Teaching
Philosophy I believe, and studies have shown, that we remember that to which we attach an emotion. An emotional connection of the students with the material being taught can be brought about in a number of ways.
First, I try to show students how the subject, geology, biogeochemistry or
oceanography, is relevant to their own lives. For example, microbes make it possible for plants to obtain nutrients from soils and thus, for us to eat. I have taken classes on trips to my own compost pile and to local organic farms for a visible (and tactile and nasal) demonstration of this fact. As often as possible, I try to use local examples to demonstrate the principles being taught. A student will certainly be more moved by a close look at the stream running through her neighborhood or by gaining an understanding of the forces at work in creating the topography in his town than that of a more famous river or mountain range.
In many cases, the environmental science professor will find themselves teaching students with a diversity of backgrounds and interests as I, myself, have. In addition to my chosen field(s) of biology-geology-chemistry of the marine and terrestrial environment, I have a love of music, history, psychology, anthropology, philosophy and religion. I hope to bring all of this to the classroom. I like to show students how various fields are inter-related and have much to offer each other in terms of enhanced understanding. For example, land formations indicate that the diversion of a river near Ankara by the army of Tamerlaine may have led to the defeat of the Turks and changed the course of history. Past changes in earth’s climate may have influenced human mass migration patterns and altered human evolution. The history of fertilizer use in this country, from blood and bones to guano to synthetic production, mirrors the geochemical record of coastal zone degradation in the eastern U.S. Not only are students more motivated to learn through realization of a subject’s relevance to their own interests, but because of the ‘cool factor’ they will remember the lesson.
Many classroom projects can also impassion a student. I once divided a large lecture class into smaller working groups to debate opposing sides of various environmental issues, again with a local slant. Shall we vote to pass mandatory gas mileage lower-limits for cars sold in our town? Shall we build a damn on our river to produce power but possible harm native fish populations? Even the shyest students had something they wanted to say. The teaching of additional skills such as use of library and web sources, ability to evaluate information quality was built around this exercise. In a biogeochemistry seminar class that I was asked to teach while at William and Mary, I offered the class a list of six journal articles supporting two different hypotheses related to organic matter accumulation in marine sediments. Then the class, divided into two groups had to argue the case for one of the other hypothesis. These were some lively classes…students were rushing graphs to the overhead projector, arguing about the errors involved with certain measurements, proposing modified hypotheses, bringing in additional sources. They were being scientists…and they were enjoying it.
In addition to my enthusiasm for many of the modern teaching methods such as active and group learning, I need to mention my undying support for practice of the fundamentals. Students should be assigned writing exercises of various types and these should be corrected with care. Communication skills should be practiced continually by assigning oral presentations, debates, group discussions, one-on-one discussions in office hours. The critical reading of papers and the interpretation of figures, tables and graphs are skills to be practiced again and again. Assessment of student performance through quizzes that challenge a student to think about what has been learned during the course is a good way of cementing a student’s learning and offering the student a chance to gain self-esteem and confidence.
Lastly, enthusiasm is infectious. A teacher, at least the teacher that I want to be, must not hold back but rather show the students every day that which motivated us to become academicians, the love of discovery and the unfolding beauty of the universe. Oddly enough, when I was an undergraduate, I decided to declare geology as my major, in large part, because I liked the faculty members and other students that I met in the department. And doesn’t it make sense that we learn better from and with people we like? For this reason I want would want my students to know me, and I to know them, as individuals. I am adaptable and I know that different individuals and different groups of students will require an alteration of my teaching plan. I wouldn’t want a job that didn’t require creativity and offer surprises. Another thing that I must admit...I didn’t learn my chosen field easily. The material is complex and I am not a genius…I want the students to know that. But because of this, I think I can identify with the student, express concepts initially in simplified forms, and build up slowly.
But why do all this? Most of us engaged in the profession of teaching would mention the provision of students with the information and tools necessary to become productive and engaged members of society, as among the most important teaching goals. In the environmental sciences we have a particular duty to provide students and the society at large with a fundamental understanding of natural processes and the most current information available on the state of the environment. There are so many pressing issues at hand relating to the management of natural resources and the interaction of humans with the non-human world. Problems such as global climate change, biodiversity loss, or even whether we are to search for life on other planets can only be properly addressed by an informed citizenry. In addition to information, the tools required also include powers or reason and logic, methods of critical thinking and the ability to evaluate the quality of information. But there is something more that a teacher has to offer students and that is, to put it most simply, a rich and satisfying life. I believe that the examination of the exterior world as well as the self, will inevitably lead to an enrichment of life for the student as well as the greater community. Leading a student toward this lifelong habit of discovery and learning is the ultimate reward for the teacher.
Teaching Resume
Organic Geochemistry and Geobiology (graduate): University of Florida,
Gainesville, FL 1/05-present
Introduction to Oceanography (undergraduate): University of Florida,
Gainesville, FL 1/04-present
Biogeochemical analysis and field methods (graduate): Penn. State
University, State College, PA 8/00-12/02
Teaching Assistant and Laboratory Instructor: Penn. State University, State College, PA 8/00-12/02 (3 semesters). Coordinated and assisted in design and teaching of a graduate level course in biogeochemical analytical and field methods.
Substitute Lecturer: For a graduate level class in Organic Geochemistry, Penn. State University, State College, PA 8/00-12/01 (1 semester).
Biogeochemistry (undergraduate): College of William and Mary,
Williamsburg, VA. 1/00-5/00
Laboratory Instructor: College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA. 1/99-5/99 and 9/97-12/97 (2 semesters). Taught and assisted in design of an undergraduate level, introductory geology laboratory course.
English Teacher: University of Petroleum, Dongying, P.R. China, 9/90 to 4/91. Designed and taught three English/Geology courses for Chinese petroleum scientists.
Teaching Assistant and Laboratory Instructor: University of Michigan, 9/88 to 12/89 (3 semesters). Designed and taught an undergraduate level, introductory oceanography laboratory course. Served as guest lecturer for Introduction to Oceanography course.
Teaching Assistant: University of Chicago, 1/87 to 6/87 (2 semesters). Taught an undergraduate level, introductory geology laboratory course. |