Artifact #10: Exploring Biology Reflections
The Exploring Biology course was designed to guide freshmen through the field of biology in a way that encourages them to think critically and make decisions as informed citizens of the world. I was excited about applying this approach because I find that many college students struggle to see the relatedness of topics across disciplines because they focus on memorizing facts. The earlier this intervention is, the better students will fair in their following scientific courses. This was the principle idea that I focused on when developing my unit (see Unit Lesson Plan). I wanted to incorporate the learning goals of the course (seen in the syllabus) to encourage students to critically think about relevant topics in the scientific world in a collaborative environment.
As a way of evaluating whether our learning objectives or goals aligned with the outcome, we were encouraged to reflect throughout our semester teaching as a means of improvement. I kept a word document where I would free write after class to collect my thoughts on how I felt class went and what I could do to improve as an instructor in the future. It also helped me document my growth as an instructor over time. I have found it incredibly useful and I plan to continue such methods in the future. Below are my reflections for teaching throughout the semester. For reflections on my unit, please see the reflections under Artifact #2: Exploring Biology Lesson Plan.
Reflection after 1st two units:
I think we are finally getting into the swing of things. We are better able to predict how long students will need to complete activities and are starting to anticipate certain issues. I am glad I was able to have this time to get a feel for the class before teaching. I’ve been able to see what I think works/doesn’t work in the classroom and I’m able to adjust for my students. I think what appears to work best is having students work in groups on interactive assignments. They seem to like activities most when they have to get up and do things, or are participating in activities that keep them stimulated. The snowball activity is a good example of that, where students got to get up and interact with each other. Two hours is a long time to sit down, and that gave them an opportunity to get up and move.
I find that students do not like worksheets much, and if I were to use worksheets, it would need to be in a more structured setting. It doesn’t work well when students are on different levels and able to disengage so easily. You have to find an activity that challenges everyone while at the same time keeps everyone accountable for something, which is a challenge in itself. Assignments that force them to work in groups typically allow everyone to get on the same page. I also find students really struggle with the core concepts still. I think part of the problem is that they struggle with some of the biology behind the concepts, not necessarily the concepts themselves. I therefore hope to try to enforce the idea that students should looking at the core concept sheet and encourage referencing specific subprinciples while thinking about the core concepts. I think that’s one of the better ways we can get students to understand how everything works together.
I think now I am most nervous about students judging my work. After you have put a lot of work into something I think it is tough to have such a large audience critique you. I know I am very much a person who likes to be liked, and I worry about how I am perceived by others. I think this will be a good lesson and challenge me in new ways.
Reflecting on Diversity in the Classroom:
In Exploring Biology, I did try to employ a diverse set of activities in my unit. I had a mixture of group versus individual work, writing versus verbal exercises, as well utilizing a large span of Bloom’s taxonomy. This would challenge those who needed it, introduce concepts to students that had not been exposed to topics in scientific research, and give a mixture of activities that hit different learning styles. This would hopefully give a sense of comfort to all students at different times. As mentioned earlier, the inclusion of group work would also expose individuals to differing points of view since many of the group assignments were not necessarily fact-based but meant to be thought-provoking.
Another way we incorporated diversity in the classroom was by using peer mentors, or as we call them, Peer Leaders. Peer Leaders are upperclassmen students in the classroom that have been trained in leadership and mentoring techniques through the Integrated Mentoring Program and Core Traning (IMPaCT). In their training, they touched on issues such as student development, social justice, diversity, community and civic responsibility. This was helpful because we did have many first-generation students in our classroom, who seemed overwhelmed or lost on how to approach some issues they encountered on campus. Our Peer Leaders were quick to address those issues and tried to break down any barriers that existed. Another way we tried to enhance the value of diversity in the course was by encouraging students at their tables to get to know and interact with their peer leaders to gain skills and ask for advice for advancing in life and college. They also presented talks at the beginning of class known as Peer Leader Support (PLS) Chats, where they tackled different topics such as course scheduling, certificates, mental health resources, etc. The variety of experiences helped provide students with an enormous amount of opportunities and resources on campus to help acclimate to this new time in their lives.
