TEACH SCIENCE






White lecture slide with colorful drawing of a mitochondrial organelle and arrows pointing to portions of organelle. A small pencil drawing is in the corner.

Lecture slide featuring an active learning technique. I use small pictures in the top right-hand corner as indicators of the student's role on that slide. A pencil indicates that the student should write an answer on their own page.



Teach biology.

I take an active-learning approach to my teaching whenever possible. Evidence suggests that lecturing only benefits one type of student, while incorporating active-learning into the classroom benefits all students. Active learning methods especially benefit students who might otherwise struggle in the classroom.

SCIENCE COURSES TAUGHT

  1. Intro biology experiential lab - Vanderbilt University - SP 2017, SP 2018
  2. Guest lecture: Behavioral Genetics - Vanderbilt University - SP 2017, SP 2018
  3. Intro molec biology lab - Vanderbilt University - SP 2016
  4. Guest lecture - Biology for non-majors - Vanderbilt University - FA 2017
  5. IOR - Intro genetics laboratory - Smith College SP 2012, FA 2013
A picture of a computer screen with an image of a glowing green word on a black background.

This is a still from a video I co-created to promote using videos for teaching. There are two fluorescent C. elegans worms. The fluorescence is driven by the promoter of a stress-response gene. As the worm is stressed, the stress-response becomes activated, and the fluorescence occurs.


Teach labwork.

I am passionate about mentoring students and teaching the scientific method. Some students do not imagine that they can be scientists and simply need an opportunity to try it out. I encourage students to learn from mistakes and embrace failure in my experiental classroom. I develop laboratory materials and resources to make experimentation easier and clearer for new scientists. I also mentor undergraduate students in Maulik Patel's lab.

MENTORSHIP

  1. 2 undergraduate students - Smith College - 2014-2015
  2. 3 high school students - Smith College - 2012-2014
  3. High school student's experience in lab one summer




A white slide with an index card on it that says 'clearest point' and 'muddiest point.'

This is a slide demonstrating a classic classroom assessment technique (CAT) called clearest & muddiest point. Students are given a notecard at the beginning of class. They are instructed to write down concepts that were either very clear or very muddy from the lesson. This can be used at the beginning or end of a lesson, a section of material, a reading excerpt, etc. The options are limitless!


Teach teaching.

I am so grateful to work with Vanderbilt's Center for Teaching to hone my skills in education. I have served as a Graduate Teaching Affiliate. In this role, I have developed curricula and led orientation for new Teaching Assistants (TAs) to Vanderbilt. I have developed materials to educate TAs on best practices for helping students with disabilities thrive in their classrooms. I have also developed materials and hosted a workshop to promote student belonging in the classroom.

PEDAGOGY SESSIONS TAUGHT

  1. Certificate in College Teaching - STEM Pedagogy Specialization - Vanderbilt University - SU 2020
  2. Belonging in the STEM Classroom - Vanderbilt University - SP 2019
  3. Teaching Assistant Orientation - Vanderbilt University - SU 2019
  4. Teaching Assistant Orientation - Vanderbilt University - SU 2018