College is that amazing time in life when we disconnect from our past, open our minds, and explore opportunities. Students enter this arena with preconceived ideas about life, career choices, and yes, biology. Over the span of a few short years, the professor, as teacher, has a chance to guide students in these areas, primarily in academics as a teacher, but also in life as a mentor. The teacher takes these preconceived notions into account and takes students on a journey of making new connections in a complex web of knowledge. I believe that this shaping takes place when the teacher encourages and participates in the learning process, rather than acting as an unapproachable fount of knowledge. And teaching, like learning, is a continuous activity. Students learn not only in the classroom, but also in the laboratory, peer groups, seminars, and office hours. Teaching and learning complement each other and combine to form the backbone of knowledge transmission. My goal as a teacher is to guide my students through this combination of teaching and learning.
          I see teaching biology as a way to instill passion about the living world in the minds of both majors and non-majors. At some time in a student’s life, he or she was curious about the living world. For many students, this spark of interest has faded by the time they reach college. As a teacher, my goal is to rekindle and renew that curiosity in all my students. I want my students to come away from my courses with an appreciation for science. More specifically, I want them to apply knowledge from the course in daily life, whether that involves reading about science in the news or performing a laboratory experiment.
          A good teacher is a good storyteller; both must be passionate and excited about the subject matter. And by captivating the audience, the teacher can rekindle the curiosity lost in so many students and renew that feeling of excitement in those who share a passion for science. Whether that story involves the massive scale of ecological studies or the intricacies of DNA replication, a biology teacher must create an environment conducive to learning. In such an environment, students should be able to see how the subject matter is important not just for the next quiz or test, but in daily life. In an upper level Developmental Biology class that I taught at Roanoke College, I used a combination of interactive lecture, laboratory, and discussion groups on ethical issues to keep students engaged throughout the class period and the course. Having a variety of activities not only keeps the interest of students, but also caters to the multiple learning styles found among students. While teaching an introductory lab in biodiversity, I implemented the use of PowerPoint projects as a way for students to organize digitally captured photos of the various organisms presented during the semester. This project allowed visual learners to excel. Teaching is also one of the best methods of learning, and I include oral presentations as a component in many of my courses. As I continue to develop and improve courses, I plan to have students practice peer review in the context of lab reports and peer interaction in study groups.
          Another important factor in implementing my teaching philosophy is to keep the different learning styles of students in mind during assessment. I have used traditional tests, short papers, homework assignments, lab reports, oral presentations, and peer review to give a broad range of assessment. Students often are better at one type of assessment over another, so a broad range is necessary to gauge comprehension. In one upper level course, I was able to guide a class of sixteen students in designing oral presentations of research. I learned that even within a small class, large disparities exist in how well students communicate in written and spoken words. I encourage both written and oral presentations since students with a liberal arts education should excel in both written and verbal communication to succeed in science and in life. The development of critical thinking skills is also important in science and participating in a peer review process will help develop this area. Throughout all of this work, student feedback will be critical; teaching is not a static field. To grow as an instructor, I will learn from my students and from my peers.
          Students really blossom when given the chance to craft an independent study with proper guidance. The general biology courses and labs give a backbone of common knowledge and laboratory technique. However, creativity and learning become vibrant when a student actually delves into the process of science. In most upper-level courses, I expect students to design and carry out small-scale independent projects, often in the last two to three weeks of the course. In a non-laboratory course, such as a History of Life course that I developed, the assignment consisted of a term paper on a topic in paleobiology. These assignments reflect my belief that students should be familiar with both experimental design and literature reviews. Also, I have worked with students during the summer and school year on longer-term independent studies in my research area. As a teacher, I’ve found this to be a very rewarding experience. During my time at Roanoke College, I have worked with three undergraduates as independent study students, with one student going on to present data at an undergraduate research conference. I am encouraged by the progress each made as a student and as a scientist. Too often we give students answers, rather than encouraging them to ask questions.
          Throughout my career in biology, I have taken and taught a range of courses across the biological sciences. In my education, these run from molecular genetics to a tropical ecology course in Costa Rica and Ecuador. As a professor, I have taught courses ranging from Advanced Cell Biology to the History of Life and I have attended a teaching conference, excited to implement new pedagogical techniques upon my return. However, one of the most important courses in my career was a Seminar on Teaching College Biology that I took while at Duke University. I was able to interact with professors from small liberal arts colleges and large research universities in a setting dedicated to the teaching profession. I was able to design course material with peer feedback and debate teaching methodologies. The course both inspired and renewed my commitment to a career in teaching. As a teacher, I aim to instruct my students in the process of science throughout all the courses I teach, from introductory biology to upper-level seminars. And in teaching, I hope to instill a passion for biology in them, and constantly renew my own passion for the wonderful complexity that is the study of life.