My top priority revolves around adapting to the student’s needs and adequately addressing those needs. I believe that to be most effective as an instructor, one must create an environment that is interactive and collaborative and also promotes problem-solving and critical thinking skills. In my opinion, having active participation and discussion in the classroom is one of the best ways gage student knowledge of the lectures but also an important way for students to learn. I find that when I can convey my own enthusiasm for ecology, it is often contagious enough that students become engaged and invested in their learning and future. I encourage students to tackle problems creatively, which helps them learn to think outside conventional boundaries and to seek the deeper meaning of a concept. These skills have facilitated the greatest advances in science and also foster personal and intellectual fulfillment. Fulfilled learning involves teaching that extends beyond the classroom. For many students, the most powerful lessons are learned in informal discussions, working problems during office hours, and encountering science first-hand in a lab setting. Understanding what information is essential for that student’s future success is critical. Instructors possess unique opportunities to develop agriculture leaders of tomorrow which means that the future of agriculture relies on our ability, as teachers, to develop students into critical and independent thinkers that are conscious of the world around them.
Utilizing facts, concepts and findings to tell a story has the power to reveal the contagious awe of natural resources. All students have some direct connection with nature through outdoor recreation and personal experience. Constructing relevant learning on a personal level allows me to incorporate lecture examples and metaphors of ecological significance. Paired with an energetic style, I engage and inspire students to examine the impacts of natural resource management on their daily lives. Hands-on learning through field trips strengthen the fabric of my educational stories and help students from different backgrounds bridge knowledge gaps and construct meaning in a personal context. Connecting people and places offers a holistic presentation that can transform challenging content into meaningful, memorable schema. This approach enables personalization of the learning experience with stimulated independent thought and action further promoting diverse applications of knowledge and skills that build environmental literacy and promote passion for the natural world.
To create a safe learning environment, I encourage students to ask questions and share their views on the material we are covering. I solicit anonymous feedback in the form of “one-minute papers” from my students about assignments as well as my teaching style. I then implement student suggestions to improve my service delivery and their learning outcomes. At the end of the day I know I have done my job if my students ask me, “Why, how, what, when and where?” This curiosity is what drives science, critical thinking, and me. I encourage my students to reflect on their own beliefs and experience and try to open their minds to new views in natural resource management. Solutions are rarely straight-forward in ecology as is in the classroom. Breaking concepts down into milestones enable a student to embrace a multifaceted problem instilling confidence and promoting independent thinking. I create assignments that mirror real world scenarios as closely as possible, giving students the opportunity to communicate in formats that stimulate professional conditions (e.g., presentations, posters, collaborative projects, etc.). It is imperative to not only assess the students, but the instructor as well. For every test I administer, I will ask my students to also evaluate my teaching ability and grade me serving as my assessment of my ability and areas to improve. Students will be evaluated on their ability to piece together concepts, functions and processes in a combination of short answer, essay, multiple choice, and true/false questions. Students will also be evaluated on their ability to discuss their overall knowledge of the subject matter in the form of oral tests. This method will incorporate several concepts into one problem, thereby, necessitating the integration of information into a useful manner to convey their knowledge. It is very important that students embrace and constantly improve upon their ability to verbally rationalize their decisions as natural resource managers.
My ideal classroom promotes active learning where students develop and evolve into independent thinkers. I strive to empower students on fundamental levels that increase their awareness of their own potential as students and stewards of our natural resources.