Community Novice

Oct 31, 2017 9:24:17 AM

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I completed a BS in Medical Science from Western Illinois University in 2010, focusing on biology and chemistry. I continued on at WIU to pursue a MS in biology. During my graduate second year, I was hired as a graduate teaching assistant, and I found my calling as an educator. As a graduate student for my first master’s program, I conducted a pilot study to determine the needs of students within an introductory level animal biology course. With data from the survey, I set out to curate an online database of annotated web-based resources to help instructors supplement their courses, as well as help students study outside of class. The primary goal of the project was to focus on materials that were accessible to students with disabilities such as visual and auditory limitations. As an outgrowth of the web-database, a collaboration of high school and college science educators and I have began expanding the project to include interactive learning modules to address topics in science where students tend to hold alternative conceptions (See portfolio). Related to this project, I have had the honor of being selected to present at the National Science Teacher Association National Conference in Chicago, IL in 2015 and the Secondary Science Education Conference at Western Illinois University in 2017. In my classrooms, I bring concepts to life by integrating online resources into lecture and student study materials, as well as maintaining an organized online classroom to help students prepare for in-class and online discussion. In the Spring of 2017, I finished writing my own low budget, inquiry based biology lab book, which contains virtual lab activities, videos, and other related web materials to help students prepare before coming to lab, as well as help reinforce skills and concepts in the post-lab assignments. While piloting the book, I noticed students demonstrated better lab-preparedness and seemed to better connect lab skills and activities to the course objectives and lecture content. As an Instructional Technology Specialist, I believe in a culture of learning, sharing, and helpfulness. I enjoy helping faculty learn best practices in teaching and learning, including accessibility, as well as helping to determine the needs of their courses and students and bringing those needs to life in the classroom. My focus is on online course presence, even for traditional face-to-face courses, as a means to help students feel more connected to the course as well as help them be more organized through providing online course calendars (Canvas does a GREAT job with this) and unit or weekly overviews. My current goals include completing a second masters degree, in Instructional Design and Technology with an certification in Integration of Technology in Education. I hope to be able to help fellow educators use technology productively in their classrooms to help students better meet course objectives in the digital age, as well as learn skills for information literacy, accessibility, and become lifelong learners.