Lecturer Brent Shuman’s Teaching Philosophy Statement Students learn best when they see themselves as scientists. Whether or not they understand it immediately, seeing themselves as scientists comes with an assumption of their own inherent ability and an interest in nature’s processes. My aim as a teacher is to reveal those to my students. Encouraging Ability Many of my students believe scientists have an unreachable level of intellect, and this discourages them from asking questions in fear they will be seen as inadequate. To combat this harmful thought process I do three things: I encourage a collaborative environment between myself and my students through question/response reviews; I set up low-stakes group assessments that facilitate peer teaching and illustrate and comfort students in their mutual misunderstandings; I model fundamental habits I’ve found to quickly acclimate students to a topic such as breaking down Latin and Greek words into their component parts (e.g. sympatric vs allopatric speciation being “same homeland” vs “other homeland”, respectively). I want students to feel included in the scientific community, so I find ways to connect seemingly archaic forefathers with students’ lives today. When introducing plant genetics, I taught about Gregor Mendel’s educational journey. As a first generation, non-traditional student whose education was halted due to illness, he joined a monastery affording him an education (a process not unlike the American GI bill) and allowing him to support his three nephews’ education. My goal is to break down apparent differences between antique researchers and modern students so they can’t not identify with them. When students see characteristics of themselves in those who have come before, regardless of personal ancestry, their potential to come next is uncovered. Illuminating Nature Encouraging students to engage with course material can be difficult because the questions regarding the fundamentals of a biology education have left popular culture. I incorporate recent, eye-catching primary literature that connects basic concepts together. When facilitating first-years’ green-fluorescent protein transformation into the bacterium E. coli, I showed how researchers took GFP from a jellyfish and inserted it into a feline virus to see how it disseminates through its cat host. This resulted in glowing cats, and, while disturbingly interesting, illustrated that the principles of what we performed in class (DNA isolation, PCR, and cell culture, and transformation) are used regularly by eminent scholars. When students see exciting processes in nature and how we harness them to discover more, they learn how to observe and question the world around them. Teaching for many like teaching for one As a teaching assistant for a non-majors plant biology course, I introduced twice-weekly lecture review sessions. I grew to first recognize and then know by name a population of regulars that came with similarly styled questions each week. Fortunately, I could focus on one student at a time, articulate back to them what they are confused about, and help them understand the answer. This energized me to ensure every student feels like I am teaching to them directly, and it is my responsibility to make my classroom inclusive to everyone who enters. My joy in teaching is connecting with students so I can show them the potential they have to be scientists. Courses regularly Taught: GENE 3200, GENE 3200H Education Education: B.S. in Biology, Winthrop University (Rock Hill, SC) PhD in Fungal Genetics, Department of Plant Biology, University of Georgia (Athens, GA)
