My teaching and mentoring are focused on helping students become independent thinkers so they can perform, evaluate, and communicate chemistry. No matter their career aspirations, each student will benefit from learning to think as a researcher who can form and test hypotheses, evaluate the merit of published scientific work, and clearly communicate their scientific findings. To this end, I emphasize scientific writing and engage students with a variety of pedagogies and active learning techniques to cultivate the skills required for success in our research labs, in internships, as they apply to graduate and professional programs, and in their future careers.

 

My classroom is enriched by the variety of backgrounds my students bring and suffers when all of those voices are not heard. I ensure students are supported so they are able to freely explore new ideas and are not afraid of providing a wrong answer. At the beginning of each semester, I work with students to establish ground rules for our classroom which helps cultivate a respectful and collaborative environment. Additionally, I intentionally incorporate inclusive teaching strategies to help students view themselves as members who enhance our scholarly community. For example, a think-pair-share accommodates students who need time to process internally and gives them space to do so before being asked to share with the class. Because students come to my courses with a variety of backgrounds, I recognize that a single pedagogical approach will not reach each of them and seek to incorporate methods that support a variety of students.

 

All students have the ability to be successful, but they need the right tools to succeed. While remembering and understanding may have been sufficient in high school, college-level courses require students to engage at higher-levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy by analyzing, evaluating, and creating. College courses thus require a different set of study strategies. In introductory courses, I equip my students with an arsenal of metacognitive learning strategies to help students engage with course material at the necessary higher level. Metacognition is the ability to think about thinking – to be consciously aware of oneself as a problem solver and to monitor and regulate mental processes. I introduce these strategies following the first exam when it is most evident that previous strategies will be ineffective, and students are willing to try new ones. One of the strategies I challenge students to adopt is previewing. A student can preview a lecture by doing the assigned reading and writing down questions the lecture could answer. By previewing the material, students engage with it beyond a quick read and will be more prepared to assimilate new information with concepts they previously learned in other courses. In another strategy, students assess their understanding by teaching the material to real or imagined audiences. In trying to explain concepts so others can understand, students become aware of gaps in their own knowledge and can then attempt to clear up their confusion themselves or by asking for help. Additionally, I teach students to work on questions from problem sets without using solved examples as a guide. If students invest time trying to solve a problem, they are more likely to be able to solve similar problems later without guidance. Using worked examples as a guide merely teaches students to copy content, not to assimilate it. As students become aware of how they learn effectively, they are able to choose methods that are most efficient for themselves. Empowering students to make these choices leads to the confidence and independence necessary for a scientist.

 

I take regular formative assessments (problem sets, projects, reading quizzes) to monitor student learning and to provide a mechanism for adjustments to be made by me as well as by my students. When I recognize where student understanding is lacking, I am able to fine-tune my lessons to better address these concepts. Additionally, by providing timely feedback on low-stakes assessments, I set clear expectations for the course and provide opportunities for students to learn from their mistakes. Typically, I also take three summative assessments (midterm and final examinations) throughout a semester to assess student learning. In my assessments, I utilize a combination of quantitative and conceptual questions to ensure students have a deep understanding of course material and are prepared to apply the knowledge in settings that reach beyond coursework.

 

I plan to introduce students in upper-level physical chemistry courses to computational chemistry via a project where students perform quantum chemical calculations to uncover the mechanisms of small catalytic systems. As an expert in the field, I’m able to coach students as they learn to evaluate various computational techniques within the context of recent literature examples. Regardless of career aspirations, being able to read scientific literature, evaluate the merit of that literature, and communicate science clearly will be an important part of their job and an important part of being an engaged science-literate citizen. Therefore, I will couple the project with an opportunity to develop scientific writing skills and practice delivering research talks. Allowing students to choose the topic of their project will enhance autonomy and give them a greater sense of ownership over their work. These projects will not only reinforce quantum chemical concepts learned in class, but also enable students to partake in an authentic research experience as students become experts on their chosen topic.

 

To help facilitate the transition from pupil to researcher, I teach students in my courses as well as in my laboratory to evaluate data instead of trying to arrive at the “right” answer and I place an emphasis on working as a member of a team. In the classroom, team-based learning provides flexibility and helps students engage with the material on a higher-level. Students can learn to relate new material to foundational concepts by teaching a new concept to a partner or can learn to evaluate whether an answer is reasonable by debating within a small group. By allowing students to help each other, students get the chance to explain and connect concepts leading to better understanding of course material. I view mentoring as an extension of my instructional practices and find my learning objectives applicable beyond the traditional classroom setting. In the laboratory, my students will have the opportunity to present research regularly and to train new lab mates. In the research setting, students get to present and teach concepts in a formal setting where they are the experts. Having ownership over the work and encouraging them to engage in scholarly discussion emboldens students to test out hypotheses and start putting ideas into practice. I use cooperative learning techniques to help reinforce important ideas while teaching students to value each other as colleagues both in the classroom and in the laboratory.

 

In summary, whether in introductory courses, upper-level courses, or my laboratory, all my pedagogical strategies are dedicated to developing students into independent thinkers and setting them up to be successful wherever they go. I approach my teaching and mentoring the same way that I do my research – by continual evaluation and adjustment. My teaching is not static, and I’m always on the hunt for opportunities to develop as an instructor and mentor. I keep abreast of current chemical education literature and try out new strategies for myself by adapting and evaluating them for use in my own classroom. I’m constantly seeking to improve, and I solicit feedback from both students and colleagues, adjusting based on insightful suggestions. I look forward to continued development as an instructor throughout my career.