End of Semester Reflection:
This semester as a whole has pushed me to new levels—in a good way. Beyond gaining the experience of designing and implementing material in a course, I have learned a lot about myself and added a variety of new teaching skills. First, I gained a whole new level of respect for the process of designing a strong lesson plan. There are a lot of steps that go into development from start to finish. One thing I want to apply in the future is to search for published lesson plans and remind myself that the wheel does not need to be reinvented. People have developed great resources with the idea that it will be used by others, so I want to always see if there is someone’s lesson plan aligns with my learning goals (or can be modified to fit my learning goals) for the class I am teaching. Secondly, I learned about the challenges of adapting a lesson to and within the classroom environment. Since we had a very unique classroom environment (the College Library WisCEL space), we had to adapt lesson plans to create a more interactive lesson that could be accomplished with 100-person class. This taught me a lot about modifying lesson plans to fit your own needs, and how to react when it may not work out the way you expect. I had to learn to think on my feet and convince my students that this was the way it was planned all along. Finally, another big takeaway from teaching Exploring Biology was the benefits of including some sort of reflection exercise in any class I teach in the future. I found that through our course reflections, three sentence summaries or muddiest points, we learned a lot about our students and their progress in the course. This was valuable because it allowed us to modify the class to enhance the experience for our students and make sure everyone was on the same page.
A more transferrable skill I acquired was how to structure and support collaborations. Creating a course as a team requires a high level of organization, discipline and responsibility. While in the first day of teaching fellows we developed a group contract, I never understood the value of such a document until you collaborate on a group project as important as a course. I learned the significance of assigning roles within a group since there are a lot of details that need to be addressed. Open communication was key, where everyone tried to stay on top of all of our meetings or make sure to answer emails/texts to each other when needed. We always made sure that others felt supported, especially if a last-minute crisis occurred, and assist on other tasks if needed. As a group, everyone was a part of the decision-making process and supported the final products the students used in the class. While it wasn't easy, we were a strong team and I'm proud of all of our work.
I am personally glad that we were required to write teaching philosophies before starting the Teaching Fellows program. It was great to be able to reflect on what we felt about teaching before this yearlong experience and see how much we have changed since then. After re-reading what I wrote, I found I surprisingly had a fair amount of insight to teaching but I wasn’t able to put proper vocabulary to convey my thoughts (think “universal design” or “inclusive learning environment”). This is a good example of how I feel I’ve progressed over the past year, where I have not so much changed my teaching but rather enhanced it through new knowledge, feedback and reflection. For me, the power of knowledge and feedback transferred to confidence. I’ve gained assurance in my ability to communicate with others whether it be in front of a group of students or giving constructive feedback to other teaching colleagues. I have discovered resources to use if I ever have questions about the classroom. All of this has helped me become a better instructor and team player. I feel I have grown most in being able to critically think about developing a lesson plan and how to properly design a course for the students to get the best learning experience. By learning backwards design, Bloom’s taxonomy, formative and summative assessment techniques, and more, I am able to teach more effectively and see my students accomplish the learning goals set by the course.
I think my strengths fall in planning and approachability. I felt I did a good job creating lessons that engaged the students while encouraging them to think critically. I tried to pick topics that were interesting to them, and received good feedback from students about topics that were relevant to their lives as people and as scientists. On the lesson plan side, I was able to create a lesson plan with built-in flexibility. I tried to address points in the lesson that could either be expanded on or cut if timing was an issue. This was also a challenge that I think all of us faced, but I felt I handled it well. I also felt that I was approachable beyond just the topics of my lessons but rather also with the students. I wanted to keep students focused on the lesson, but also encourage them to think outside the box. I enjoyed teaching about genetically modified organisms because this could lead to a lot of productive discussion where there wasn’t always a “right answer”, but many correct answers, which is very different from most of their current coursework at that level. I think my approachability also was apparent through the reflections. Many students wrote they enjoyed my personal feedback on their reflections, and how my advice or stories helped them feel that we truly cared about them.
Even though I feel that I have come so far this past year in my teaching and mentoring skills, there’s much I can improve on. To me, this experience has kind of been like grad school as a whole—you learn as time goes on there’s still so much you you have yet to understand. By being exposed to educational literature, assessment techniques, teaching-as-research questions and more, I have found many things that can be explored through teaching. Even if something worked in Exploring Biology, it is possible that it won’t work in a future classroom I may teach. While I have worked on this during the Teaching Fellows experience, I want to adapt lesson plans to a more traditional college lecture while still incorporating active learning. Very few of us will be able to have a chance to teach in a classroom like WisCEL’s space for Exploring Biology and likely have larger lecture hall classes. I challenge myself to constantly think of how to incorporate more active and group learning in the lecture hall setting when exposed to different lessons. In addition to this, I know I can improve on being more inclusive in the classroom, with my word choices and even my teaching in general. When people discuss teaching inclusively, they mostly focus on race, ethnicity and gender. However, after learning about a teaching-as-research project dealing with effectively preparing instructors to teach students on the autism spectrum, I learned of so many techniques that I may resort to actually being ineffective towards those students, such as sarcasm or using long verbal instructions. Now I try to make myself consciously aware of visuals and sound in the classroom and communicate clearly to students what is expected of them in a variety of ways.
