As I reflect on my time participating in the certification in university teaching

skills program through Saint Louis Universitys Reinert Center for Transformative
Teaching and Learning, I am struck by how deeply teaching is impacted by selfevaluation. Not just reflection on how best to communicate ideas and facilitate learning
engagement, but on my life experience as a student. Pulling from this experience, I have
realized that a good educator must be creative, open-minded, adaptable, humble, and
occasionally, uncompromising. While self-evaluation and preservation of these
characteristics is essential, I understand that a good teacher must also look to others for
guidance, inspiration, and support. The CUTS program has provided me with a valuable
time to reflect on my abilities, strengths, and areas of improvement as and educator, and
facilitated formative experiences to work with and listen to the wisdom of others.
I have been a graduate student for seven years now. As I drift further from my
undergraduate years, I see time has caused me to forget some of my learning experiences
throughout my college days. When I began teaching and later the CUTS program, I was
still somewhat entrenched in the academic learning tradition (perhaps curse) of long
lectures and rote memorization. I have heard professors refer to this as academic
hazing; the idea that if I did it, you can do it, too. This mantra is still very much alive
and well in todays academic environment. It is largely representative of my college
education experience. Having little other experience to draw from, it was the model by
which I operated as a teaching assistant throughout my masters degree and the beginning
of my Ph.D. Having already had three years teaching experience when I began the CUTS
program, I found myself adhering to these old ideas. I found myself considering my
students as lazy and spoiled for wanting custom-designed material for them. The CUTS
program has helped me realize that my education, while invaluable, and the reason why I
am where I am, was not necessarily the ideal model for effective learning and teaching.
That doesnt devalue it, but it also doesnt mean that it needs to persist and that I should
model my own teaching style after it.
In the CUTS program, I have learned that teaching is a dynamic process, and
requires me to call upon my life experiences and intuition to address classroom situations
as they come. Teaching does not have one size fits all solutions to effective learning.
Good teachers may be well versed in teaching strategies and pedagogical thinking, but
the actual practice of teaching is totally fluid and exists within the moment. Through
attending CUTS workshops, I have realized that much of teaching is finding your own
style while not drowning out the other styles of the people around you: which is to say,
that of your students. Particularly in the Self-directed learning in the university setting:
implications for teaching and learning and the How learning works: cognitive
approaches to learning, and application to teaching seminars I attended, I see how
remembering what it feels like to be the learner is so important to tapping into teaching.
When I was an undergraduate, I had to balance my study time with outside
responsibilities such as work and extra curricular activities. The coursework and lectures
as well as my study approach were built on a foundation of basic memorization. It was
not until I began graduate school that I truly learned how to think more critically, gained
exposures to different types of teaching styles, and began to see that the balancing act I
had learned throughout college was vital to my academic and personal life.
Similar to the CUTS seminar topic Promoting higher order thinking, I can
harness the time management skills of my undergraduate career and the critical thinking

