TEACHING

Teaching Statement

Diversity Statement

I view teaching as a highly scientific enterprise. I read literature on pedagogy and form hypotheses about teaching, conduct experiments in the classroom to test these hypotheses, examine the results, and adjust my teaching approach accordingly. In my teaching, I use a mix of active learning techniques (e.g. flipped classes, think-pair-share, Jigsaws) in line with evidence-based pedagogy. I believe it is important for students to work on important, real-life case studies throughout the curriculum. In each of my courses, I teach more than only the specific course content. I also teach transferable skills, connections to other disciplines, and the interaction between science and culture, especially related to systemic racism and sexism. You can read more about my research into teaching in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning section of my research page.

I developed and now instruct Foundations of Quantitative Reasoning, a graduate course at the University of Vermont. The class is a mix of ecology, evolution, quantitative skills, and programming in R. All the materials for the course are freely available at: https://eastonwhite.github.io/QuantReasoning/

I am also an instructor for the group Software Carpentry. I teach 2-3 workshops a year designed to help scientists be more productive using various software skills including Git/version control, R statistical software, and command line.

I have extensive training in pedagogy including a year as a fellow in the Professors for the Future program.

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University of Vermont

Instructor, Foundations of Quantitative Reasoning (BIO381), Spring 2019 - Present

• I designed this new core course for the Quantitative and Evolutionary STEM Training (QuEST) program. The course focuses on quantitative tools for ecologists and evolutionary biologists. The course emphasizes team-based learning, case studies, and flipped classrooms lessons.
• All the material is open source: https://eastonwhite.github.io/QuantReasoning/

University of California, Davis

Instructor, Introductory Biology: Ecology and Evolution (BIS2B), Biology Undergraduate Scholars Program, Summer 2017 and 2018, Davis, CA

• Designed the curriculum, created assignments and exams, led group activities, and taught lectures
• The course emphasized teaching quantitative skills as part of the first-year biology curriculum

Instructor, Building your personal baloney detection kit, First Year Seminar program, Winter 2017, Davis, CA

• Designed the curriculum, created assignments and activities, and taught the material
• The course focused on teaching students critical thinking skills, quantitative reasoning, and the scientific method

Guest Lecturer, Mathematical Methods in Population Biology (Graduate Level, PBG231), Fall 2017

• Designed and taught three lectures focused along equilibrium and stability analysis for both difference and differential equations

Teaching Assistant, Population Ecology (ESP121), Winter 2016, Davis, CA

Teaching Assistant, Introduction to Ecology and Evolution (BIS2B), Fall 2015, Davis, CA

Software Carpentry

Instructor, Software Carpentry computational skills bootcamp focused on R, version control, and bash command line.

• Sep 2019, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON
• Aug 2019, Canadian Society for Ecology and Evolution, Fredericton, NB
• Aug 2019, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT
• Jan 2019, Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT
• Jan 2018, University of California, Davis, CA
• Nov 2017, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
• April 2017, Federal Reserve Board, Washington DC
• Dec 2016, Victoria, BC
• July 2015, Davis, CA
• February 2015, Davis, CA

University of Victoria

Teaching Assistant, Advanced Ecology (BIO470). Spring 2014. Professor: Julia K. Baum

Guest Lecturer, Calculus for Students in the Social and Biological Sciences. (MATH102). March 2014. Professor: Margaret Wyeth.

Scottsdale Community College

Teaching Assistant, Mathematics Summer Program. Summer 2013. Professor: John D. Nagy