Overall, this has truly been an invaluable experience I wouldn’t trade for anything. I am looking forward to the next chance I have to implement all the knowledge I’ve gained from my time in Teaching Fellows.
As a way of evaluating whether our learning objectives or goals aligned with the outcome, we were encouraged to reflect throughout our semester teaching as a means of improvement. I kept a word document where I would free write after class to collect my thoughts on how I felt class went and what I could do to improve as an instructor in the future. It also helped me document my growth as an instructor over time. I have found it incredibly useful and I plan to continue such methods in the future. Below are my reflections for teaching throughout the semester. For reflections on my unit, please see the reflections under Artifact #2: Exploring Biology Lesson Plan.
Reflection after 1st two units:
I think we are finally getting into the swing of things. We are better able to predict how long students will need to complete activities and are starting to anticipate certain issues. I am glad I was able to have this time to get a feel for the class before teaching. I’ve been able to see what I think works/doesn’t work in the classroom and I’m able to adjust for my students. I think what appears to work best is having students work in groups on interactive assignments. They seem to like activities most when they have to get up and do things, or are participating in activities that keep them stimulated. The snowball activity is a good example of that, where students got to get up and interact with each other. Two hours is a long time to sit down, and that gave them an opportunity to get up and move.
I find that students do not like worksheets much, and if I were to use worksheets, it would need to be in a more structured setting. It doesn’t work well when students are on different levels and able to disengage so easily. You have to find an activity that challenges everyone while at the same time keeps everyone accountable for something, which is a challenge in itself. Assignments that force them to work in groups typically allow everyone to get on the same page. I also find students really struggle with the core concepts still. I think part of the problem is that they struggle with some of the biology behind the concepts, not necessarily the concepts themselves. I therefore hope to try to enforce the idea that students should looking at the core concept sheet and encourage referencing specific subprinciples while thinking about the core concepts. I think that’s one of the better ways we can get students to understand how everything works together.
I think now I am most nervous about students judging my work. After you have put a lot of work into something I think it is tough to have such a large audience critique you. I know I am very much a person who likes to be liked, and I worry about how I am perceived by others. I think this will be a good lesson and challenge me in new ways.
Reflecting on Diversity in the Classroom:
In Exploring Biology, I did try to employ a diverse set of activities in my unit. I had a mixture of group versus individual work, writing versus verbal exercises, as well utilizing a large span of Bloom’s taxonomy. This would challenge those who needed it, introduce concepts to students that had not been exposed to topics in scientific research, and give a mixture of activities that hit different learning styles. This would hopefully give a sense of comfort to all students at different times. As mentioned earlier, the inclusion of group work would also expose individuals to differing points of view since many of the group assignments were not necessarily fact-based but meant to be thought-provoking.
Another way we incorporated diversity in the classroom was by using peer mentors, or as we call them, Peer Leaders. Peer Leaders are upperclassmen students in the classroom that have been trained in leadership and mentoring techniques through the Integrated Mentoring Program and Core Traning (IMPaCT). In their training, they touched on issues such as student development, social justice, diversity, community and civic responsibility. This was helpful because we did have many first-generation students in our classroom, who seemed overwhelmed or lost on how to approach some issues they encountered on campus. Our Peer Leaders were quick to address those issues and tried to break down any barriers that existed. Another way we tried to enhance the value of diversity in the course was by encouraging students at their tables to get to know and interact with their peer leaders to gain skills and ask for advice for advancing in life and college. They also presented talks at the beginning of class known as Peer Leader Support (PLS) Chats, where they tackled different topics such as course scheduling, certificates, mental health resources, etc. The variety of experiences helped provide students with an enormous amount of opportunities and resources on campus to help acclimate to this new time in their lives.
End of Semester Reflection:
This semester as a whole has pushed me to new levels—in a good way. Beyond gaining the experience of designing and implementing material in a course, I have learned a lot about myself and added a variety of new teaching skills. First, I gained a whole new level of respect for the process of designing a strong lesson plan. There are a lot of steps that go into development from start to finish. One thing I want to apply in the future is to search for published lesson plans and remind myself that the wheel does not need to be reinvented. People have developed great resources with the idea that it will be used by others, so I want to always see if there is someone’s lesson plan aligns with my learning goals (or can be modified to fit my learning goals) for the class I am teaching. Secondly, I learned about the challenges of adapting a lesson to and within the classroom environment. Since we had a very unique classroom environment (the College Library WisCEL space), we had to adapt lesson plans to create a more interactive lesson that could be accomplished with 100-person class. This taught me a lot about modifying lesson plans to fit your own needs, and how to react when it may not work out the way you expect. I had to learn to think on my feet and convince my students that this was the way it was planned all along. Finally, another big takeaway from teaching Exploring Biology was the benefits of including some sort of reflection exercise in any class I teach in the future. I found that through our course reflections, three sentence summaries or muddiest points, we learned a lot about our students and their progress in the course. This was valuable because it allowed us to modify the class to enhance the experience for our students and make sure everyone was on the same page.
