My name is Tessa Blanchard, and I am from a small town in southern Ontario – Welland! I completed my undergraduate degree at the University of Ottawa where I received my BSc in Biology with specialization in animal physiology. I completed my MSc at the University of Guelph where I studied the respiratory system of …
Author Archives: Christine Goedhart
9 Ways to Help Students Develop Psychological Safety in Your Course
By Christine Goedhart The term is almost over and Vania has only spoken a few times in their biology course. While there has been a lot of opportunity for student interaction through group work and class discussions, Vania decided early on that it was just easier to stay silent. Vania identifies as gender non-binary and …
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TA Spotlight – Jessica Kowalski
My name is Jessica and I grew up in Regina, Saskatchewan. I did my undergrad at Western University in London, Ontario, and I actually have two undergrad degrees – a BSc in Food nutrition and a BSc in Environmental Science. I started off in the nutrition realm, found that it wasn’t for me, and then …
Instructor Spotlight – George Haughn
Hi, I am a Professor of Genetics (soon to be emeritus) in the Department of Botany. I have a B.Sc. in Biology with honours in Genetics from Dalhousie University and a Ph.D. in Genetics from Cornell University. My postdoctoral research was completed at the U.S. Department of Energy Plant Research Laboratory at Michigan State University. …
Teaching Spotlight – Organism of the Day
Brett Couch starts most of his BIOL121 classes with a 1-2-minute presentation of some fun facts about an organism that can be found around UBC or coastal British Columbia. In addition to introducing students to various local species, the organism of the day activity “is meant to be fun and to also help students see …
Exploring the Emotional Side of Learning
By Christine Goedhart Can you recall a time when you felt joy, delight, or pride while learning something? What about a time when you felt anxious, bored, frustrated, or hopeless? If you’ve ever experienced these emotions while learning, how did it impact your interest in what you were learning or your ability to perform on …
Teaching Spotlight – Book Club with Students
Jaclyn Dee recently organized an informal Book Club for students in her BIOL 112 course. The Book Club was centred around Native American DNA: Tribal Belonging and the False Promise of Genetic Science, which brought an Indigenous lens to some of the relevant course material. “I had such a positive experience and I know the …
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TA Spotlight – Kenzie Arnott
My name is Kenzie and my pronouns are she/they! I grew up all across North America, exploring the varied landscapes in both Canada and the US. In 2014, I moved to the UK and shortly after started my BSc in Chemical Engineering at the University of Manchester. My head was turned quite quickly by a …
Instructor Spotlight – Leticia Avilés
Hi! I am a faculty member at the Department of Zoology and the Biodiversity Research Centre at UBC. I have a PhD from Harvard University and was a postdoctoral fellow and young Assistant Professor at the University of Arizona before arriving to UBC in 2002. I have an active research lab, with undergrad and grad …
Celeste Leander’s How-To Primer on Ungrading
In this month’s Teaching Spotlight, Celeste Leander explains why and how she ditched exams and began ungrading. Based on her experience, she offers relevant tips and a sample student self-assessment form that can be used by others who might want to try ungrading in their courses. You can read more about Celeste’s experiences with ungrading …
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Overcoming the Curse of Knowledge
By Christine Goedhart Have you ever thought that you clearly explained something to your students, but were met with blank stares and looks of confusion? If so, then you were probably experiencing the Curse of Knowledge. The Curse of Knowledge happens when you know something so well that you no longer remember what it’s like …
Teaching more by grading less (or differently)
Do you feel like you spend too much time grading? Do you want grading to better serve you and your students? This month’s Interesting Read provides a brief history of grading in higher education, describes different purposes of grading, and offers some ways to approach grading so that you can teach more by grading less …
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TA Spotlight – Gaurav Singh-Varma
My name is Gaurav and I’m originally from Princeton, New Jersey. I got my BSc undergraduate degree in Biology at UBC and I am currently a 2nd year Master’s student in the Department of Zoology. I’m working in the Claire Kremen lab, which is also known as the Working to Restore Connectivity and Sustainability (WoRCS) …
Boost Student Engagement, Learning, and Connection Through Storytelling
By Christine Goedhart I was sitting in the back of a large lecture classroom one day when something striking happened. We were about halfway into a 50-minute class session and I could tell that the students were getting a bit distracted—some students had picked up their phones and were scrolling under the table, some with …
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The Case for Student-Authored Scientist Spotlights
Scientist Spotlights have previously been shown to increase students’ relatability to and perception of scientists and enhance student science identity. This month’s Interesting Read makes the case for engaging students in the creation of Scientist Spotlights to leverage students’ authentic perspectives and unique cultural assets and increase the likelihood that the Scientist Spotlights produced will …
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Teaching Spotlight – Getting to Know Diverse Scientists in BIOL 336
The scientists featured in biology textbooks and courses tend to be males of European decent, but in reality, scientists are much more diverse, representing different ethnicities, sexes, genders, abilities, sexual orientations, and backgrounds. In BIOL 336, students get the chance to explore this diversity by engaging in a tutorial activity where they select an evolutionary …
