As a community college biology instructor, I value both education and the process of science. Providing students with a proper education in biology goes beyond presenting them with facts from a textbook or engaging them in a "cook-book" style laboratory. Science is an active process that addresses novel questions and hypotheses. In order to understand and apply the scientific process, students should engage in active, not passive learning. A student-centered approach that requires participation, collaboration with others, and authentic research experiences has been shown to increase retention and graduation rates. It can also lead to higher retention of members of underrepresented groups, as well as an increase in student understanding of the scientific method and self-confidence. Given the evidence, I engage students in active learning and provide research experiences in my courses.
Instructor
I hold the position of Full-Time Biology Instructor at Davidson-Davie Community College (DDCC) in Thomasville, N.C. I instruct courses in both General and Environmental Biology, and occasionally, in non-majors Biology. My background includes degrees from UNC-Wilmington (B.A., Biology) and Texas Tech University (M.S., Zoology). Broadly speaking, my interests fall within two general areas: (1) Biology Undergraduate Education and (2) Behavioral Ecology (emphasis on bats and rodents, information use, and interspecific eavesdropping). Recently, I have expanded my interests into the use of plant-derived compounds as repellents of agricultural pests, host-parasitoid interactions, as well as characterizing endophytic fungi and evaluating their metabolites for antimicrobial properties. Currently, I am incorporating Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) and recommendations from the Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education report of 2010 into the courses I teach. By incorporating these into my courses and refining my pedagogy, I have been able to pursue important professional and personal goals. Those include: (1) Providing students with authentic learning experiences in biology (2) Increasing student success through increased retention and graduation rates, and (3) Giving me the opportunity to conduct research at a level that is of interest to the scientific community in a community college setting. I am interested in forming collaborative, working relationships with those who share my interests as well as current DDCC students who are seeking research experiences prior to transferring to four-year institutions. . If you are interested in working collaboratively, please feel free to contact me.
Blogs I follow and recommend
Small Pond Science
Dynamic Ecology
Joseph W. Felts Faculty, Biology Division of Math, Science, Business & Technology Davidson-Davie Community College 297 DCCC Road Thomasville, NC 27360