Teaching Philosophy
I believe my fundamental responsibility as a teacher in Biology is to prepare my students to be life-long learners and advocates for science. I feel fortunate in this endeavor because I have the opportunity to teach what I love which includes courses in both cell and organismal level physiology. My expectation as educator is to provide students with an intellectual foundation that not only serves as bedrock for their future development as workplace professionals but also empowers them to explain information to the general public. I am passionate about teaching and the science endeavor and I hope that through my enthusiasm I inspire my students to pursue their learning and intellectual development as much for the spiritual enrichment that shapes who they are as well as the academic accomplishments that will define their professional success. Because of the diversity of topics that I teach, my goals in any individual course are slightly varied based upon the scope of material and student population. However, the following primary objectives are those things which I believe are most important in my role as educator and faculty role model.
Objective 1: Students should be academically prepared to face the challenges of advanced degree programs and as career professionals. Course content is heavy in essential detail, most especially in the cell and cancer areas where information changes quickly as more sophisticated technologies drive rapid acquisition of new knowledge. Therefore I must stay current through incorporation of new information in lecture and regular modification of laboratory activities to expose students to more advanced technologies for data acquisition and analysis. I emphasize problem solving in examinations and enhance critical thinking through literature review as well as a variety of technical and non-technical writing and oral presentation activities to challenge students through diverse experiences. I expect students to be able to use the information they are learning in a meaningful way and to see it as a transformative experience because they can apply knowledge to solve problems or make persuasive arguments. I want them to be prepared to develop a sense of independence as learners and thinkers who can be creative by using their knowledge rather than simply seeing knowledge itself as an end point.
Objective 2: Students should be enriched through active learning that develops technical expertise as an essential foundation for the next generation of scientists. I emphasize the practice of bench science and learning through hypothesis testing, data acquisition and analysis, and expression of knowledge through written laboratory reports. Inquiry-based laboratories provide a range of technical experiences, develop practical skills, and instill a sense of learning through discovery. I invest significant energy in working hands-on with students as they complete their experimental procedures and use dedicated developmental training sessions to focus on data analysis as they learn to interpret and present their findings in forms representative of the level of complexity in published journals in the field.
Objective 3: Students should know how to access information responsibly and use it effectively to enhance their understanding of biological principles and observations. Whenever possible I include activities that require students to access literature sources in the biomedical or clinical areas for completion of writing assignments, such as a major research paper, or in preparation for their participation in group debate or roundtable discussion activities where ideas must be supported by facts. These activities are designed to lead students to do broad resource collection in areas where contradictory data provides a soft ground for misrepresentation of information to the general public. Students are expected to critically review sources and understand why the science is controversial, not through poor technique, but rather by slight variations in study design that make direct comparisons of research outcomes difficult. I want students to understand the importance of impartiality in assessing published data and the problems that come from having a biased outlook at the start when one begins to research the literature database. These activities allow the student to understand the complexity of the issue, emphasizes the value of multiple points of view, and enhances the skill of persuasive debate.
Objective 4: Students should understand the impact of science within the bigger social context of the human race. This is one of the most important imperatives for this generation of students who are part of the technological age where science advancements change nearly every facet of our lives and, are creating some of the most challenging moral and ethical issues in the history of humankind. Research papers, debates, and roundtable discussions are focused in areas where cell level science has a major impact on the human condition. Students are expected to understand not only the biology of the topic and incorporation of facts in their discussions but also how science advancements fuel new ethical challenges such as in the areas of reproductive technologies, causes of obesity, environmental contaminants and human health, stem cell therapeutics, personalized medicine, clinical trial design, and cancer causes and prevention. This gives students an opportunity to draw from knowledge acquired in their liberal arts courses and is an ideal setting to show the interrelationship between disciplines.
My commitment to education also extends to students who are actively engaged in independent research in my laboratory. I welcome motivated and inquisitive majors at all experience levels to work with me and their peers in active learning at the lab bench. Our community of scholars is an environment where peer mentorship is as important as faculty direction. Students are empowered through learning and teaching and, though challenging to develop sufficient skill level for undergraduates to succeed in independent research, most have invested themselves to the point of completing a thesis, some have accompanied me to present their work at national meetings of professional societies and a few have co-authored abstracts and published peer-reviewed papers. I am fortunate to be part of a University that encourages participation and provides support for undergraduates in independent research activities. Through these intensive mentorship relationships I have developed close ties with a large number of truly accomplished young men and women many of whom are, in turn, serving as role models and mentors in the professional setting. This is one of the greatest rewards I receive as a faculty member, to witness and appreciate the human legacy that results from one's career as an academic and scholar.