Teaching for Learning Through Inclusivity and Agency

Education can transform our society and drive social equity by providing all students an opportunity to grow. To achieve this, my teaching philosophy is predicated on the importance of student learning and includes problem-based learning (PBL) activities paired with learner-centered mentoring and support, as well as strategies and learning experiences that promote reflection and metacognition. I craft an environment in which students can build agency, the state of claiming ownership over their education, and where students feel they belong and begin to identify as scientists.

To ensure all students are engaged in my course, I employ active learning strategies in a variety of settings. In teaching laboratories, I foster experiential learning through course-based undergraduate research to cause students to identify as scientists. In lectures, I use guided inquiry problems where frequent formative assessment using audience response software allows me to track student progress, provide needed feedback to hundreds of students, and adapt my teaching methods to respond to student needs. I share interactive learning objectives to guide learning by linking lectures and relevant materials that approach topics through multiple lenses. To support these courses, I founded and direct a biology tutoring center where exemplary prior students serve as positive role models for their peers as they coach their peers. I employ intrusive mentoring targeted by surveillance of attendance and course performance to support students at-risk of failing my course. I meet with each of these students to help personalize my course and work with them to develop a plan to succeed.

Course-based Undergraduate Research (CURE) must pair an approachable problem with intentionally designed learner support. In my introductory biology laboratory students formed a novel hypothesis about the function of an amino acid in the Malate Dehydrogenase enzyme, then designed, created, and characterized mutant enzymes to test their hypotheses. Students received support and formative feedback that they used to refine their hypothesis and experimental approach. Students also developed analytical and communication skills by iteratively presenting their work. Jake Minor’s growth during this semester-long activity was remarkable:

Jake met my learning outcomes, but more importantly he came to believe that he could succeed in science. He embraced challenges and his grade grew by 25% in the second half of the semester.[1]

Jake’s growth exemplifies another key part of my teaching philosophy. My courses adapt to students needs, and I offer students multiple chances to demonstrate excellence. I employ frequent cumulative quizzing and ask students to reflect on prior performance and revise incorrect answers. Students compose a series of short essays describing why each problems’ answer was correct, what misconceptions caused their answer to be incorrect, and how they could have better prepared themselves to excel on this topic.1 Through this reflection students created and followed through on a plan for success that adapted to their individual needs. This program appears to help students succeed on higher stakes cumulative examinations and I am currently preparing this finding for publication.

I engage my students with the learning process to help them take ownership over their education. I employ evidence-based strategies to guide students to develop tools they can use in a lifetime of learning. I have a love for teaching and mentoring, which left an impression on another of my students,