Welcome to my GRAD 550 online teaching portfolio! Here you'll find my teaching philosophy specific to online instruction and a curated selection of materials I would use to teach an asynchronous, upper division class I made up (but would have loved to take as an undergraduate). Beneath the teaching philosophy you'll find a link to a course syllabus, which includes learning outcomes, a few examples of multimedia that I would assign alongside recorded lectures, and links to a formative assessment and summative assessment of student learning outcomes.
Philosophy Statement:
While there are many ways to help students learn, face-to-face teaching is somewhat limited by the materials that can be used, and by the time it takes to source and prepare outside materials before lessons start. The advantage of in-person classes is that instructors can adjust explanations and examples as needed in real time while they watch students forge connections. Because online teaching is done remotely, teachers do not get to observe their students as they absorb material. However, the materials available for online instruction are nearly limitless. Students can seek out as many explanations or examples as they need until a concept makes sense. As such, an important component of any online class should be teaching students how to find high quality learning materials.
My role as a teacher in an online setting would be providing a selection of sources that I think students would benefit from and teaching the students to find other reliable sources for themselves. My online teaching style can be compared to a shepherd guiding her flock. I like to set my students out in a direction, watch them explore, and herd them back to the path if they stray too far.
Furthermore, I think that students learn best when they can explore and think carefully about a topic on their own, and then relay what they learned to others. Fostering this can be tricky in an online setting where students do not get to see each other in class, and where they might be participating from different parts of the world. I intend to lean heavily on connecting students with one another so that they can work and learn together. As such, most of the assignments in my course involve group work or peer feedback.
Additionally, I plan on assigning low stakes quizzes and projects that operate on lower levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy in order to cement basic concepts for each section of the class. However, I think that memorable courses are those that provide instruction and information, but also encourage students to think things through on their own. Therefore, the bulk of the points in any class I teach online will come from projects involving critical thinking and searching for credible information that was not necessarily given in class. Finally, I think that the most important thing a science class can do is teach students how to conduct and research science. I hope that my approach of encouraging students to search out their own sources, alongside and as a part of projects that involve careful consideration and recording of ideas helps meet this goal.
My role as a teacher in an online setting would be providing a selection of sources that I think students would benefit from and teaching the students to find other reliable sources for themselves. My online teaching style can be compared to a shepherd guiding her flock. I like to set my students out in a direction, watch them explore, and herd them back to the path if they stray too far.
Furthermore, I think that students learn best when they can explore and think carefully about a topic on their own, and then relay what they learned to others. Fostering this can be tricky in an online setting where students do not get to see each other in class, and where they might be participating from different parts of the world. I intend to lean heavily on connecting students with one another so that they can work and learn together. As such, most of the assignments in my course involve group work or peer feedback.
Additionally, I plan on assigning low stakes quizzes and projects that operate on lower levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy in order to cement basic concepts for each section of the class. However, I think that memorable courses are those that provide instruction and information, but also encourage students to think things through on their own. Therefore, the bulk of the points in any class I teach online will come from projects involving critical thinking and searching for credible information that was not necessarily given in class. Finally, I think that the most important thing a science class can do is teach students how to conduct and research science. I hope that my approach of encouraging students to search out their own sources, alongside and as a part of projects that involve careful consideration and recording of ideas helps meet this goal.
Mammalian Adaptations course materials:
Sample Syllabus
The syllabus is linked in the text above in pdf form. It includes course description, learning outcomes, instructor communication instructions, point breakdown for the course, the course schedule, course policies, and a list of resources.
The syllabus is linked in the text above in pdf form. It includes course description, learning outcomes, instructor communication instructions, point breakdown for the course, the course schedule, course policies, and a list of resources.
Multimedia Examples
Examples of externally sourced videos and podcasts assigned alongside short video lectures for given course segments.
For hot environment section: Inside Nature's Giants camel episode**
For diving mammal section: Inside Nature's Giants whale episode**
**I highly recommend this entire series but avoid it if animal dissections are not your thing!!
For domestication section: Outside/In podcast about breeding fancy cats
Examples of externally sourced videos and podcasts assigned alongside short video lectures for given course segments.
For hot environment section: Inside Nature's Giants camel episode**
For diving mammal section: Inside Nature's Giants whale episode**
**I highly recommend this entire series but avoid it if animal dissections are not your thing!!
For domestication section: Outside/In podcast about breeding fancy cats
Formative Assessments
Sample formative assessments for this class include primary literature review worksheets, which ask students to think critically about each section of a chosen peer reviewed article. Following the reading assignment students will be asked for form new hypotheses based on what they read and write mini papers addressing their chosen question. The reading assignment and parts of the mini paper are designed to be completed individually, but the bulk of the writing for the mini paper is to be done in groups of about four. The group element of the project is intended to promote discussion of ideas and to practice working cooperatively, as often times scientific studies are a team effort. Both of these activities are intended to encourage critical thinking when reading and writing scientific work. They operate on the 'evaluate' and 'create' levels of Bloom's Taxonomy.
Other formative assessments in this class include low-stakes quizzes and animal adaptation brainstorming exercises at the end of each week. These assessments test at the 'analyze' and 'understand' levels of Bloom's Taxonomy.
Sample formative assessments for this class include primary literature review worksheets, which ask students to think critically about each section of a chosen peer reviewed article. Following the reading assignment students will be asked for form new hypotheses based on what they read and write mini papers addressing their chosen question. The reading assignment and parts of the mini paper are designed to be completed individually, but the bulk of the writing for the mini paper is to be done in groups of about four. The group element of the project is intended to promote discussion of ideas and to practice working cooperatively, as often times scientific studies are a team effort. Both of these activities are intended to encourage critical thinking when reading and writing scientific work. They operate on the 'evaluate' and 'create' levels of Bloom's Taxonomy.
Other formative assessments in this class include low-stakes quizzes and animal adaptation brainstorming exercises at the end of each week. These assessments test at the 'analyze' and 'understand' levels of Bloom's Taxonomy.
Summative Assessment
The final project in this class is a poster session. Students will be asked to conduct their own research on a species of their choosing and present the information they find in a visual format. The goal of this project is for students to practice both finding research articles, and organize findings into a coherent format so that they can teach their classmates about the species they chose. Posters will be shared on Padlet and students will be expected to view and comment on each others' work.
The final project in this class is a poster session. Students will be asked to conduct their own research on a species of their choosing and present the information they find in a visual format. The goal of this project is for students to practice both finding research articles, and organize findings into a coherent format so that they can teach their classmates about the species they chose. Posters will be shared on Padlet and students will be expected to view and comment on each others' work.