Teaching at a college such as Hamilton is more than meeting classes to transmit reams of information. The best teaching is really helping others to teach themselves. Students come to college to learn, but they often do not realize that learning is a life-long process and that what they need to learn in college is how to learn. Learning happens best in active situations, not in passive reception of transmitted information. Information has limited value if it is not managed with understanding, so I create good learning situations that help students teach themselves.
The subjects I teach can involve overwhelming amounts of information, but I discourage intellectual bulemia in favor of thoughtful selection. Students are required to cite specific and appropriate examples, but the choice of an example is theirs. They choose from mental stores just as professionals in any discipline must, and just like those professionals, students learn to manage information and to make choices wisely.
I believe in setting high standards that challenge students, and this has given me a reputation for being demanding. Students deserve no less, so I maintain high standards in a culture that seems to reward popularity and entertainment over substance. Although learning is enjoyable and can be quite entertaining, it is not always "fun" as students may describe it. I prefer to challenge students rather than to risk insulting students by expecting too little of them.
Most students will meet a challenge well; some even better than they may have expected. How will students really know what their capabilities are if they are not challenged? Still, some students avoid challenge in the misguided belief that all that matters are A's on a transcript. Such maneuvering is transparent to those who evaluate academic records for admission or hiring. Students who avoid challenge also miss opportunities to grow.
I try to help students realize that it is their actions and attitudes that are the real essence of learning. Students who do well in my courses attend lectures and laboratories regularly and with attention, that is, they do more than simply occupy a seat. These students also read related course materials, and they sustain an effort to learn in ways that best suit their personal style.
Finally, I share an awe for the art that is in developmental and structural biology. I remind students that the relevance of some of what they learn will stay with them through life in ways they may not anticipate. My goal is to create situations that make it so that my students will never walk past a meat counter or through a natural history museum, or even look in the mirror, or at their own children, and see things as they did before they took one of my courses. Former students return from vacations at the shore or on wild trails, east and west, with anatomical treasures they noticed on a walk and thought I could use in my Vertebrate Organization lab. Graduates have returned to campus several years later and quoted something memorable from class. These are gratifying contributions, which I choose to take as an indication that something good is happening in my classes.
