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Teaching |
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Though I was unaware of it at the time, my teaching philosophy began to form during my sophomore year. In the classroom, many of my undergraduate peers voiced the same frustrations I had: we were repeatedly expected to absorb facts and regurgitate them in exams without any real critical thinking or opportunity to apply what we had learned. I became convinced that students could receive a better learning experience and piloted a youth empowerment course from 2012-2016 in elementary schools across the Upper Grand District School Board. Teaching hundreds of students from diverse ethnic, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds reaffirmed my view that to help students make accurate observations about physical and social realities in their community they require the skills to read critically, write clearly, and think quantitatively. What's more, creating an equitable and inclusive environment that allows students to use these new skills to contribute towards the progress of their community through service and advocacy projects promotes diversity. Witnessing these students develop the skills to translate their thoughts into constructive action had a profound impact on me, and redoubled my commitment to serve society as a teacher.
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My goal as an instructor is to instill students with an eagerness for scientific discovery and to equip them with the knowledge and abilities to translate this eagerness into action. To meet this goal, I have sought out opportunities to learn about teaching and gain firsthand experience. This has included working as a teaching assistant, giving guest lectures, and completion of the course ‘University Teaching: Theory and Practice’ at the University of Guelph.
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From my experience as an instructor in elementary and university classrooms, active learning approaches are critical to engaging and retaining students’ interests. My lesson plans often begin with asking a broad and answerable question or sharing popular news stories related to the topic, followed by opening the floor for discussion. Small group discussions and think-pair-share activities frequently create an interactive space where students can express themselves and build shared understanding with their peers. When lecturing, I periodically stop and ask students questions to both gauge their understanding of the material and assess whether I should provide additional context or move on to the next topic. I additionally invite specialists from the field (e.g., government, industry, academia) to offer an expert’s opinion applying the course content to solve environmental problems. This approach also gives students a view for career prospects after graduation.
Teaching with case studies is another pragmatic strategy I utilize to develop students’ higher-order skills of Bloom’s taxonomy. Case studies facilitate interdisciplinary learning and can be used to highlight connections between specific academic topics and real-world societal issues and applications. For example, in my guest lectures on the principles of ecotoxicology, I begin by showing a video of an entrepreneur pitching algae supplements on the popular show Shark Tank and invite students to critique the accuracy of the science and delivery of the content. Next, I teach a few principles of ecotoxicology from the peer-reviewed literature that were lacking in the entrepreneur’s pitch and are necessary for scientific research. I then assign the students a case study related to algal blooms and task them to form in small groups and consider ways they can apply the principles of ecotoxicology they have just learned to design an experiment that could develop a solution to the problem. In a short timeframe, students develop their ability to recognize connections between biological concepts and other dimensions of the problem and practice communicating their understanding in oral and written format. Mentoring with trust is another touchstone of an effective learning environment. As a teaching assistant of a capstone course (ENVS*4001/4002; School of Environmental Sciences, University of Guelph), I guided groups of senior undergrads in solving environmental issues brought to them by public organizations. Teaching this course exposed me to a wide range of environmental topics and learning styles among the student body. To promote equity and inclusion in the classroom, I developed assignments (e.g., literature review, field/laboratory experiment, poster presentation, final report) and rubrics students could use to succeed academically and meet client objectives. Groups, each with students from different sub-disciplines, were also challenged to combine their knowledge to develop creative solutions. To support the students, I periodically checked in with groups to reflect on their learning goals and help the students remove obstacles or barriers preventing their progress. My drive to develop mentoring strategies compelled me to serve as a client in subsequent years. For instance, I created a project related to my doctoral research and brought on the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks to provide laboratory space for a team of senior undergrads to investigate the impacts of cyanotoxins in fish. Although the team had no training in aquatic toxicology, I encouraged them to apply their areas of speciality (e.g., aquatic ecology, agriculture, management and conservation) to understand the interdisciplinary nature of our project, and gave them room to be self-directed and independent. Using this approach, the students prepared a well-rounded poster presentation that was presented at an international conference (SETAC North America) and manuscript that was submitted to a peer-reviewed journal for publication. This experience was additionally published in Science as a feature article exemplifying the importance of good mentorship. In summary, all my pedagogical strategies are dedicated to teaching the interdisciplinary scope of the environmental sciences in ways that promote equity and inclusion and will remain with students long after they leave my classroom. |