My philosophy of science teaching stems from select role models and from observations of students of all ages in science classes. 从学习的角度来看, understanding scientific processes conceptually is far more important than acquiring overwhelming amounts of information with little or no understanding. Teaching for conceptual understanding and relating material to the students’ real world seems to motivate even some individuals who initially show no interest in the subject matter.
Involvement with undergraduate research stems from four perspectives: the animal behavior course, 人类性学课程, 癫痫项目, and the K-8 science education project. In the animal behavior course, students conduct original basic research. 在人类性学课程中, student research involves surveys and questionnaires - three students presented their findings at a selective national research conference.The epilepsy project involves developing an animal model that can be used to study a product of the ketogenic diet that may reduce the effects of human childhood epilepsy. Three NCC students and I developed a technique which seems to have promise in further research of the biological mechanism involved. The work of students resulted in two peer-reviewed publications.
The science education project addresses the critical need to improve the scientific literacy of elementary and middle school teachers so that they can make science more accessible and understandable to students of different genders, 能力水平, 民族/文化背景, 以及社会经济水平. Our discrepant event approach uses a demonstration with two similar setups that provide students with both the “prior experience” to form an expectation and the discrepancy to grab their attention. We follow the demonstration with a structured exploration format that gives students a method for experimenting to find the one built-in difference (i.e., the variable) that caused the ...
选定的奖学金
林奇,米.J. 和J. Zenchak. 2013. 水深压力. A revamped lesson on water gets students excited to create their own investigations. In: Froschauer, L. (ed.). A Year of Inquiry: a collection for elementary educators. NSTA新闻. 弗吉尼亚州阿灵顿. pp. 149-154.
Zenchak J. 和M.J. 林奇. 2011. 下一步是什么? 如何让学生保持参与 and on track when teaching inquiry skills during an experiment. 科学与儿童 48(6): 50-54.
林奇,米.J. 和J. Zenchak. 2011. 水深压力. A revamped lesson on water gets students excited to create their own investigations. 科学与儿童 48(7): 54-57.
Zenchak J.J. 和M.J. 林奇. 2005. Teacher-friendly scientific inquiry: A summer workshop for K-8 teachers from high-need Chicago metropolitan-area schools. Success in High-Need 学校 (The Online Journal of The Associated 大学 of Illinois ACI’s Center for Success in High-Need 学校) 1(1). 9 pp.
在M.G., R.J. 颤抖，和J. Zenchak. 2001. Oral supplementation of beta-hydroxybutyrate in rats. (American Epilepsy Society Abstract) Epilepsia 42(增刊. 7) Abst. 2.048.
课程
BIO 108 Water, Food, and Sex (team-taught with T. 莫里斯)
生物147解剖学 & 生理学
BIO 300 / GWS 301 Human Sexuality: A Clash of Values (team-taught with M. Berkland)
BIO 302生理学
BIO 405动物行为学
SCI 109 Science Inquiry (team-taught with M.J. 林奇)