Education Tenants

View my experience with five important Tenants of Education:

Innovative Teaching Strategies, Standards for Assessment

Culturally Responsive Teaching, Service to Advance Teaching Excellence, and Professional Development

Innovative Teaching Strategies

I am passionate about the complex inner-workings that create the rich world of life around and within us. As I began teaching, I learned that my passion extended beyond biology to the inspiring individuals that filled my classrooms. My students were thirsty for knowledge and eager to make a difference: first-generation students navigating the college environment, adult learners seeking to provide for families, veterans looking to rebuild lives, and immigrants intent on strengthening our communities. I discovered the privilege of serving these brilliantly curious minds, who have and will continue to change the world. I wondered, “How can I possibly do justice to the great responsibility before me?” Maximizing my impact requires innovation at every turn. Some of my innovative teaching methods include community-based learning, long-term collaborations with community partners, guided inquiry-learning, and novel undergraduate research. One research project is the use of genetics tools to study a pathogen implicated in world-wide amphibian decline. This work won the National Science Foundation’s Community College Innovation Challenge, where a team of students and I went to DC to present at Capitol Hill. Other areas have included collaboration with the US Fish and Wildlife Service in detection of emerald ash borer, monitoring muskrat populations, and quantifying climate driven habitat change. I used community-based learning to pair college and middle school students to build cell models, dissect sheep brains, and explore careers. These opportunities encourage students to engage with the content and their community. My animated and engaging lecture style connects with hands-on activities that encourage students to process and apply what we are learning. I create activities in the POGIL style (Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning, fondly renamed it “teaching with your mouth shut”), which promotes critical thinking skills and peer-based learning. I use case studies, classroom discussions, and hands-on learning modules such as Play-doh epithelium, candy bar phylogeny, and M&M ion gradients. I engage students in a distinctively creative and evolving dynamic style, inviting authentic relationships and deep community learning, which are inherent in equity-based education. While these principles may be easily applied in face-to-face courses, their extension into the online asynchronous format is dreaded by many. The pandemic ushered in a suite of technological advances that gave online education the opportunity for exponential effectiveness. In developing online lecture videos, I found tools that would allow me to incorporate my whole-body approach to acting out biological principles while capturing my dynamic facial expressions and retained style of drawing diagrams piece-by-piece as the biological story unfolds. The resulting graphs, pictures, and other visual representations are nested within an organized note set. I created chapter video playlists that total nearly 80 hours over the two-course anatomy and physiology sequence. Students say they feel connected and learn material as they listen, watch, write, and draw along with me. The opportunity to pause, rewind, re-watch, and slow down videos is important for English language learners and students with learning disabilities. Students also appreciate my comedic approach, stating lectures are “fun and engaging," and that the “humor in her teaching” helps to “remember complex concepts.” A student once exclaimed, “This is the most entertaining two hours of my week!” Other innovations include a series of hands-on interactive activities, assignments, assessments for the online teaching environment, and a unique introductory student survey that facilitates formation of meaningful relationships. Innovation is the key to effective teaching. As instructors, we need to reassess and adapt not only the content of our courses, but how to best engage and empower students.

Standards for Assessment

When I think of teaching from an equity-minded framework, it includes the use of assessment strategies that honor the majority of world cultures which thrive through collective rather than individual learning and emphasize oral rather than written tradition. Under the encouragement of two learning communities, and particularly one in which we discussed Joel Feldman’s “Grading for Equity,” I have significantly increased rigorous student learning and performance assessments that incorporate these approaches as opposed to relying on exam-based assessments alone. For example, my labs include collaborative research assignments. Students work in groups to apply what they have learned by designing experiments, pooling data for analysis, and presenting their work. In some courses, I have student groups demonstrate their learning over the two-semester sequence by researching a physiological disorder. This requires cumulative knowledge and integration of a year of study to describe system-wide physiological impacts of the disorder. Groups prepare presentations for professionals and hands-on demonstrations for children. These methods honor both the collaborative nature of learning and the ability to communicate the story in both written and oral formats to a variety of audiences. Students routinely appreciate the variety of assignments and assessments, stating that I “provide many and different ways of learning that are obviously planned out to ensure the students’ ability to understand and succeed.” In addition to project-based group assessments, I evaluate learning through student videos of laboratory work, drawing activities, discussions, and essay style exams that provide alternative methods of knowledge demonstration. While there are cumulative assessments in my courses, there are also opportunities for formative assessment. Weekly quizzes with multiple attempts keep students on track for summative projects and unit exams. Laboratory quizzes with large pools of questions offer students unlimited attempts to demonstrate learning. I even reward students with a “persistence bonus” if they take a lab quiz 5 times, earning an A at least twice. Students who learn quickly may only take the quiz once, but English language learners and students with learning disabilities may take the quiz dozens of times. Both persist until mastery. I encourage and utilize student feedback frequently, implementing surveys during weeks 2 and 8 asking students to evaluate their own learning and my teaching, allowing for adaptation within the term. I attribute my high student ratings to my extensive application of student feedback during and between every semester.

