Members of the LGBTQ+ community face unique challenges in academic biology settings. This month’s Interesting Read features an article that describes 14 literature-based recommendations for biologists to be more inclusive of LGBTQ+ individuals. Recommendations include practical tips for implementation and are organized into the following categories: 1) Be thoughtful about the language used regarding the …
Author Archives: Christine Goedhart
TA Spotlight – Isaiah Box
I completed my BSc in zoology at the University of Guelph. While I was there, I did an honours project under Nick Bernier on the stress physiology of larval zebrafish exposed to high environmental ammonia. This work inspired me not to work with fish going into grad school. I then started my master’s in zoology …
Peer Tutor Spotlight – Nafeesa Alibhai
Nafeesa is in their 4th year of completing an Honours BSc in Integrated Science at UBC, focused on genetics, physiology, and neuroscience. Nafeesa is also a member of the UBC Neuroscience Club (UNC), Climate Justice UBC (formerly UBCc350), the Climate Hub at UBC, and sings in SARGAM UBC. They serve as a mentor for UNC …
4 Things Students Need From You This Fall
By Christine Goedhart The fall term is upon us, and if you’re like most other instructors I’ve talked to recently, you may be feeling a bit apprehensive about the upcoming remote teaching experience. You’re not alone. Many of your students are also going to be entering your course feeling unsure, uneasy, and uncomfortable with the …
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Teaching Spotlight – Scientist Spotlight Activity
Jaclyn Dee recently assigned a Scientist Spotlight activity in her BIOL 112 course. Students were asked to watch and respond to a short TED talk video in which Dr. Fatima AlZahra’a Alatraktchi talked about her life and work as a Nanophysicist and how she invented a tool that detects dangerous bacteria earlier than traditional methods. …
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Scientist Spotlight Assignments
Scientist Spotlight assignments feature the life and work of diverse scientists and can be used to integrate inclusion and diversity into your course, while also covering content and scientific process (see an example here). In 2016, Schinske et al. found that Scientist Spotlight assignments can shift students’ perceptions of the types of people who do …
Instructor Spotlight – Maryam Moussavi
Maryam Moussavi is a Lecturer in the Departments of Botany and Zoology. She has a BSc degree in Biology (Cell/Genetics), MSc and a PhD degree in Medicine (Experimental Medicine) from UBC. During her PhD Maryam explored therapeutic potential of oncolytic viruses in treatment of prostate cancer. Maryam has taught a variety of courses at UBC, …
TA Spotlight – Queenie Hui
I completed my Bachelor of Science in Biology at UBC. During my undergrad, I was also in the UBC Science Co-op Program, which gave me the opportunity to work in diabetes research labs. This inspired me to continue in research and pursue graduate studies. I am currently a PhD candidate in Dr. Timothy Kieffer’s lab …
10 Ways to Engage Students as You Teach Remotely this Fall
By Christine Goedhart Engaged students actively participate. They are receptive, connected, invested, and motivated to learn. You’re probably familiar with what student engagement looks like in the physical classroom, but what about when teaching online? How can you tell if students are engaged if you can’t see or hear them and if you are separated …
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The Tyranny of Content: “Content Coverage” as a Barrier to Evidence-Based Teaching Approaches and Ways to Overcome It
Implementing active learning pedagogies online tends to take longer than it did in person, so you may want to consider decreasing or reorganizing your course content to preserve your ability to use learner-centred activities when teaching remotely this fall. The authors of this month’s Interesting read offer three evidence-based strategies to help guide instructors as …
Teaching Spotlight – Making biology relevant using an interdisciplinary group project and a virtual poster day
During the recent 2020 Summer I term, Dirk VandePol and Gwen Huber used an interdisciplinary group project and virtual poster session in their web-based BIOL 111 course to help their students see how the course content was relevant to their lives. As Dirk explains, the goal of this assignment was to “give students as much …
Instructor Spotlight – Pam Kalas
Pam Kalas is a Senior Instructor in the Departments of Botany and Zoology. She earned her Licence en Biologie and her Diplôme de Biologie at the Université de Genève before coming to UBC to complete a PhD in Genetics. She also earned a BA in Adult Education at the University of the Fraser Valley. Pam …
TA Spotlight – Melissa Armstrong
Melissa Armstrong is a PhD candidate in the Zoology Department, studying the neuroscience underlying how birds use visual information to guide their flight behavior. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Rhode Island School of Design and worked as an artist and designer for nearly a decade before deciding to return to school for …
Remote Teaching 2020: The Biggest Lessons Learned
By Christine Goedhart This year has turned out to be one big, huge, messy exercise in learning how to teach remotely. You’ve been asked (forced, really) to step outside of your comfort zone, experiment with new techniques and technologies, and become an online instructor. I’ve had the privilege of working and talking with many of …
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Teaching Spotlight – Using a Virtual “Snowball Fight” to Build Community
Jennifer Klenz and Stella Lee recently used a virtual “snowball fight” to help them get to know their BIOL 234 students. Below, Jennifer describes this activity, the role it has played in building a sense of community in the course, and its connection to another course assignment. How did you come up with the idea …
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Effective Educational Videos: Principles and Guidelines for Maximizing Student Learning from Video Content
This month’s interesting read provides evidence-based considerations and tips for creating and using videos to promote student engagement and learning. Key recommendations include: Keep videos brief and targeted on learning goals Use audio and visual elements to convey appropriate parts of an explanation; consider how to make these elements complementary rather than redundant Use signaling …
Instructor Spotlight – Vivienne Lam
Vivienne is a Lecturer in the Departments of Botany and Zoology. She has a B.Sc. in Biochemistry from UBC, a B.Ed. (Secondary School) from UBC, and a Ph.D in Botany from UBC, where she studied the phylogeny and comparative genomics of mycoheterotrophic plants. Vivienne has taught a variety of courses at UBC, including BIOL 121 …
TA Spotlight – James Marchant
I completed my undergraduate degree in general biology at the University of Western Brittany, Brest, France. I then completed a Master’s in marine biology at the European Institute of marine studies, Plouzané, France, where my research focused on calcium flux in cardiac cells for studying the cellular basis of fish cardiac performance. This first …
Reflecting on Remote Teaching: What Have You Learned?
By Christine Goedhart Congratulations on surviving the 2020 mass migration to emergency remote teaching! Now that the dust has settled and final grades are submitted, it’s a good time to reflect on the past term and consider what lessons you might want to take with you moving forward. Here are four simple, yet powerful questions …
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Online educators’ recommendations for teaching online: Crowdsourcing in action
What makes for effective online teaching? In this month’s interesting read, a crowd-sourcing methodology was used to pose this question to a large number of experienced online instructors from a variety of disciplines. Their collective answers were coded and four overarching themes emerged: 1) supporting student success, 2) providing clarity and relevance through content structure …
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