“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.”
—Maya Angelou
Innovation comes from trying new things and exploring new ways of delivering content or designing assessments. I frequently experiment in my teaching, trying out new teaching approaches, classroom technology or novel assessment approaches.
Course redesign of HSCI 212 - Perspectives on Infectious and Immunological Diseases.
Converting an epidemiology lecture into a published disease outbreak case study HSCI 212 - Perspectives on Infectious and Immunological Diseases that was published (by NCCSTS, Gastronomic Gastroenteritis).
Creating comprehensive study guides to support numerous guest lectures.
Designing an assessment in which students wrote case studies to teach each other (HSCI 212 - Perspectives on Infectious and Immunological Diseases and HSCI 482 - Senior Seminar in Infectious Disease).
Using journal author guidelines for students to write a review article (HSCI 477 - Seminar in Vaccine Immunology).
Adding consistent homework, group discussion and problem-solving components to HSCI 338 - Animal Virology
Collaborating with students to design their own course experience (HSCI 482 - Senior Seminar in Infectious Disease).
Using midterm surveys to create dialogue with students about the course (HSCI 482 - Senior Seminar in Infectious Disease and HSCI 427 - Immune Responses in Health and Disease).
iClicker epidemiology to perform a mock clinical trial in HSCI 100 - Human Biology.
Uncovering student reading practices of primary literature.
Developing interventions to improve student reading of primary literature piloted in HSCI 212 - Perspectives on Infectious and Immunological Diseases.
Decolonial approach to STEM education in HSCI 100 - Human Biology
These are just some examples, I go into much more detail in the scholarship section and individual course portfolios.
I believe embracing technology in the classroom makes more sense than policing it. For example, my "no cell phone" policies failed dismally at the start of my teaching career, so I started using them as engagement tools. Since then, I have embraced technology as a teaching tool and believe in adapting to and developing an understanding of new trends. As a tech-savvy educator, I:
Incorporated various learning management platforms into my teaching such as Canvas, Crowdmark, and Zoom.
Hosted technology workshops and talks for faculty on integrating technology into teaching.
Developed proficiency in various learning management and course engagement technologies such as Top hat (HSCI 212, HSCI 100), iClicker (HSCI 100), Mediasite (HSCI 440), Packback (HSCI 100), Camtasia (HSCI 440), iMovie (HSCI 440), and Socrative (HSCI 220, HSCI/MBB 326, HSCI/MBB 427).
Experimented with assessment techniques that ask students to critically evaluate results from tools like ChatGPT, allowing them to identify strengths and weaknesses of the tool (HSCI/MBB 326).
Ask students to report how they use AI-assisted writing in projects.
In the last few terms, I have implemented my classroom survey system. This is now my main way of collecting feedback on my teaching. It feels more natural as an authentic dialogue between the students and myself.
These are administered mid-term and at the end of the course and comprise a few open-ended questions that allow students to provide qualitative responses. I enhance the dialogue by telling the students the results of the surveys and how I will address their concerns.
This process has been a really important change in how I gain information from the students, and it's more collaborative in terms of how I manage the class. I have included some examples of survey results and how I respond to them in the course portfolios.
Student work is another important piece of feedback I use to improve my teaching. For example, when I watch students presenting papers or other work in class, I can see where I need to enhance instruction or what has stuck with the students. This is a less formal process; it's dynamic and happens at the moment.
Historically, we have used course experience surveys to collect information about "teaching quality." These are university-administered instruments with some faculty-specific questions. It is known that these surveys have many problems, including biases against women, LGBTQ+ folks, and people of colour, (reviewed by Uttl, 2024 & Heffernan, 2022)
I am skeptical of these surveys due to low response rates, poor quality responses, and a disconnecting sense of anonymity. I receive different ratings depending on the type of course I am teaching. For example, sizeable lower-division service courses are frequently scored lower than upper-division specialty courses and seminars. Courses with challenging content or a newly implemented experiment can impact my ratings.
Since my survey feedback system is relatively new, I have included some samples of course experience surveys in the course portfolios and described how I addressed the feedback presented within.
Uttl B. Student Evaluation of Teaching (SET): Why the emperor has no clothes and what we should do about it. Human Arenas [Internet]. 2023 Sep 8; Available from: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42087-023-00361-7
Heffernan T. Sexism, racism, prejudice, and bias: a literature review and synthesis of research surrounding student evaluations of courses and teaching. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education/Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education [Internet]. 2021 Mar 6;47(1):144–54. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2021.1888075
Building this dossier has helped me reflect and identify some consistent patterns in my teaching in areas where I am performing well and where I can improve.
I show infectious passion for my content that students find engaging.
I am able to explain difficult concept with clarity and bring concepts back to a big picture view.
I am a strong facilitator and create safe-feeling classroom environments.
I use innovative and diverse assessment strategies that allow students to show their work in multiple ways.
I am highly approachable and easy for students to talk to.
Students value skills I teach in reading primary literature.
Students value active learning opportunities that I provide (degree varies by course).
Students appreciate recorded lectures in lecture style course.
Students enjoy the discussion-based courses I have designed.
Students find my canvas modules easy to navigate.
Less is more. I have historically tried to accomplish too much in a single class. Too many elements can confuse students, so I am simplifying course designs.
It is important to integrate active learning strategies in all classes and foster a culture that supports this approach.
Consider a flipped classroom approach and intentionally develop a classroom community to enhance class attendance.
Stay on track with the schedule listed in the syllabus. In some courses, I incorrectly estimate time for a topic and fall behind. This confuses the students. I have gotten much better at this.
Provide more formative assessment opportunities in class and more practice quizzes.
Consistent alignment between lectures and assessments, especially exams.
Consistently communicate learning outcomes for all content.
Add more mixed media forms.
Modernize the appearance of my course materials.
Spread assessments throughout the term.
Provide more structure for inter-student discussion for primary literature presentations.
Add some smaller assessments.
Balance information delivered by me and students.
Refine assessment descriptions for students.
I don't teach lab courses that frequently - I have only taught 3 sections in my entire teaching career in FHS.
Work more on bridging theory with practice.
Work on tools and approaches to help students with lab reports.