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TA Spotlight – Sravya Paluri
I am from Bombay (Mumbai), India, and completed my undergraduate degree in Microbiology and Biochemisty at St. Xavier’s College in India and graduate degree in Biological Sciences at the University of Cologne in Germany. I am currently a PhD Candidate in the Auld lab in the Dept. of Zoology at UBC, where I’m studying the …
Teaching Spotlight – Group Contracts Facilitate Effective Teamwork in BIOL140
BIOL140 students work together in long-term groups throughout the term, so effective teamwork is an important component of students’ experience and success. To help groups develop shared expectations and set the foundation for how group members will interact and engage with one another, one of the first group assignments is to create a Group Contract. …
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Why and How to Teach Teamwork
Looking for ways to help students develop teamwork skills in your course? This month’s Interesting Read offers suggestions for designing group work projects to help students learn how to operate effectively in a group. Citation: Halonen, J.S. & Dunn, D.S. (2021). Why and How to Teach Teamwork. Chronicle of Higher Education, November 15. https://www-chronicle-com.eu1.proxy.openathens.net/article/why-and-how-to-teach-teamwork You …
5 Reminders To Help You Counter Burnout This Term
By Christine Goedhart Pandemic teaching was only supposed to last a few months, but we’re now almost two years in, and this term seems to be particularly difficult. The years-long accumulation of extra work and stress has led many faculty to experience extreme exhaustion and negative impacts on their physical and mental health, motivation, and …
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How to Support 2SLGBTQIA+ Students in the Biology Classroom
By Christine Goedhart Being sexually or gender diverse in a heteronormative society can be difficult, and 2SLGBTQIA+ students face unique challenges both inside and outside of the classroom, such as negative stereotypes, discrimination, lack of visible role models, incompatible structures, and unsafe spaces. It’s no surprise then, that students who identify as LGBTQ+ are more …
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Teaching the Tough Topics: Fostering Ideological Awareness through the Inclusion of Societally Impactful Topics in Introductory Biology
Biology both impacts and is impacted by society, but is commonly taught in a “value free” way that separates science from societal issues. In this month’s Interesting Read, the authors describe how they linked biological concepts to societal issues through the teaching of ideological awareness in an introductory biology course. While students who experienced the …
Teaching Spotlight – Conducting Long-term Research with BIOL 230 Students at Totem Plant Science Field Station
Students in Rachel Wilson’s BIOL 230 (Fundamentals of Ecology) course recently went to Totem Plant Science Field Station on the UBC campus to look for isopods and contribute to an ongoing long-term experiment dating back to 2009. Rachel was especially excited to return to the site this term after a pandemic-caused hiatus. “This trip was …
TA Spotlight – Maisie Musor
Hi! I’m Maisie and my pronouns are She/Her. I am from Maine, on the Northeast coast of the United States, and I completed my BS in Chemistry in 2020 at the University of Maine. As an undergraduate, I worked on a wide variety of research projects such as optimizing cellulose-based bioplastics, helping study anti-biotic resistance …
TA Spotlight – Jack Bacon
Jack is a PhD candidate in the Wyatt lab at the Vancouver Prostate Centre, a joint UBC/VCH research facility located on the Vancouver General Hospital campus. He holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of British Columbia and initially enrolled in the Master of Science program in the faculty of Genome Science and …
How to Get Students to Ask Better Questions
By Christine Goedhart Being able to ask good questions is particularly important in science, because good science begins with good questions. But when you think of someone asking a question in a classroom, who do you picture? If the classroom is like a typical science classroom, it is probably the instructor who is asking the …
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Mid-course Student Feedback Resources
The midpoint of a course is a great time to ask students for feedback. It is far enough into the term where students are able to draw upon their experience to give meaningful feedback, and there’s also time to make changes based on that feedback. Here are some resources to help you get started: Templates …
Attention Matters: How Orchestrating Attention May Relate to Classroom Learning
Do you want your students to “pay attention” in class? This month’s Interesting Read presents an evidence-based framework for understanding attention in the classroom and offers ways that instructors can design teaching strategies to better guide students’ attention, leading to improved learning. Citation: Keller, A.S., Davidesco, I., & Tanner, K.D. (2020). Attention Matters: How Orchestrating …
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Teaching Spotlight – Place-based Learning in Pacific Spirit Park: Contributing to a Local Rehabilitation Project
Celeste Leander recently took students in BIOL 342 (Integrative Biology Laboratory) to Salish Creek in Pacific Spirit Park to measure abiotic variables at two sites along an active salmon stream. Part of the stream had been rehabilitated by the City of Vancouver (site 1), while the rest of the stream had not (site 2). To …
TA Spotlight – Shuang Liu
I’m currently a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Zoology, co-supervised by Dr. Eric Taylor and Dr. Jeffrey Richards. I study freshwater adaptation in a euryhaline fish, prickly sculpin, by focusing on ion regulation in fish from habitats that vary in the distance to the sea. I got my bachelor’s degree from Tianjin Agriculture University, …