Teacher in Private Practice (TIPP)? My educational philosophy
We learn most effectively when we pursue our own interests. My role as a teacher is to stimulate interests, motivate independent effort, and encourage collaboration. In my formal presentations I strive to clarify complex concepts and to raise interesting questions. In workshops and other collaborative settings, I emphasize speculative hypotheses, conjectures and refutations, and development creative modes of understanding.
My "purpose is not to transfer knowledge but to create environments and experiences that bring students to discover and construct knowledge for themselves, to make students members of communities of learners that make discoveries and solve problems." (quote borrowed from Barr, R.B. & Tagg, J. 1995. From teaching to learning -- a new paradigm for undergraduate education. Change. November/December. 13-25)
Services Available
- One-on-one tutorials related to ecology, environmental sciences, genetics, and human health
- Custom tailored science presentations for K-12 school classrooms and homeschoolers (but see Background)
- Group presentations and workshops on a wide variety of topics ranging from transitioning to a sustainable green economy, reducing invasibility of surface waters, understanding the biology of cancer, to
- Custom Powerpoint, concept map, and web site development
- Project consulting and evaluation