Teaching

Goals/Objectives

 Learning is not a passive experience but an active process. My aim is to engage students by asking questions and encouraging deeper thought and discussion. Not everyone will share the same passion for different subjects, but my goal is to help them understand the subject matter so that it becomes pertinent to their daily lives. People value what they understand, and I hope to bring my students to a greater understanding of the subject matter.

Experiences

I have served as a teaching assistant for classes ranging from 10 to 30 students, as well as larger classes in lecture halls with over 150 students. I have also run laboratory sessions where students worked in small groups to conduct simple experiments. There, my role was to circulate between the groups and demonstrate everything from how to focus a microscope to how identify the structures of a cell. Additionally, I worked as a writing assistant, tutoring students one-on-one to help them improve their writing and revise both college papers for class and scientific manuscripts for publication. This wide variety of experiences has helped me develop a flexible teaching style so that I can adapt lessons to make them relevant to individuals as well as large groups.

Methods

In the classroom, I rely on a combination of lecture, discussion, and hands-on activities to engage students in scientific thought. Along with teaching students how to prepare lab reports and write papers in the style used in scientific journals, I also encourage them to experiment with other forms of scientific communication such as blog posts, press releases, podcasts and videos. In our rapidly changing world, students must be able to communicate effectively and adapt to working in different formats and styles. Developing these skills will benefit students beyond the classroom in both their daily lives and their future careers.

Why I Teach

I teach because I love to learn. I am passionate about the natural world, and I want to share that passion with others. My hope is for students to develop a desire to explore the world around them. Life itself is a learning experience; I want my students to take what they learned in class and keep it with them in their lives.

COURSES

The Pennsylvania State University, Department of Entomology

  • Graduate School Teaching Certificate. May 24, 2018. Certificate available upon request.
  • ENT 432: Insect Biodiversity and Evolution. Fall semester, 2015. Teaching assistant. Professors: Andrew R. Deans, PhD, and István Mikó, PhD.
  • ENT 202: The Insect Connection. Spring semester, 2015. Teaching assistant. Professor: Nancy Ostiguy, PhD.
  • ENT 313: Introduction to Entomology. Fall semester, 2014. Teaching assistant apprentice. Professor: Nancy Ostiguy, PhD.

Adelphi University, Department of Biology

  • BIO 112: Biological Concepts and Methods II Laboratory. Spring semester, 2014. Teaching assistant. Professor: Aaren Freeman, PhD.
  • BIO 112: Biological Concepts and Methods II Laboratory. Spring semester, 2014. Teaching assistant. Professor: Andrea Ward, PhD.
  • BIO 111: Biological Concepts and Methods I Laboratory. Fall semester, 2013. Teaching assistant. Professor: Idit R. Forkosh, PhD.
  • BIO 234: Principles of Ecology. Fall semester, 2013. Teaching assistant. Professor: Matthias Foellmer, PhD.
  • BIO 111: Biological Concepts and Methods I Laboratory. Fall semester, 2013. Teaching assistant. Professor: Shishinn Sun, PhD.
  • BIO 112: Biological Concepts and Methods II Laboratory. Spring semester, 2013. Teaching assistant. Professor: James Dooley, PhD.
  • BIO 112: Biological Concepts and Methods II Laboratory. Spring semester, 2013. Teaching assistant. Professor: Barbara Cunningham, PhD.
  • BIO 234: Principles of Ecology. Fall semester, 2012. Teaching assistant. Professor: Matthias Foellmer, PhD.
  • BIO 111: Biological Concepts and Methods I Laboratory. Fall semester, 2012. Teaching assistant. Professor: Barbara Cunningham, PhD.