Commitment to Inclusive Pedagogy
I am committed to grow as an educator and to empower the next generation of movers and shakers. I am excited to incorporate inclusive teaching methods in the classroom so that students from all backgrounds can thrive and reach their learning goals. At Yale, I am learning and practicing inclusive teaching methods as I work towards obtaining a Certificate of College Teaching Preparation (CCTP) through Yale's Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning. As part of this program, I recently completed the The Theory & Practice of Scientific Teaching course. At Cornell, I participated in the Inclusive Teaching Institute, and co-organized a workshop on The Practice of Inclusive Teaching in STEM.
I am interested in making science more attractive and accessible to all undergraduate students. Check out this teachable tidbit I created with Will Johnson on Understanding the ionic basis of action potentials, which includes Jamboard group activities found here.
Teaching Experience
Teaching Assistant: Introduction to Neuroscience
Spring 2011 & Spring 2015
Regular Sections & Writing in The Majors Sections (see below)
Dept. of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University
I developed curriculum for and taught the Writing in the Majors (WIM), a writing-intensive section organized around the theme of “Neurobiology of Disease”. Students completed all assignments for the course (exams, quizzes, etc.), in addition to writing and reading assignments totaling 5 course credits.
Examples of course materials and student writing:
Spring 2011 & Spring 2015
Regular Sections & Writing in The Majors Sections (see below)
Dept. of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University
I developed curriculum for and taught the Writing in the Majors (WIM), a writing-intensive section organized around the theme of “Neurobiology of Disease”. Students completed all assignments for the course (exams, quizzes, etc.), in addition to writing and reading assignments totaling 5 course credits.
Examples of course materials and student writing:
- WIM 2015 Assignments and Rubrics: Here is a compilation of the prompts, rubrics, and guidelines for the five major writing assignments.
- Student writing example of News & Views article: "Hope for the hopeless: dopamine circuits modulate depression-related symptoms"
- Student writing example of Literature Review article "Early Adversity, Cognition, and Intervention" (Knight prize winning essay 2015)
- Student writing example of Literature Review article "There is more to Parkinson’s disease than motor dysfunctions: A review on both motor and non-motor symptoms" (Knight prize winning essay 2011)
Teaching Assistant: Environmental Animal Physiology
2009
Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, UCLA
2009
Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, UCLA
Teaching Assistant: Vertebrate Biology
2009
Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, UCLA
2009
Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, UCLA
Mentorship
Mentored graduate students through Women in Science at Yale (WISAY).
Completed Building Mentoring Skills for an Academic Career Certificate Program in February 2016.
Graduate mentees:
Sarah Mohr: Mouse colony maintenance, animal behavior, molecular biology
Maddy Junkins: animal behavior, molecular biology
Undergraduate mentees:
Clara Liao - Sound analyses, molecular techniques; senior thesis won the Robert R. Capranica Undergraduate Research Award for Outstanding Honors Thesis in Neuroethology
Frenda Yip -Sound analyses
Grace Ahn - Sound analyses
Gbambele Kone - Molecular techniques; senior thesis received Highest Honors; went on to medical school at Weill Cornell Medical College
Completed Building Mentoring Skills for an Academic Career Certificate Program in February 2016.
Graduate mentees:
Sarah Mohr: Mouse colony maintenance, animal behavior, molecular biology
Maddy Junkins: animal behavior, molecular biology
Undergraduate mentees:
Clara Liao - Sound analyses, molecular techniques; senior thesis won the Robert R. Capranica Undergraduate Research Award for Outstanding Honors Thesis in Neuroethology
Frenda Yip -Sound analyses
Grace Ahn - Sound analyses
Gbambele Kone - Molecular techniques; senior thesis received Highest Honors; went on to medical school at Weill Cornell Medical College
Outreach
I volunteer in the annual Sensory Physiology Club held every summer by our lab, as a part of Yale's Pathways to Science Program. This week-long course walks local high school students through the five senses, pairing lectures with fun hands-on activities. For example, to learn about taste and perception, I developed a miracle berry taste-altering activity.
2020 Virtual lab tour
2019 Taste Module
2020 Virtual lab tour
2019 Taste Module
I designed and led a workshop entitled “The Science of Sound” as a part of Expanding Your Horizons (EYH), an annual one-day conference for 7th-9th grade girls (~80 girls from 2011-2014). I also ran the workshop at the Lansing Residential Center, a correction facility for teenage girls (~30 girls in 2011-2012), as well as at Cornell's Kids Science Day.
- Check out our workshop's activity plan.
I volunteered as the Publicity Chair for EYH (2013-2015). I designed the Brochures and postcards for the conferences, which were sent to schools in the upstate New York region for attracting EYH participants.
Andy Bass and I taught a lecture to 3rd graders at a local elementary about the brain and behavior. We designed a lecture entitled “You and Your Brain” (2010-2011; 127 students). Students interacted with brain models, animal specimens, and learned about major brain regions and extreme behavioral adaptations.
As a part of Cornell Sigma Xi's outreach event, I talked to visitors at Ithaca's Applefest (2011) about fish acoustic communication. I created an informational poster (left), accompanied by brain models as visual aids.