Statement of Teaching Philosophy
James E. Champine, PhD
I have embraced the teacher/scholar model in my 9 years of University teaching. As an educator I have tried to provide an active learning experience both in the laboratory setting and the lecture hall. My research program involving undergraduates has kept me current with my discipline, and provided me the authoritative voice to convey my subject matter.
My teaching philosophy is grounded in my discipline, which is Microbiology. I had the pleasure of attending a lecture by Dr. Michael Madigan, recipient of the 2003 American Society for Microbiology award for achievement in education. His aim of “keeping the bar high” with regard to content in this discipline is one I share. My teaching experiences are detailed separately at the end of this document. In this statement of philosophy I describe approaches into two types of courses; lower division courses exemplified by a General Microbiology course, and upper division courses including a Laboratory Methods course and a Microbial Physiology course.
Instructional
Techniques Employed
One of the biggest challenges that I have addressed is overcoming the passivity of the lecture, especially in lower division courses. One technique that has been employed is a directed writing exercise in almost each lecture. Towards the end of the period the students are given 3-5 questions relating to key concepts of the presentation. Although usually in the form of objective questions (true/false, multiple choice, etc.), I provide a few minutes for the students to discuss the answers, and then we go over them together. This allows me to “straighten out” misconceptions and check for omissions or other mistakes on my part. Another active learning technique I have employed is a series of “card passing” activities. These begin with simple concepts like diffusion, then move on to facilitated diffusion, and eventually electron transport phosphorylation. Colored cards representing electrons and protons allow the students to visualize proton gradients in a dynamic fashion. One of my favorite student comments was that “I never knew what was going to happen” when coming to class.
Meeting the goal of “keeping the bar high” in the large section, lower division course involves challenging students with mastering and applying a large amount of detailed information (content) on exams. It is explicit that these “points” are the hardest to obtain, and will distinguish the best students. On the other hand I believe that the in class assignments and activities allow the bulk of students to feel connected to the material, allow for other learning-styles.
Classes with extensive lab components are inherently driven by active learning. Microbiology has the advantage over Botany and Zoology in that there is less emphasis on survey and dissection of static models. The “inoculation-incubation-interpretation” rhythm always provides for the uncertainty of what will happen next, and in turn generates interest. Of course students often perceive the goal of an “expected” result. To lessen this, I try to include as many (semi)authentic investigations as possible. General Microbiology students will isolate their own organisms for staining, colony, and cell morphology characterization. Each student is responsible for a different assigned organism for testing including relationship to oxygen, control by antibiotics, biochemical tests, and so forth. Therefore each student has their own unique connection to Microbiology. Also, students are asked to make oral presentations to show mastery of one of the biochemical tests utilized in the lab. They are evaluated in part by the other students, and this makes each a stake-holder in student learning.
Upper division lecture courses provide the opportunity of more sophisticated and capable students. The content to be conveyed is more interesting, as it matches my research interests. On the other hand, the challenge is asking the students to make the transition from passive learner roles (note taking, reading, memorizing) to critical thinkers (interpreters, synthesizers, and decision makers). Two techniques I have used to help them make this change are authentic writing assignments and cooperative problem solving. Authentic writing includes keeping a research notebook, but goes beyond with the annihilation of the “lab report”, and its replacement with manuscripts in the IMRaD format. Students are introduced to the CBE Manual of Style, and “see red” from correction marks as each manuscript is reviewed rather than graded. Rewriting forces them to be reflective. Writing is a highly active form of learning and forces the student to use higher order thinking than simple recognition and memorization. To facilitate cooperative learning group activities are structured to take students out of their “comfort zones”. This includes assigning group members, roles, and even strategies.
Learning
I hope to
keep my teaching activities and philosophy evolving by staying contact with
other members of my profession. I have attended in the past 5 Midwest
Microbiology Educators Meetings sponsored by the
Teaching Experiences
My predominant university teaching experience has been an introductory course in General Microbiology (BI 200 General Microbiology; 3 credits) for Biology Majors. I have taught this course the past 16 semesters, plus 3 summers, to an average of 50 students. The course is taught in a lecture (2 hours) and lab format (2 hours). Recently I have developed an intermediate course in laboratory techniques course for Microbial Cellular, and Molecular Biology students to prepare them for upper division courses, undergraduate research, and post graduation experiences as graduate students and technicians. This course (3 credit hours) is taught in a workshop format to 12 students (5 hours). I have also taught Microbial Physiology (3 credits) to combined graduate and advanced undergraduates four times to groups of 12-16 with 2 hours lecture and 2 hours lab. Topical coverage, representative exams, additional teaching materials, and student evaluation of teaching for these courses can be found at the website below. Additional courses included General Chemistry I, Biology for Living (Non-Majors), Undergraduate Seminar, Graduate Seminar, and Microbial Ecology (Advanced Topics).
http://cstl-csm.semo.edu/Champine/