Overview
My primary focus in the department is instructional. I teach courses for both biology majors and non-majors. I continue to develop and innovate the Molecular Biology lab curriculum and am involved in efforts to improve instruction by bringing formative assessment into our lectures. My non-majors courses (Genetics, Genomics and Society and Biology of Aging) emphasize scientific literacy for non-majors and introduce foundational principles of genetics and molecular biology while exploring the relevant innovations and accompanying societal issues. My scholarly work focuses on how to help students gain mastery in complex problem solving in biology and how creative assessments can affect student learning outcomes. I expanded my non-majors courses to an international audience when I taught Genetics, Genomics and Society at Duke in Kunshan.