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RESEARCH INTERESTS
General biology; human biology; human physiology
PUBLICATIONS
My role in the department is as a lecturer, which means that I teach full-time and am not
currently involved in research. I teach both Human Physiology (BIOL 2420) and Biology and
Society (BIOL 1010).
Teaching has always been the major focus of my graduate education and career goals;
therefore, it is a pleasure to interact with the approximately 600 students that enroll in my
classes each year. A major part of my teaching philosophy is that we all need to be pushed a bit
beyond our natural limits in order to see real growth, whether intellectual or personal. Therefore,
I expect a fair amount from my students and it would be very rare for students to rank me as an
"easy A." I am, however, more than happy to reward excellence with excellent grades; about
20% of the students in my classes earn As.
Another important facet of my teaching philosophy is that "self-teaching" is the only real way in
which we learn new concepts and ideas. An instructor can teach material to students but most
of us will not understand and retain the new material until we have spent time alone, thinking,
studying, and reviewing. In my opinion, it is a fairly arrogant teacher who believes that his/her
students will understand a biological concept just by listening to a lecture. Therefore, I believe
students must put in substantial time outside of class, both reviewing lecture notes, reading the
text, and discussing the material with others, before true comprehension and retention occurs.
I am passionate about teaching biological concepts and, thereby, conveying the wonder and
beauty that is found in the smallest cell and the largest ecosystem. As we continue to march into
this new millennium, a thorough, honest, and rigorous science education is as important as
ever. I feel lucky that I am able to share some of this science with students and, perhaps, inspire
a few.
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