Working with a team of researchers at the Kent Farm Banding Station at Indiana University
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Fixing up the aviary with undergraduate, Sammi Dietz
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Experience
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I was the principal instructor for the upper-level Animal Behavior course at IU in the fall of 2017. I incorporated active learning techniques such as problem-based learning, think-pair-share, and literature discussions to engage the students as scientists rather than passive learners. I have also been the associate instructor for an upper-level Biology of Birds course and an introductory Ecology and Evolution course.
I designed a syllabus for a class that I hope to teach in the future, called “A changing world: understanding how climate change affects ecology, behavior, and evolution". |
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Pedagogy Training
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In the fall of 2015, I enrolled in an online course, “Evidence-based STEM teaching”, which was offered as a collaboration through Michigan State University, Vanderbilt University, Boston University, and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. During the course, I learned how to effectively engage students in active learning techniques and how to design a syllabus so that lessons, assignments, and assessments align with the learning goals for the course. During the online class, I was also involved in a learning community of professors and graduate students; we met once a month to discuss new techniques we had learned from the class and how we would apply them to our own classrooms.
During my time at IU, I have also worked with the Center for Integrative Teaching and Learning (CITL). In 2016, I designed a workshop for graduate students on effective lesson designs with Katie Kearns, a CITL Instructional Consultant. As part of the graduate student orientation in 2017, I co-designed another workshop with a fellow graduate student on leading lab or discussion sessions as a teaching assistant. |
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Mentoring
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I have mentored five undergraduate students on independent projects during my graduate career on various project related to my dissertation. Two of my undergraduates, Sammi Dietz and Ashlee Webb, were funded through NSF Research Experience for Undergraduate programs in 2014 and in 2017 respectively. Sammi presented her REU research at the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB) conference in 2015. Sammi is currently working on her Master’s at Florida State University in Biology. Ashlee is currently working on an NSF-funded project in Costa Rica and was accepted to the IU Anthropology PhD program.
Additionally, I have mentored three IU undergraduates, Katelyn Doyle, Danielle Williams, and Jack Hardman, on independent research projects. Katelyn is a Cox Research Scholar and she completed an REU program at University of Southern California (USC) in 2017. We are currently working on a project she designed on PCB contamination in urban versus non-urban songbirds. Danielle and Jack received research credit for their independent projects. Danielle is currently working on her Master’s at Penn State University and Jack is applying to medical school. |
Undergraduate, Katelyn Doyle, pulling a junco from a mist net
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Working with my undergraduate, Sammi Dietz, in the field
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