David L.

Experience Summary

Both my teaching experience and my scientific background are extensive. I began teaching at the start of my graduate school education in 1986, and I have been consistently teaching in some context since (I have been teaching full time since 1995). During those years I have taught an incredible array of students: graduate students (including doctoral candidates), undergraduate students, community college students, nursing students, both gifted and extremely gifted high school and middle school students, and students at a regular high school level. Moreover, these students have hailed from almost every economic class and ethnic group imaginable. My broad science background has allowed me to teach a considerable range of science courses, including: all levels of biology, human anatomy and physiology (both for advanced high school students and pre-professionals), comparative vertebrate anatomy, vertebrate zoology, science research and writing methods, historical geology, physical geology, evolution, environmental science, historical geology, introductory paleontology, astrobiology, and survey courses covering either science as a whole or the physical sciences. I have taught mini-courses in such diverse topics as the ecosystems of Florida, the natural history of Louisiana, climatology, a survey of the dinosaurs, and the application of physics principles to organism function. My broad background in both the earth sciences and life sciences, research interests in paleoecology, and graduate student/post doc experience as part of an environmental science research team make me highly qualified to teach environmental science.

Teaching Style

My philosophy of teaching is guided mainly by one over-riding principle, respect for the student with focus on the individual. I have taken courses with large lecture sections where out of necessity the professor talked at, or worse over, the student audience, and in this situation I have noticed a tendency for students to disconnect from both the professor and the class material, which certainly hindered material comprehension. Based upon this experience, I have come to prefer various forms of Socratic dialog as an instructor. I believe this teaching style has a number of advantages. First, it keeps the student mentally involved in the lecture, so that class does not degrade into simple mechanical note-taking. Secondly, it shows respect on my part for the students' intellect, which I believe inspires confidence and thus enhances learning and intellectual growth. Finally, it gives students a chance to experience and practice scientific deductive reasoning under the supportive guidance of a teacher. I should point out that I have, out of necessity, taught large lecture sections. In this less than desirable situation, I consciously strove as much as possible to talk TO the students rather than at them, and as much as practical I posed questions to the students in an attempt to keep them engaged. I should point out that I have a gift for metaphor, which helps me to explain esoteric concepts in terms that students can relate to in their own every day lives.

My Hobbies

Fishing, World of Warcraft, fly tying, astronomy, sword and sorcery fantasy/science fiction.

All Subjects I Tutor

• Anatomy
• Biology

• Earth Science
• Life Science

• Physiology
• Science