I recognize that nurturing the next generation of well-informed critical thinkers through effective teaching is one of the most important contributions I can make to address challenges in climate and marine science. I have taught at all sorts of universities, which has helped me become familiar with contemporary ideas on the science of learning and provided valuable insight into what pedagogical methods best implement them in any educational setting. Many of these methods can be distilled down to three major ideas: engagement, feedback and transfer, which I try to build into my courses.

Engagement
Students have a hard time learning when TikTok is so much more engaging than class material. Given that there is little hope of remembering content you are not paying attention to, I structure my classes to focus student attention and encourage engagement. I start with learning goals that help students identify the purpose of a lesson and then build activities that require students to interact with class material and each other. I strive to create a dynamic and varied learning experience in which no one can “hide in the back row.” Classes conclude with a reflection on the main take away points of a session, which provides another round of engagement that helps solidify class material.

Feedback
Frequent and timely feedback is critical to quickly correcting misunderstandings and creating a stronger foundation for future learning. I construct my courses to have many small evaluation points rather than a few large exams. I have recently realized how often students are the best judge of their own understanding, and when possible, I add the option for students to identify concepts they are most uncomfortable with and warrant the most feedback. This allows my feedback to efficiently target student needs and work toward their individual learning goals.

Transfer
If you give a student an answer, they’ll recite it for a day. If you teach them how to solve a problem, they’ll answer all sorts of problems forever (give or take). OK, OK, … maybe this is a little dramatic, but the point is that students have individual learning goals that go beyond the more general goals of a class. When material is presented in a narrow context, students can be poorly prepared to transfer an idea from class to a new context outside of class that they really care about. To help avoid this, I identify major themes and bring them up repeatedly in different contexts and using different approaches. This helps students build an appreciation for how an idea is transferable between contexts and makes them better prepared to transfer it effectively to whatever new problems they encounter in the future.

Specific Courses taught
GEOL101
GEOL211
GEOL497/597U
MACS110
MACS210