I am dedicated to providing students the highest quality of education, as their future careers will likely impact society and the lives of justice-involved populations. Tomorrow’s caseworkers, social workers, correctional officers, lawyers, police officers, scholars, and community leaders are the students sitting in my classrooms.
I have experience teaching at various higher education institutions at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. In the past, I have taught courses focused on introducing criminal justice, correctional practices, community based corrections, and special populations.
I am continuously working to improve my overall teaching skills and abilities by engaging in professional development and pedagogical focused courses. For example, I completed the year long, Effective Teaching Practices Certification course through the Association of College and University Educators (ACUE).
I structure my classes around the science of learning, the notion that we learn by retrieval, critical thinking, practice, and multiple different learning tactics. Recent research has found that changing the focus from performance goals (i.e., getting good grades) to learning goals brings the focus back to learning and comprehension. I design my courses to be learning- and task-mastery-oriented, encouraging students to be creative, go outside their comfort zone, and take risks. In line with task-mastery, it is crucial to clearly explain to the students what the task entails, the purpose of the task, and how they can accomplish it- this method is called transparency. I use the Transparent Assignment Template to increase students understanding of how each task will help them achieve their learning goals and what is expected of them.
I intentionally create an inclusive classroom environment that celebrates diversity and provides equitable learning opportunities for all students.
To do so, I develop my courses to be task-oriented, scaffold assignments, provide numerous learning resources, emphasize person-centered language, and diversify my syllabus to include people of color and people with lived experiences of the justice system.
Experiential learning can be a highly effective, non-traditional technique to get students out of their comfort zone and allow them to learn through experiences. In addition to researching the impact of experiential learning (see my research page), I am also passionate about incorporating this learning in my classrooms when possible.