Thomas Whelan is a PhD candidate in Dr. Naomi Fast’s lab in the Department of Botany. He is from Toronto and completed his undergraduate degree at Dalhousie University in Halifax. It was during his time there that he became interested in protists (microbial eukaryotes) when he worked on his honours project with Dr. Alastair Simpson. …
Monthly Archives: January 2020
A Win-Win: Making Mid-course Student Feedback Useful For Instructors AND Students
By Christine Goedhart The half-way point of a course is a great time to ask students for feedback. It is far enough into the course where students are able to draw upon their experience to give meaningful feedback, while also providing you enough time to make changes based on that feedback. Additionally, mid-course feedback sets …
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Teaching Spotlight – Student-produced Mycology Slideshow Displayed in the Beaty Museum
As part of a biodiversity survey in the BIOL323 introductory mycology course last term, students identified and illustrated fungi that they collected from the UBC Farm. Students were then tasked to create informational slides to present these local fungi species to the public. The resulting slideshow presentation will be displayed in the Beaty Museum at …
Instructor Spotlight – Angie O’Neill
Angie O’Neill is a Senior Instructor in the Department of Zoology. She has a BSc in Animal Biology and a MSc in Zoology, both from the University of British Columbia. Angie started teaching at UBC as a Sessional Lecturer in 2005, and over the past fifteen years she has taught a variety of courses. Currently, …
Christine Goedhart – Bio
Christine Goedhart, PhD Science Education Specialist University of British Columbia christine.goedhart@botany.ubc.ca Born and raised in a suburb of Los Angeles, I began my undergraduate studies at Fullerton College before transferring to Cal State Fullerton, where I earned a BS in Biology. I then went to UC Irvine, where I completed a PhD in Biological …
Understanding the Role of Teaching Practices in Student Well-being
What teaching practices promote student well-being? This question was answered in a TLEF-funded study conducted at UBC that used a mixed methods approach to identify teaching strategies that support student well-being. Strategies are grouped into three main themes: 1) Connection and Social Belonging, 2) Learning and Motivation to Learn, and 3) Holistic support The authors …
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How To Make “Group Work” Work For You
By Christine Goedhart Group work is a common component of an active learning classroom and can be a great way to help students learn. However, anyone who has ever tried to facilitate group work in their course knows that results can vary. Group work experiences can go really well, can be a complete disaster, or …
TA Spotlight – Haley Branch
Haley Branch completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Toronto (UofT), where she double majored in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and Forest Conservation Science. Her passion and interest in plants began in her second year when she first took a plant form and function class. This led her to complete a Master’s degree in …
Instructor Spotlight – Amy Angert
Amy Angert is an Associate Professor in the Departments of Botany and Zoology. She has an undergraduate degree in Biology from Washington University in St. Louis and a PhD in Plant Biology from Michigan State University. Prior to coming to UBC, she completed a Postdoc in Ecology and Evolution at the University of Arizona. Her …