Culturally Responsive Teaching

In 2022, I participated in the System Office’s Equity Learning Community on Culturally Responsive Teaching for Biology faculty. We discussed assessment, laboratory curriculum design, and maintaining outcomes while responding to student needs. We shared resources and sought to improve our classroom experience. Inver Hills had many faculty in these learning communities, and we extended the experience by forming our own learning community. We read Grading for Equity and considered how to adapt our classroom practices. These learning communities impacted my teaching, illuminating new dimensions of classroom equity. I use this framework to organize my efforts to work with students of diverse backgrounds effectively. In the first learning community, we read Hammond’s Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain. I learned that 80% of the world’s cultures emphasize collective over individual learning and oral over written tradition. Through the Hartnell Equity Rubric, I learned the tenants of culturally responsive teaching include authentic relationships, a strong sense of community, and engaging students. As a result, I overhauled two of my courses. An example of innovative teaching guided by culturally responsive techniques involves how I changed my biology lab experience. During the pandemic, I used commercially available lab kits. In the next year, I developed 34 inquiry-based labs with associated instructional materials, such as video demonstrations, written instructions, data tables, and video assignments. Our department built the kits and the students’ cost was only 15% of the commercial kits. Lab kits include dissection safety equipment, dissection specimens, and other materials (e.g. blood typing and assembly of mammal skeleton from owl pellets). Students submit videos of their lab work for peer review and every submission receives a video reply from me ( Students have the option to contribute creatively to class photo competitions. I create authentic relationships by establishing connections with students. At the start of the term, students are invited to share about themselves in a survey. I invite them to teach me to greet them in their native language. In a course of 52 students, there were 19 languages! The survey includes strategic questions that help me intervene early to recommend services relating to mental health, financial aid, study strategies, time management, accessibility services, and technology needs. Students state that I “genuinely care about student success,” “am always interested in the student,” “make sure we beat obstacles as a team,” and “am responsive and compassionate.” The biology department implemented this survey as our equity action project. I am hopeful this early intervention will facilitate student success department wide. One anecdote of my success in creating a culturally responsive classroom, by means of community, occurred at our research conference. Though I was meeting my students in person for the first time, there was laughter and a sense of camaraderie. A faculty colleague commented to me that her online students were missing out on personal connections compared to my students, assuming we’d been meeting in person. I replied, “These are my online students.” We’d been deepening connection and belonging all semester through routine meaningful interactions. A quantitative outcome of my efforts is demonstrated in my students’ equity data. Faculty at Inver Hills review this data each year to guide our assessment. This year, my data showed a decreased equity gap by 4-15% across my courses, including increases in student success for all groups with substantial sample sizes: black/African +24%, Asian +23%, and white +15%. I am proud of the system’s work to reach Equity 2030. I am grateful to the colleagues who walked with and encouraged me to make lasting impacts on our students’ lives.

