Lessons Learned: The Keck Postdoctoral Fellowship Experience Xenia Morin May 2004.

Lessons Learned: The Keck Postdoctoral Fellowship Experience

Xenia Morin

May 2004

Keck Postdoctoral FellowshipGoal: Training College Teacher/Scholars

Mentored ResearchTeachin

gExperience

Supervisory ExperienceSupervising Research

Teaching

Mentored Research

What I have learned…

Students come eager to learn; some are eager to talk and to discuss

Classroom dynamics are different in all-women classes versus mixed classes

The assessment part of teaching is difficult to do well and time consuming!

Teaching is very emotional Some students are “received knowers” and need to be

encouraged to think and analyze Students love field trips…. My research postdocs did little to prepare me for the teaching

role of a liberal arts faculty member

What I have learned…

Students love field trips….

Fuch’s Di Historia1551

Blackwell’s A Curious Herbal1782

What I have learned… Students come eager to learn

• Most want to be successful and will rise to a challenge, sometimes to their own physical detriment (sleep deprivation; eating disorders)

• Be open to different learning styles or abilities

• Get excited about trying different styles of teaching, both in and out of class e.g. “Fun Fridays”

• Get to know the students personally and this will help you to guide their learning

e.g. summer student research

What I have learned…

Classroom dynamics are different in all-women classes versus mixed classes (even when men make up 10% of class; Bio210)

• Most women, although not all, are much less likely to voice their opinion in mixed classrooms

• Think-write-pair-share exercises reinvigorate discussion by giving a safe environment to test out initial ideas before sharing in large groups

• Our women in science and math need to be encouraged to talk and discuss

• Classroom size and space matter! Choose carefully!

What I have learned…

Teaching includes assessment which is difficult to do well and time consuming!

Multiple ways of assessment can be useful: written, quantitative, visual (e.g. structural representation), and public speaking

Not all assignments need to be graded carefully

Some forms of assessment can be useful feedback tools

…Still have to figure out how to reconcile my desire to assess in certain ways and the amount of time and energy I have!

What I have learned…. Some students are “received knowers”

• I have learned to deal with plagarism

• Sadly, some students just want to cut and paste from internet resources, sometimes edit, and present as their own work: the internet has become the best tool for “received knowers” (learning to deal with plagarism); students need much more guidance here!

• As teachers we must encourage our students to grow and develop their own voices and thoughts

e.g. Position papers (Bio210); Designing laboratory protocol (CHEM242 lab); analysis of scientific papers (CHEM546)

My Background

1985 B.Sc. in Biochemistry, U. of Toronto• Summer research experience

1992 Ph.D. in Biochemistry, Dept. of Biochemistry, Molecular and Cell Biology, Cornell University• Always knew teaching was my passion• Started Grad Teaching Workshops

1992-1996 Post-doc experience at EMBL, Germany and Hospital for Sick Children • Research focus due to nature of fellowships

2001- present Keck Fellowship was re-entry to work force

Introductory Courses

My assignment: to teach the biochemistry and chemistry section of an Introductory Biology (Bio101 Fall) course to undergraduates and post-bacs

Challenges: convince biology students that understanding some chemistry is important yet many will only be starting introductory chemistry

large class sizes, lecture format; variety of backgrounds

Stimulation: break up classes with “Fun Fridays”• used hands-on activities (e.g. building molecules out of

marshmallows and toothpicks), • songs (Cold Spring Harbor Books), • mamba-line (demonstrate primary structure of proteins)• The ribosome and protein translation done with students

Biochemistry Laboratory

Assignment: teach the laboratory section of an introductory biochemistry class (Chem242)

Challenges: content vs. concepts; introducing new• Time and energy!

Stimulation: • Model good technique

• Use smart classrooms for computer-based work

• Create a variety of labs that have good visual appeal

• Change lab partners midway through semester;

• Field trip to BioMol

Non-Majors Course

Assignment: Teach Biology and Public Policy (Bio210)

Challenges: writing course; students want lots of discussion but class size is large (46 students); classroom dynamics; get up to speed on policy issues and ethical considerations; don’t want to scare the students too much!

Stimulation: • Think-Write-Pair-Share exercises• Videos: lot of good material here• Planned debate

• Introduce the ethical dimension (Bioethics Workshop)