teaching.

philosophy of teaching:

Throughout my professional and academic career, a line has run through all of my experiences: one that connects interpersonal expression and scientific curiosity. For me, I hope to provide a sense of discovery and excitement in my conversations with others. This ideology holds true in my teaching practices as I explain scientific concepts to my students and find ways to contextualize them into their everyday lives. Thus, my goal is to ensure that all students come away not only with newfound “knowledge” but a better sense of understanding of its application to their world and themselves.

I believe that scientific concepts are never in a vacuum - they have implications on the world in many ways, such as health, economics, and climate. Likewise, the advancement of our scientific understanding oftentimes requires an integration of many fields and a collaborative set of perspectives. This translates to the classroom as well, for each student may perceive a certain concept in different ways depending on their lived experiences and background. With this mindset, I hope to understand my students’ perspectives and personal needs early on so that I can tailor my teaching practices more accurately. I have found that providing relatable examples to scientific concepts help students gain a deeper sense of understanding that relates to their past and impacts their future. Meeting this goal also requires me to be expansive in my teaching approach and assessments. I would hope to implement a combination of teaching tools, including audio/visual activities, writing prompts, constructive group dialogues or debates, and open-ended design projects, to expand the possibilities for students to engage with the course content and express their learning process.

Learning how to “learn” is a fundamental aspect of self-discovery and identity for many students. For me, I discovered this soon after my lowest academic experiences. As such, my hope is to provide my students a safe environment to test out their strengths and weaknesses as they go through their journey in intellectual discovery. Flexible grading schemes and classroom assessment techniques (CATs) would benefit me as an instructor but more importantly my students as I regularly check-in on their progress. Transparency is key through the learning process, so the required use of rubrics would allow students to clearly identify course expectations and desired outcomes.

My goal is to ensure that students feel comfortable stepping into the classroom, a positive and inclusive space for them to learn. The first step is to ensure that science is accessible to all who want to learn. I hope to incorporate storytelling, which is typically underused in scientific education, to create an intellectual “journey” each time they come into my class. I would support this by making my teaching material simple and streamlined, such as my presentation style and detailed project plans. Accessible science also includes having an accessible instructor, requiring the ability to meet the academic needs of students. Beyond office hours, technology can provide an additional layer of support, such as the usage of flexible video calling, online review sessions and discussion groups/forums for questions and concerns. Students can choose what they want to leverage, but ultimately it signals the presence of an approachable and supportive teacher.