Service to Advance
Teaching Excellence

When I began teaching, generous colleagues greeted me with open arms and invited me to join their endeavors. They took me to conferences, included me in research teams, and involved me in national undergraduate research initiatives. I vowed to “pay it forward” by helping future colleagues advance teaching excellence. One opportunity to pay it forward is serving as a mentor to visiting adjunct faculty. Adjunct faculty are filled with new ideas for the classroom, and they seek support regarding details of effective teaching. I have partnered with four faculty, in mentorships, sharing approaches for course organization, alternative assessment strategies, and student communication. I know that investments made in me will carry forward in others. Of the work that I have shared on an institution and system level, I am most proud of Innovative Teaching Fellowship project with the human anatomy and physiology lab kits and instructional materials. Once the project was complete, I shared my strategies, technology tools and methods with others. I presented the work in many settings, including Inver Hills Course Design Institute, System Office Campus Academic Technology Team Meeting, Teach Together Minnesota Conference, Inver Hills Professional Development Day, and the System Office Leadership Council. I hope the work has inspired further creativity in colleagues throughout the MN State system. I have served the college in other ways, including as a member of the student success day committee, teaching and technology committee, and four hiring committees. I served as faculty advisor for the biology club, a chaperone on a biology service-learning course in Puerto Rico, and a teaching circle leader. My largest contribution to our campus community is as the coordinator for the Inver Hills Annual Research Conference. This two-day conference provides an opportunity for integrative learning as students engage in scholarly presentation across disciplines. Under my leadership, the event expanded with over 800 participants, hundreds of student presenters, poster and oral sessions, student panels, and key-note speakers. As the coordinator of this event, I supervise all aspects of committee work (with a great team!) including recruiting participants, creating sample assignments and templates for colleagues, developing the theme, inviting keynote speakers, managing our budget, coordinating marketing, recruiting volunteers, training presentation moderators, organizing details of room reservations, food service, and student poster printing. It is a substantial task, but it is the contribution that brings me great satisfaction because I get to see students truly shine and rise to the challenge. A highlight of last year’s conference was when my students presented on the physiology of Type II Diabetes. The discussion was dynamic, with a student who grew up in Southern Sudan sharing that diabetes was thought of as the “disease of the rich.” One of the presenters shared that this was also her experience growing up in Puerto Rico. All present were thinking deeply about both the physiology and about the social factors that predispose populations to the disease. In another session, an autistic student presented on gender differences in autism. She was nervous and almost didn’t give the presentation. She persisted, with faculty encouragement, and did well. The presentation led to a spirited discussion with the audience about their experiences of autism, including societal and medical perspectives. It is motivating to see students thrive and develop skills in scholarly discussion, which in turn propels curiosity. The way students are empowered at this event often brings tears to my eyes.

Professional Development

Throughout my career, I have maintained a high level of engagement in professional development activities and opportunities, both in regards to content and teaching practices. I have been involved in the Human Anatomy and Physiology Society, attending both regional and national conferences, and have served on the scholarship review board. I am also a member of the National Association of Biology Teachers, Ecological Society of America, and Minnesota Master Naturalists. I frequently take advantage of local education opportunities, such as the HHMI training for biology educators at Normandale, a case studies training at Anoka Ramsey Community College, and POGIL curriculum design workshops at Minneapolis Community and Technical College. I also attend NED courses and other webinars, most recently focused on how to use AI tools in our classrooms and how to talk to students about academic integrity. I have also sought deepening of content expertise and teaching methods by connecting with colleagues across the state and country. I worked with colleagues on the North Shore of Lake Superior in bird banding studies and frog population monitoring with Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center and developing a MN Master Naturalist course with North House Folk School and the University of Minnesota Extensions. I have travelled to Alaska to work with colleagues in fisheries research and management. I travelled to Finger Lakes Community College in upstate New York to shadow a field course using camera trapping technology. I have worked with local research agencies, such as the US Fish and Wildlife Service and Three Rivers Park District to develop projects that community college students can contribute meaningful data. The research that I did with students leading the National Science Foundation Community College Innovation Challenge took us to Washington DC. Much of our week there was focused on training and development. Faculty research supervisors participated in intense training and planning designed to assist in community college undergraduate research. On my sabbatical, I interviewed biology colleagues at 8 colleges regarding effective online teaching practices. I have stayed connected with my biology equity learning community to brainstorm solutions we encounter. I recently submitted a course to the Center for Teaching and Learning Peer Review Program. Three exceptional colleagues dug deep into my course, and I implemented dozens of changes at their suggestion. Now, I routinely get positive feedback from students about the organization and clarity of the course, as well as the effectiveness of the variety of engaging hands-on ways to learn, all of which were influenced by the peer review program. Also, through the Center for Teaching and Learning, I enjoyed the opportunity to receive support as an Innovative Teaching Scholar, where I formed a learning community with other scholars in the program. I also attended and presented at a Center for Teaching and Learning Course Design institute. In the 2022-23 academic year, I was part of an Equity Learning Community specific to biology faculty across the state. This course, with weekly readings, and bi-weekly zoom discussions has made dramatic shift in the way I approach course design. In addition to training and development in these formal avenues, I deepen my contented expertise through reading biology works such as those by Siddhartha Mukherjee, Carl Zimmer, Oliver Sacks. I am also an avid biology podcast listener, where I learn about advances in biological research. The investments I make in learning about advances in biology must make an impact, because students state that I “genuinely enjoy teaching” and “am incredibly passionate about the subject matter.” All this professional development and growth fuels my eagerness to create classroom communities where curiosity is inspired and students are empowered.