LCB Teaching, Learning, and Engagement
Teaching, mentoring, engagement with the community are some of the most rewarding and important aspects of being a professor. Also, most grad students in the lab get a chance to TA for at least one semester and postdocs usually cover a guest lecture spot or two at some point.
My philosophy on "edugagement" is based on three pillars:
1) Make learning enjoyable! It is important to provide variety, personal context, opportunities for student expression, and humor (whether intentionally or not).
2) Incorporate active and team-based learning approaches. Lecturing is still usefull, but mix it up sometimes! For example, during some sessions I provide students with targeted readings in advance and then in class I give them topic-related problems to solve as a team during class.
3) As a teacher, I am also a mentor. I try to look for ways to help students develop higher-level ("soft") skills and relate their education to their interests and goals in life.
At UNR I have 4-5 full-length courses in my rotation. I've posted a few flyers below in the gallery.
Engagement
On a fairly regular basis, LCB members go into schools, meeting spaces, and other venues to share their research, learn from the community, and help kids kindle their interest in science. One major example of this was Project HEAT, which was a NASA-funded middle school boot camp science experience for middle school kids that we did in partnership with Deans Future Scholars and the Raggio Center for Research in STEM Education.