust what they are doing so they can be more successful. I also believe in using inquiry-based methods, where students are asking questions and learning how to do science as opposed to learning how to memorize facts. This helps students to realize that science is not something dead, but something that is very real and a part of their life. Using evidence-based reasoning to answer questions is a life skill that every person should learn. While lecturing to a class is sometimes necessary to explain information, it is not the sole format that should be used in the classroom if students are to be engaged as a part of the learning community.
I will evaluate students and also have students evaluate me in order to better my ability to enable student learning. I will evaluate students based on their ability to apply the knowledge they have gained through their studies to real-life problems. Science is an area that is used in so many applied fields, including medicine, engineering, environmental remediation, and technology related fields, and it is only useful if students can learn how to apply their knowledge in the real world. To evaluate myself, students will be given opportunities for anonymous feedback multiple times a semester to determine if my methodology with the particular class is reaching the range of learners within that class. I have experience in the evaluation of both student learning and program effectiveness and I plan to use this experience to help me improve the overall outcome for students.
TEACHING INTERESTS
-Undergraduate courses in field ecology, environmental science, environmental systems and cycles, sustainable agriculture, global change ecology
-Graduate courses in communicating science, biogeochemistry, and data management
-Science education courses for education undergraduates as well as continuing education classes for teachers, including preschool, primary, and secondary grade levels
I am committed to being a successful educator, and much of what I have learned about teaching has come from my experience in the classroom and doing science education research. I have spent the past eleven years working with K-12 science teachers, leading professional development, teaching K-12 students, and mentoring graduate and undergraduate students who are trying to learn how to communicate science. For the past five years, I have also helped conduct science education research, which has helped me to better understand how teachers and students think, and how I myself might be a more effective educator.
My objectives as a teacher are to connect my student to science on a personal, emotional, and mental level. I want to make sure that the students not only learn content, but are able to connect that content to decisions within their own life and personal well-being. I also believe that it is important to ensure that students emerge from the class liking science better than they did when they came in. I find that many students dislike science just because it is science, either due to pre-conceived notions or unpleasant past experiences. I want to empower every student to believe that they can be scientists and attain the skills necessary to be successful both in the classroom and outside the classroom. In order to be successful, students must connect the knowledge they already have to what they are learning, so it can be anchored and retained instead of memorized and forgotten.
In order to meet these objectives, I use several different teaching methods within the classroom. I first formatively assess what sort of knowledge students are walking in the door with, so I can meet them where they are in their learning process. I believe in active learning, where students are engaged members of a learning community. This may include taking opinion polls in class, working with their neighbor to figure out problems, holding discussions and online forums, working in the laboratory, and generally helping the students to build their own knowledge by their participation in the learning community. By making the students actively involved, it helps them question what they are learning and adjust what they are doing so they can be more successful. I also believe in using inquiry-based methods, where students are asking questions and learning how to do science as opposed to learning how to memorize facts. This helps students to realize that science is not something dead, but something that is very real and a part of their life. Using evidence-based reasoning to answer questions is a life skill that every person should learn. While lecturing to a class is sometimes necessary to explain information, it is not the sole format that should be used in the classroom if students are to be engaged as a part of the learning community.
I will evaluate students and also have students evaluate me in order to better my ability to enable student learning. I will evaluate students based on their ability to apply the knowledge they have gained through their studies to real-life problems. Science is an area that is used in so many applied fields, including medicine, engineering, environmental remediation, and technology related fields, and it is only useful if students can learn how to apply their knowledge in the real world. To evaluate myself, students will be given opportunities for anonymous feedback multiple times a semester to determine if my methodology with the particular class is reaching the range of learners within that class. I have experience in the evaluation of both student learning and program effectiveness and I plan to use this experience to help me improve the overall outcome for students.
TEACHING INTERESTS
-Undergraduate courses in field ecology, environmental science, environmental systems and cycles, sustainable agriculture, global change ecology
-Graduate courses in communicating science, biogeochemistry, and data management
-Science education courses for education undergraduates as well as continuing education classes for teachers, including preschool, primary, and secondary grade levels