Environmental Education in the School Curriculum:
As a member of the Teacher Education Program at Cook College, I am interested determining key predictors that affect learner outcome and ultimately behavioral
change in environmental education and citizen science programs. As a scientist and educator, I feel it important to provide students and community members with
the tools to actively participate in the stewardship of natural resources.
I am currently teaching the course: Environmental Education in the School Curriculum. My primary course objectives are for students to:
Gain insight into the issues surrounding environmental education in K-12 school
Develop ways to incorporate environmental education into K-12 classrooms/schools
Discuss how to better teach environmental literacy and life-long learning skills to K-12 students
As part of my interests in environmental education, I am also involved in outreach projects that are worth looking into:
G6-12 Teacher Professional Development:
In an effort to provide teachers with the opportunity to explore authentic science, I am actively involved in teacher professional development initiatives, including Teachers as Scholars and the Food Systems Consortium's Summer Institute.
Wilde Lake Middle School Science Mentorship:
I have recently been given the opportunity to serve as a science mentor on the cichlid research projects at Wilde Lake Middle School in Columbia, MD. Several exceptional students under the guidance of Bob Keddell are participating in a program entitled Aqua Havens for Education. The program, founded by Mr. Keddell involves after school, over the summer, and some during the school day participation of the students and sometimes their families. With help from several organizations such as Toshiba America Foundation, Tool Factory, Inc., the Horizon Foundation, Artificial Reefs, Inc., and the Baltimore State Aquarium, the students devote their energy toward building and maintaining aquaria, designing and undertaking research projects, and publishing their findings on web-pages that they have designed. Through email and the occasional visit, I am serving as a mentor for projects with both Malawian and Tanganyikan cichlids.
Recent Projects:
Change Agent: PMABS
As a member of the Partnership for Minority Advancement in the Biomolecular Sciences (PMABS) and the faculty of Elizabeth City State University (ECSU), I combined my interests in teaching, research, and information technology in an effort to make science education more equitable among learners. As a change agent, I worked closely with the ECSU faculty, members of PMABS, educators in the North Carolina public school system, and both secondary and college students. We worked to identify why minority groups are underrepresented in the biomolecular sciences. In addition, we also worked to increase teacher and student awareness and skill level in using multimedia tools to promote learning.
Following are some of the projects that I worked on.
Survey of biology majors' and non-majors' impressions of: science, the biological sciences, and careers in biology
Survey of students and faculty regarding the use of information technology in teaching
Faculty development seminars on the availability and specific uses of multimedia teaching tools
Individualized student mentorship both in the lab and in the classroom
Learning effectiveness of modules for teaching organic evolution
Combining faculty expertise and undergraduate student talent to promote scientific literacy in the local community
EEB 211 Biology of Organisms laboratory curriculum renovations:
I worked with the course instructors and lab personnel to integrate greater use of the resources on the internet, computerized simulations, and digital technologies. Our goal was to facilitate an interactive learning environment where students are able to take greater control over their learning and gain exposure to the broad field of organismal biology. Be sure to visit www.princeton.edu/~eeb211 for more information about the course and the lab personnel. In addition, I incorporated teacher training into the TA protocol. I worked closely with the McGraw Center for Teaching to provide a synthesis of tools that TAs can use to develop and expand their teaching skills. This provided graduate students with a more meaningful TA-ship and helped them to prepare for academic career