skills I have gained during my graduate career to impart these concepts in the classroom.
I now see teaching as a conversation. As the leader of the conversation, it is my job to
make sure students feel safe enough to contribute. In McKeachies Teaching Tips,
McKeachie addresses barriers that might inhibit the flow of discussion. Conversationprohibitive classroom environments are those that are not only caused by fear of criticism
or judgment, but also a teacher that does not listen for the sake of listening, instead
interested only in answers. I intend to implement suggestions from McKeachie like
summarizing important concepts throughout the class period, allowing other students to
answer questions instead of the instructor - a true discussion. Occasionally, the classroom
conversation is one-sided, particularly when you as the instructor must communicate big
picture concepts, important terms, or ideas that are essential to the comprehension of the
course. There are times when information might actually be best communicated through
lecture. However, in normal conversations between two people, if one person is doing all
the talking, the listeners eyes will eventually glass over and that person will cease to
absorb critical content in the speech of the speaker. The same is true in the classroom.
Certainly, important ideas still need to be explicitly stated, and that will take a
little lecture. But if you as the educator truly want students to understand and appreciate
the topic (which I so passionately do when I teach people about biology, plants, and
evolution), then you need to let them take some ownership. You need to let them speak,
with their peers especially, since you as the instructor have a very unique but different
relationship with them. There are many ways that have been developed and will be
developed through yours or the creativity of others in order to facilitate this participation.
I learned through CUTS seminars that student participation thrives through the use of
social media, and classroom activities that require participation. Talking to a neighbor to
work out an answer or interpret a figure can make things way less scary - either from the
talking in front of people standpoint, or from digesting complex ideas. Writing is an
effective tool, no matter how much people dont like doing it or even assessing it.
Examples are a big one. And that conversation - easily done through feedback forms, or
having students submit problem concepts once a week to get everyone on the same page.
Each method can be seen as a tool with which to work, as difference challenges arise
with classroom sizes. Nevertheless, the themes are universal.
Through the CUTS program and priceless guidance from my academic mentors, I
have learned to look inward as well as outward. Throughout the CUTS online seminar
series on the teaching philosophy, course design, and learning technologies, I saw how
different academic disciplines can benefit each other with fresh eyes for evaluation.
Within my discipline, I am extremely fortunate to have had two research advisors that are
also stellar teachers. My masters advisor, Dr. Jim Hickey, is one of the most reflective
souls I have ever met. Because of this thoughtfulness, he is phenomenal at distilling the
most important concepts of evolutionary biology into digestible bullet points. Throughout
the 20+ years of his tenure, he also has spent much time reflecting on pedagogy,
developing independently his own teaching strategy called: the learning triangle (the
cornerstones being learning goal, method, assessment). Although I will not develop a
smoking habit, I know much of his most valuable reflection time happens when he sits
outside smoking cigarettes. I can nevertheless take the habit of outdoor contemplation
and incorporate it into my schedule when developing lesson plans. My Ph.D. advisor, Dr.
Allison Miller, has unique and exemplary educator characteristics that I cherish as well.

She is so deeply and contagiously passionate about evolution and botany, and she thrives
on the discussion of course material. Because of this passion, she ensures the primary
learning goal is to place peoples lasting interest in the subject above administering some
type of rigid assessment. This makes her an extremely considerate teacher. She utilizes
frequent class evaluations, and truly listens to her students, addressing directly every
concern they list. I marvel at her patience and kindness and admire her ability to directly
address students behavior in difficult situations, such as cheating. Remarkably, even in
the face academic dishonesty, she doesnt hold grudges (at least, detectably). I hope to
gain such grace as I move forward as an educator.
As I consider myself as an instructor, particularly in light of others, I know there
are strengths and weaknesses I will be continuously addressing. I both know and have
been told by my students that I spread infectious wonder for the subjects I teach.
Enthusiasm is one of the most direct ways an educator can inspire interest in a topic, and
interest is essential to true learning and comprehension. My zeal and work ethic also
results in my close attention to detail, and I think critically about the questions I ask and
what I want people to get out of the material. This dedication is important for students to
see just as much as enthusiasm for the subject. My dedication can also be harmful,
though; I tend to become too personally invested in the lessons I create, which
occasionally causes me to take students criticisms too personally. In the courses I will
teach, I must remind myself that it is not me that is getting judged; I can do things poorly,
or choose a learning style that is not effective for other people. It is not wrong or bad.
Good teaching is about offering kindness to your students and yourself, which will
accomplish the most good for all. This good includes sharing knowledge.
As I move forward with my teaching career, my primary goal is to meet people
with kindness. Particularly when I am frustrated, I want to view these as opportunities to
introduce kindness: to my students and myself. I want to preserve my own integrity while
listening to the needs of others. These are necessary attitudes that will make me better at
interacting with people who think or learn differently than me. These attitudes in turn
naturally facilitate my classroom goal: to make learning a conversation. Moving away
from classical lecture models will be an ever-changing process, and my experience with
the CUTS program has provided me with fresh ideas like think, pair, share, in-class
assignments, real-time technologies like Top Hat, or the use of social media to facilitate
discussion. I will continue to look pedagogical literature like those provided in the CUTS
booklist to find inspiration. Beyond these concrete examples, CUTS has helped remind
me that I will be learning and developing fresh techniques in the future. During the
program, I have looked to others to formulate my vision of myself as an educator. Fellow
participants and my mentors have helped me to see the strengths and weaknesses in my
teaching style, and inspired me to continue to seek this feedback as I proceed in the
future. Most of all, I feel prepared to continue improving as teacher and student.
Reference:
McKeachie, Wilbert J. McKeachies Teaching Tips: Strategies, Research, and Theory for
College and University Teachers, 13th edition. Belmont, Calif: Wadsworth, 2010.