A more transferrable skill I acquired was how to structure and support collaborations. Creating a course as a team requires a high level of organization, discipline and responsibility. While in the first day of teaching fellows we developed a group contract, I never understood the value of such a document until you collaborate on a group project as important as a course. I learned the significance of assigning roles within a group since there are a lot of details that need to be addressed. Open communication was key, where everyone tried to stay on top of all of our meetings or make sure to answer emails/texts to each other when needed. We always made sure that others felt supported, especially if a last-minute crisis occurred, and assist on other tasks if needed. As a group, everyone was a part of the decision-making process and supported the final products the students used in the class. While it wasn't easy, we were a strong team and I'm proud of all of our work.
I am personally glad that we were required to write teaching philosophies before starting the Teaching Fellows program. It was great to be able to reflect on what we felt about teaching before this yearlong experience and see how much we have changed since then. After re-reading what I wrote, I found I surprisingly had a fair amount of insight to teaching but I wasn’t able to put proper vocabulary to convey my thoughts (think “universal design” or “inclusive learning environment”). This is a good example of how I feel I’ve progressed over the past year, where I have not so much changed my teaching but rather enhanced it through new knowledge, feedback and reflection. For me, the power of knowledge and feedback transferred to confidence. I’ve gained assurance in my ability to communicate with others whether it be in front of a group of students or giving constructive feedback to other teaching colleagues. I have discovered resources to use if I ever have questions about the classroom. All of this has helped me become a better instructor and team player. I feel I have grown most in being able to critically think about developing a lesson plan and how to properly design a course for the students to get the best learning experience. By learning backwards design, Bloom’s taxonomy, formative and summative assessment techniques, and more, I am able to teach more effectively and see my students accomplish the learning goals set by the course.
I think my strengths fall in planning and approachability. I felt I did a good job creating lessons that engaged the students while encouraging them to think critically. I tried to pick topics that were interesting to them, and received good feedback from students about topics that were relevant to their lives as people and as scientists. On the lesson plan side, I was able to create a lesson plan with built-in flexibility. I tried to address points in the lesson that could either be expanded on or cut if timing was an issue. This was also a challenge that I think all of us faced, but I felt I handled it well. I also felt that I was approachable beyond just the topics of my lessons but rather also with the students. I wanted to keep students focused on the lesson, but also encourage them to think outside the box. I enjoyed teaching about genetically modified organisms because this could lead to a lot of productive discussion where there wasn’t always a “right answer”, but many correct answers, which is very different from most of their current coursework at that level. I think my approachability also was apparent through the reflections. Many students wrote they enjoyed my personal feedback on their reflections, and how my advice or stories helped them feel that we truly cared about them.
Even though I feel that I have come so far this past year in my teaching and mentoring skills, there’s much I can improve on. To me, this experience has kind of been like grad school as a whole—you learn as time goes on there’s still so much you you have yet to understand. By being exposed to educational literature, assessment techniques, teaching-as-research questions and more, I have found many things that can be explored through teaching. Even if something worked in Exploring Biology, it is possible that it won’t work in a future classroom I may teach. While I have worked on this during the Teaching Fellows experience, I want to adapt lesson plans to a more traditional college lecture while still incorporating active learning. Very few of us will be able to have a chance to teach in a classroom like WisCEL’s space for Exploring Biology and likely have larger lecture hall classes. I challenge myself to constantly think of how to incorporate more active and group learning in the lecture hall setting when exposed to different lessons. In addition to this, I know I can improve on being more inclusive in the classroom, with my word choices and even my teaching in general. When people discuss teaching inclusively, they mostly focus on race, ethnicity and gender. However, after learning about a teaching-as-research project dealing with effectively preparing instructors to teach students on the autism spectrum, I learned of so many techniques that I may resort to actually being ineffective towards those students, such as sarcasm or using long verbal instructions. Now I try to make myself consciously aware of visuals and sound in the classroom and communicate clearly to students what is expected of them in a variety of ways.
Overall, this has truly been an invaluable experience I wouldn’t trade for anything. I am looking forward to the next chance I have to implement all the knowledge I’ve gained from my time in Teaching Fellows.