Markwell and Courtney

What stuck out for me in this reading is:

…Consider the difference between the student who asks “Will this be on the test?” and the student who challenges your presentation on how functional domains within proteins tend to be conserved during evolution because they don’t believe in evolution….

In my limited teaching experience, it was the students that challenged me that were the most fun to teach. I think it is easy to “give up” on the students who just learn to pass the test. Now, I will challenge myself to try to get the latter students excited about learning for the sake of learning. I hope this course will help me do that.

Chapter 8: Key points that interested me:

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•       We must be aware of our students’ backgrounds because this will have an impact on the effectiveness of our teaching.
•       We, as teachers, need to accept the responsibility for the learning of our students.
•        All science courses should be seen as an opportunity to influence thinking and scientific knowledge, even though some students that take science courses because of a requirement may not be pursuing a science degree.
•       Learning students’ names helps enhance their self-esteem.
•       Resources (e.g., tutoring) should be offered and encouraged. Seeking these resources should not be viewed as signs of weakness or inability. We should create that environment for our students.
•       Students differ in how they learn and study, and we need to try to see those differing characteristics in our students.