My main goal in teaching is to help students become independent and critical thinkers who can think like naturalists and researchers. I do not want students only to memorize knowledge from textbooks or lectures. I want them to learn how to observe the world, ask questions, evaluate evidence, and use scientific knowledge to understand new situations. To me, successful learning happens when students can not only understand an explanation but also use it to explain a similar phenomenon or solve a new problem.

In my classes, I plan to combine short lectures with discussions and hands-on activities. A brief lecture can introduce the background, explain the essential concepts, and help students understand the big picture and the learning goals. After that, I want students to learn through case studies, small-group discussions, laboratory experiments, and outdoor observations. These activities allow students to use their own hands and eyes, exchange ideas with their classmates, and connect scientific concepts with their own experiences. I believe students learn science most effectively by doing science.

During my Ph.D., I was a teaching assistant for an animal behavior course. Each week, another teaching assistant and I selected a research paper related to the lecture topic. Students read the paper before class and discussed it during the recitation. I guided them to think about the research question, experimental design, results, and possible alternative explanations. I also encouraged them to bring their own questions. The questions and discussion topics were connected to the midterm and final exams, so students could see how the recitation supported the rest of the course. Many students enjoyed coming to the recitations because they could have interesting discussions about the papers and share their own ideas. Some of them have continued to keep in touch with me after the course ended.

I was also a teaching assistant for introductory biology laboratory sections. I worked with the other teaching assistants to prepare the weekly materials, introduced the experiments, and guided students as they worked in groups. I helped them troubleshoot problems and graded their laboratory reports and weekly quizzes. This experience taught me that students should understand why they are doing an experiment instead of simply following each step of a protocol. When an experiment does not produce the expected result, I want students to think about what may have happened and how they could improve the experiment. Research does not always have a standard correct answer, and learning how to work with uncertainty is an important part of becoming a scientist.

My fieldwork has also strongly influenced the way I think about teaching. Since beginning my postdoctoral research, I have assisted my PI in mentoring groups of approximately six to ten undergraduate students during a three - week fieldwork in the Arizona desert each summer. We teach students how to observe ant behavior, conduct lab experiments, collect data, work with other group members, and respond to changing field conditions. Field research requires students to make decisions and solve unexpected problems. They cannot always depend on an instructor, a textbook, or a predesigned assignment to tell them what to do next. From this experience, I have seen that observing animals and participating in research in the field can help students develop independence and confidence. I therefore want learning to happen not only in the classroom but also in laboratories, natural environments, and local communities.

I am also developing a graduate-level mini-course, Nature Journaling for Biologists, that reflects these teaching goals. In this course, students will first learn the basic principles and history of nature journaling and then practice observing and recording organisms, behaviors, habitats, and ecological interactions. Short introductions will provide the background for each session, while most of the learning will occur through guided indoor and outdoor activities. Students will use writing, sketches, behavioral records, and questions to examine the natural world around them. They will also consider how nature journaling can contribute to research in areas such as animal behavior, ecology, and neurobiology.

My experience studying and conducting research in both China and the United States has made me aware that students can have very different educational, cultural, and language backgrounds. These differences may influence how comfortable they feel speaking in class, asking questions, or disagreeing with an instructor. For example, a student who does not speak frequently may still be thinking carefully and engaging with the material. I therefore want to provide different ways for students to participate, including small-group discussions, written reflections, hands-on activities, presentations, and individual conversations.

I encourage students to approach me both during class and in office hours. I want them to feel comfortable asking questions and expressing their ideas without being afraid of making mistakes. I will work to provide equal opportunities to students regardless of their backgrounds. Some students may need additional explanations, encouragement, or time to develop confidence, and I am willing to provide that support. Peer support can also be valuable, so I use group activities to help students learn from one another while making sure that every student has an opportunity to contribute.

I have mentored undergraduate, master’s, doctoral rotation, and Ph.D. students in research laboratories. I enjoy helping each student grow, explore their interests, and gradually become more independent. Because students have different levels of experience and different goals, I try to understand what each student needs rather than use exactly the same mentoring approach for everyone.

I plan to assess student learning through several different formats rather than depending mainly on traditional exams. These may include participation in discussions and activities, laboratory or field notebooks, group presentations, individual reflections, and research projects. I am especially interested in students’ learning progress: how their questions, explanations, and scientific reasoning develop throughout the course. For group assignments, I will also include individual reflections so that I can understand what each student learned and contributed. I will use short surveys or questions before a course to understand students’ starting points and ask for feedback during and after the course. This feedback will help me determine what is working and what I should change.

I also recognize that students now use generative AI as part of their learning. I do not think simply telling students not to use AI will prepare them to use it responsibly. Instead, I want to discuss AI during the first class and provide clear guidelines. We will discuss what kinds of tasks AI may help with, how AI-generated information should be checked against reliable sources, how AI use should be acknowledged, and when using AI would create an ethical problem. AI may help students brainstorm, clarify an unfamiliar concept, or improve their writing when these uses are allowed. However, it should support independent thinking rather than replace it.

In the future, I want to connect my teaching with science communication and community engagement. I would like students to see how science can help local communities and ecosystems and how researchers can communicate their work to people outside their own fields. My goal is not only to train students for a particular job. I want to help them become independent thinkers, good collaborators, and responsible members of both society and the natural environment.

I will continue growing as a teacher by listening to student feedback, learning from other instructors, and reflecting on my own teaching. Each group of students will bring different experiences and questions, and I expect my teaching to continue changing with them. Ultimately, I hope my students leave my classroom with more confidence in their ability to ask questions, explore the unknown, and understand the world as scientists.