Teaching Philosophy – Dr. Steven L. Powers

My teaching philosophy and style have developed from a wealth of experience and training in a wide variety of settings. This includes teaching at both the college and high school levels, working with faculty from Price School of Education at Reinhardt College to develop a Secondary Biology Education Program, conducting and supervising primary research, taking undergraduate courses in education, participating in and coaching athletics, and being advised by excellent teachers and scientists. All of these experiences have helped me combine an enthusiasm for the science of biology, a desire to challenge students, and a genuine concern for the education of students into my own teaching style. This helps to maximize what students take away from my classes.

My primary goal as a teacher is for students to understand that the content of biology and all sciences is composed of hypotheses at various levels of support, rather than immutable dogma. This invites and encourages inquiry by stimulating curiosity in students and causes the realization that the sometimes intimidating world of biology is one to which they can contribute. To accomplish this goal, I teach biology as a scientific process rather than a collection of facts by incorporating situations from my own research, current events, and everyday life. This process oriented approach helps students acquire the skills of scientific inquiry. An understanding of the scientific process allows them to not only incorporate current content into their knowledge base, but allows them to evaluate new developments and debates in biology.

To maximize my effectiveness as an instructor, I present information in a format that is accessible to both visual and auditory learners at various levels of understanding and achievement by the following methods: making syllabi, lecture outlines, and lab procedures available to students prior to class meetings through my faculty webpage (http://faculty.reinhardt.edu/powers); incorporating visual aids; explaining ideas concisely; citing familiar examples; and involving students directly in laboratory and field procedures. This variety of techniques helps my classes emphasize broad concepts and allows students to fill in details as they need and are ready for them using supporting materials. This is imperative for students to genuinely understand important themes across biology and retain what they have learned long after the course ends.

My wide variety of research projects and course work has provided me with a wealth of teaching resources. These resources have helped me successfully teach courses in Evolutionary Biology, Vertebrate Zoology, General Zoology, Aquatic Zoology, General Biology I & II, and Biology Seminar. In each of these courses, I have received excellent student evaluations. I am also interested in further developing courses that would utilize expertise gained through my research program.

As an advisor and graduate student, I have gained important experience in guiding undergraduates. I believe the role of an advisor is to do more than help students progress toward graduation. For those students planning to undertake graduate studies, advisors should help those students gain research experience that will help prepare them for graduate school and give them a competitive edge over other applicants. As an advisor, I help students set specific goals for projects and encourage progress toward those goals. I have also provided guidance and supervision for undergraduate researchers as both a professor and a graduate researcher. Under my leadership, a project involving undergraduates, of which, two were coauthors, resulted in a peer-reviewed publication. Currently, several Reinhardt College biology majors are conducting research on local fishes under my guidance. These research projects will also result in peer-reviewed publications on which the undergraduates will be senior authors.