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https://departments.sciences.ncsu.edu/lsfy/
Erica Kosal, PhD

Teach

I love learning and I love teaching. I feel that I continue to learn and improve in both areas even though I've been at the university level for a long time! There is always something new to learn and science is continuously discovering new things. Teaching pedagogies also evolve. As we learn more about how the human brain works to learn and remember, we adapt in the classroom. As neuroscience teaches us things about memory, we can apply this to help our students. In addition to the methodologies of teaching, I am also interested in understanding if my methods are helpful to students. For this reason, I engage in what is called SoTL research. This stands for the "scholarship of teaching and learning". This is a rigorous and scholarly way of applying the scientific method to teaching and student learning. I want to understand if an activity (e.g. reading phylogenetic trees through application of a case study) helps students understand evolution and phylogeny. I will develop ways of testing this, such as designing surveys and assessing learning gains from engaging in the activity. For example, I might ask pre-activity opinions and factual "quiz" questions and then administer this same instrument after the activity to see how opinions and knowledge changed. When engaging in this type of research, I often have to go through the Institutional Review Board (IRB) on campus. This is a rigorous process and application to ensure that protects human subjects and their "welfare by reviewing research proposals that involve humans to ensure that the planned research activities are ethical in practice and compliant with the federal regulations governing research with human subjects."

Much of my teaching centers around the philosophy that engagement is vital for student comprehension of material and student interest.  By having students participate in group problem solving sessions or interacting with case studies, they can see relevance and often this connection provides the context that can help them understand more fully.  I use other small interactive techniques that are innovative and get students involved in various ways. 

My philosophy centers around the individuality of students.  Not all students like the same techniques used in the classroom.  Students bring different levels of experience into the classroom.  There are different misconceptions.  Students have different preferences.  For these reasons, I try to use different teaching pedagogies.  I use multiple examples and analogies to illustrate difficult concepts.  I asked questions and wait for responses.  I pay attention to body language and try to adapt accordingly during class time.  I try to get to know students as individuals, even in my large lecture courses, and I share a little about myself to encourage a welcoming environment. 

I know that students learn by retrieving information multiple times and so I try to reinforce concepts and give in-class work and homework to help with this endeavor.  I know that students have different strengths from one another and so I encourage group work during class time.  I know that students are humans, have stress and make mistakes, and so I try to be understanding without compromising standards and expectations for the students and the course. 

My desire is to help students learn and to grow into confident, budding scientists.  This means working with students to develop their evaluation and critical thinking skills, using intellectual standards to assess data and arguments.  This means working with students in the classroom as well as outside the classroom.  To this end, I have worked with students on independent research projects, been involved formally and informally in mentoring relationships, helped students write manuscripts and personal statements for graduate school, as well as offering general help as needed.  This means getting to know students personally and providing constructive feedback to help them improve their skills and comprehension in a welcoming environment.

My philosophy of care and support comes out in everything I do and I believe firmly that my positive attitude coupled with constructive guidance and critique helps students learn and succeed in college. 

LSC 101: Critical & Creative Thinking in the Life Sciences

BIO 181: Introductory Biology: Ecology, Evolution & Biodiversity

I work with students in a variety of ways outside of class which I consider teaching.

I am a mentor to several students, where we meet on a regular basis to discuss topics of importance to the students. I teach them ways of interacting with others, how to secure an internship, how to apply to graduate school, etc.

I am also a teacher of sorts when I interact with my Learning Assistants and Teaching Assistants. I help undergraduates learn how to grade, how to lead, how to manage a review session, etc.

I also am in a role of teaching when students work with me on research projects. I help teach various analytical skills, such as analyzing data, and how to write manuscripts.