Course Development

Cheating Death, Chasing Immortality (UH 089), University Honors First Year Seminar, UNC, Fall 2008

This course is the result of an initiative designed by the UNC University Fellows to encourage collaborative teaching across diverse disciplines. The course topic was wholly conceived and the materials designed by a committee of four doctoral students from environmental engineering (myself), genetics, religious studies, and Slavic languages. Rather than a traditional “patchwork” approach to team teaching, in which individual instructors lead each lecture, an effort has been made to design course meetings to enable instructor – as well as student – interaction to emphasize the connections that can be made across disciplines. My own primary contributions to the course have been in design of lectures focused on the biology of death, psychology, and genetic engineering/biotechnology, as well as general course organization and administration. The course is sponsored by the UNC First Year Seminar Program and fulfills the Moral Reasoning/Philosophy core requirement for undergraduates. An article on the benefits of the course was recently featured in the UNC Graduate School's annual magazine, The Fountain. The course prospectus can be reviewed here.

Unifying Concepts: Environmental Engineering Microbiology (ENVR 401), Department of Environmental Sciences & Engineering, UNC, Spring 2008

Unifying Concepts is intended for first year graduate students who are expected to be highly motivated and familiar with environmental issues, yet may come from a wide range of undergraduate backgrounds, including engineering, biology, and political science. The course is module-based, with each student responsible for selecting and completing five three week modules over the course of the semester. In designing my module I chose to take an applied approach to illustrate fundamental concepts while engaging students of differing levels of experience and interest through completion of a “real-world” laboratory exercise. Class administration and grading was wholly my responsibility. The course outline and handout can be found here and evaluations from the Spring 2008 session are available here.

Founding Chairperson, School of Public Health Interdisciplinary Journal Club, UNC, 2005-2007

This Interdisciplinary Journal Club is focused on increasing interactions between the diverse departments in the School of Public Health (nutrition, epidemiology, pharmacology, environmental engineering, etc.). While not a traditional “course” per se, as participation was wholly voluntary, organizing the club involved selecting monthly topics, papers, and facilitators that would appeal to a broad range of students. An example “syllabus” can be found here.

Freshman Honors Seminar (UH 2984H), University Honors Department, Virginia Tech, Fall 2001

The Freshman Honors Seminar is intended to introduce exceptional honors students to different areas of research and knowledge while improving their writing abilities and giving them experience in scholarly debate. It is also focused on assessing current events, culture, and politics. I designed and taught a supplementary one-hour recitation group for this class and assisted in student assessment. Topic selection and class design for each one hour session was wholly my responsibility. A list of my selected recitation topics can be found here. Reflections on this course were awarded the ASABE Robert E. Stewart Engineering & Humanities Award in 2004.

Teaching Assistantships

Water Resources Engineering lab (BSE 3305), Biological Systems Engineering, Virginia Tech, Fall 2002
Advisor: Dr. Theo Dillaha

My primary responsibility in assisting in this course was the design and construction of several flume inserts for the purpose of updating the related hydrology lab sessions. I also assisted in general course administration and student evaluation.

Introduction to Engineering II (EF 1016), Engineering Fundamentals Department, Virginia Tech, Spring 2001
Advisor: Dr. Missy Cummings

My responsibilities in this position included grading homework, proctoring tests, and organizing and evaluating a design competition (“egg launcher”) for first year general engineering students.

Nations & Nationalities (PSCI 1004), Political Science Department, Virginia Tech, Fall 1999
Advisor: Dr. Edward Weisband

As a recitation leader for an introductory anthropology course, I both answered questions students might have regarding the general weekly lectures, and designed discussions and debates to guide students through the readings and course content. I also organized larger study sessions prior to exams for several recitation sections. Recitation evaluations can be found here.

Other

Participant, Center for Teaching and Learning at UNC Workshops:

• “Higher Order Thinking Classroom Assessment Techniques”, Fall 2007
• "Creating Experiential Learning Exercises”, Fall 2007
• "Developing Critical Thinking in Students”, Spring 2007
• "What We Know About How Students Learn”, Spring 2007

Tutor, Virginia Tech Athletic Advising Center, Fall 2000