PhD Candidate in Genetics & Genomics, Duke University
Educators
must be able to readily present the deliverables and values of the courses they
teach to their students, because without support from the students, there is no
point in delivering a course. By putting upfront the tangible skillsets and
intangible mental models and problem-solving methodologies that will be
developed in my course, I can justify why this course may be valuable to
students, and the students in turn can make independently-motivated decisions
to invest good-faith effort and time into my course. This manifests not just at
the syllabus level, but also for each individual class and lesson. By stating
the purpose and goals of each instructional activity, I not only orient my
teaching to clearly defined outcomes, but also explicitly explain them to my
students, giving them the agency to remain invested and motivated in their own
learning. Effective teaching involves effort on both the instructor and student
to not just deliver and receive instruction, but also establish mutual
understanding of the motivations of the student and the aims of the instructor.
Undergraduate
biology education is often viewed by students as a series of lectures crammed
with information to be retained for the nearest exam, recited, and then left
behind with no application or memorability for future learning opportunities.
As a student who went through this mode of instruction, I believe this deprives
students of the opportunity to be invested in their own education, lowering
their own motivation and respect for the class. As an instructor, I will work
to give students the reasons for learning a particular biological topic, as
well as clearly defining the learning objectives and skillsets students can
carry with them outside of the course.
Encouraging
students to engage with material on their own terms is a strategy I follow in
my teaching environments. As an instructor for a computational skills workshop
for incoming PhD students, I’ve designed my lesson plans to include resources
for further learning that students can optionally pursue outside of class, as
well as additional exercises that integrate topics learned in previous sessions
that give students the opportunity to integrate what they know. In-class, I
reserve time for students to work with partners or in groups on coding
exercises so they can engage with their peers and ask for additional support
from fellow instructors.
In my
classes, I will strive for students’ self-participation in their own learning,
instead of being passive participants. During class, I will encourage students
to interact with each other, allowing them to bounce ideas between fellow
peers. I will use activities like think-pair-share and small group discussions
to encourage more organic, low-risk conversation that encourages students to
think critically about discussion topics and lecture content. At the end of
every class session, I will provide an optional end-of-class survey where
students can provide anonymous feedback to me about the session, whether
positive or negative, so that I may use this feedback to improve the next class
session. I will also use formative assessments. For example, for class projects
like large coding projects or essays, I will plan out milestones for students
to submit drafts of their work. These milestones will be graded only on
participation and will be annotated with comprehensive feedback on the
positives and potential improvements of their projects. During standard
lectures or coding demonstrations, I will display small code snippets so that
students can follow along on their own devices. I will also intersperse lecture
components with dedicated time for coding exercises so that students may try
out small applications of the lecture material for themselves.
At Duke University, I am enrolled in the Certificate for College Teaching (CCT), a program that teaches pedagogical theory and skills. The CCT guides me through the process of developing course and lesson plans and learning how to conduct effective class sessions. With these skills, I will conduct a formative teaching experience as the instructor of a class. I am also a participant in the Preparing Future Faculty program at Duke University, which allows me to experience a wide variety of faculty roles and responsibilities. Under this program, I will work with a mentor to plan professional development opportunities, learn the day-to-day life of faculty, make site visits to talk to faculty and observe teaching, and attending colloquia at Duke on critical issues in academia.
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