# data[].attributes.body
Learning to have a growth mindset is something I encountered as early as middle school. I think having this sort of mentality is important to ultimately develop grit. Grit is a trait possessed by individuals who show true passion and perseverance toward a goal despite setbacks. It is true that people often tend to believe they have more grit than others. This may simply be because you know yourself and you know what you've persevered through. When I look at myself, I definitely characterize myself as having grit. But that's because I know myself. Someone else may look at me and think that I don't. But I'm ok with that because I believe that grit is more about achieving your goals for yourself rather than for other people. The world will see it when you achieve it. This is only possible if you have a growth mindset and understand that failure is a part of life. What you do about that failure is what defines you. I also believe that grit says a lot about how much self-respect someone has for themselves, and how motivated they truly are to attain their goals. In terms of inclusive pedagogy, I believe motivation calls on other motivation. If you have grit, you show people what it looks like to not back down. I believe that is contagious. It makes people want to engage more and this promotes inclusion.

# data[].attributes.body
The place-based environment that I chose was the Science Initiative building. It is one of my favorite places on campus, and it's somewhere that I'm always exposed to new ideas. The building itself still smells new, but it also has a hint of a chemical smell (likely from all the labs haha). It's warm, filled with bright colors, and it honestly makes me feel comfortable. Like I'm in an environment that understands me and makes me feel safe. The lab I work in is in the SI building, so I have a bit of an attachment in that way as well. The building and the purpose for having built it is very important to me. A question that evokes from all this is how other people feel about SI. I understand for many people it's just a building they have to go to for their classes, but do they realize all the amazing stuff that happens behind all those lab doors? And what can we do to make them see just how cool all the research is?

A generalization I can make about my experience with the SI building is that I have a personal connection to it. It's where all the science I've ever learned about is literally being done. But how do other people feel about this? One way to figure that out would just be to do a small poll to see how many undergraduates actually know about the type of research that's happening in the SI building. It would also be a great way to boost involvement!

# data[].attributes.body
I think Kolb's cycle is incredibly interesting! The model, also termed experiential learning, centers on four steps of a cycle: concrete experience, reflective observation, formation of abstract concepts, and active experimentation. Through Kolb's cycle, learners encounter a new experience, reflect on the experience based on existing knowledge, allow those reflections to form new ideas, and experimentally test those ideas. It's a great way to encounter new ways of approaching things. The article also mentioned how experiential learning allows for a bidirectional flow of information between students and teachers. I'm an avid believer that teachers can learn a lot from their students, even on subjects they believe they've mastered. While I didn't get to participate in the activity with the class, I can imagine how this method could ease nerves. It's a way of approaching learning with an open mind and make the environment more comfortable. I think Columbia's expectations on establishing and supporting a class climate that fosters belonging for students is exemplified in this activity. With place-based learning and the Kolb's cycle, we're trying to create an environment that is beneficial to students and allows them to thrive. Additionally, we are selecting content that recognizes diversity. I think principle two, setting explicit student expectations, would need to be integrated to allow for evaluation of the students. This way we could build our explicit expectations into online assignments, and also have some low-stakes assignments to show comprehension and completion. We could also provide feedback this way in order to help students grow with their learning.

# data[].attributes.body
1. Do you include your underlying values (your why)?

1. My underlying values include helping students out of their comfort zone, catering to their needs, and doing whatever I can to make their learning experience fun. I think that in way one or another, I can represent these values in my learning philosophy. This can be through including diverse learning activities, providing and receiving feedback, and creating collaborative activities to promote engagement.

2. Does you philosophy include your learning outcomes in terms of course content, skills, attitudes, values, personal growth (your what)?

1. It's not quite explicit, but my learning outcomes will be promoted by pre- and post-assessments based on course content. Additionally, it will reflect positive attitudes toward the field of science and how to not let it intimidate you. Personal growth can be expressed by allowing yourself to struggle through the material.

3. Do you describe your pedagogy/active learning modalities (your how)?

1. Also not very explicit, but my active learning modality will be centered around a myriad of things. This will include lots of group work activities, multiple chances to show understanding of the material, and constructing the classroom setting in a way that promotes inclusion and listening.

4. Do you describe principles and techniques of assessment? Is there discussion of how assessment data can then be used to improve your course/student learning?

1. This is established in my philosophy through the backward design strategy. Evaluation can be done through papers and projects while assessment will be based on grades. Projects and exams can be used to appropriately evaluate students, and provide feedback from there to help with improvement. Finally, we can use IRATs and TBLs to collect data throughout the course to find strong points and weak points in the curriculum.

5. Do you discuss your areas for improvement?

1. Improvements can be made throughout the course based on what will help students the best. Additionally, the more improvements we can make to help with diversity, the better. There are always many points to improve on, and I will include those in my philosophy for sure!

# data[].attributes.body
It was really interesting learning about diversity and inclusion through today's readings. Growing up in Wyoming, I never encountered another South Asian person until I came to college here. It was always hard fitting in, and for that reason, I think diversity and inclusion are some of the most crucial parts of education. While reading the case study, I saw lots of issues regarding inclusivity. For one, Marie, despite having a foundational understanding of the lab, is ignored because she "doesn't know enough about chemistry." This is a horrifying conclusion to make of someone just because they didn't complete their primary education in the United States. Secondly, the two other members of the group, Anna and Brandon, are not entirely included in the assignment either because of other assumptions that Joe has made. Lastly, Joe taking credit for Marie's knowledge and believing there is nothing wrong with that is unacceptable. He holds the belief that the group would get nowhere without him which is untrue because he, himself, is not contributing to the group. The TA praising him bolsters the idea that it's acceptable for Joe to feel that way when it is not. Columbia's 5 principles deliver some insight on how we could enhance the inclusion of this learning environment. Principle two states the importance of setting explicit expectations for students. In this case, there could be a small, low-stakes assessment to simply ensure that all group members have completed the reading before class. Somewhat of a pre-lab scenario. I believe this could be beneficial to ensure that one student, in this case Marie, is not burdened by the assignment herself. It would also promote inclusivity because everyone would have the same baseline understanding. The principles of universal design also offer help to increase inclusivity. For one, UDL guidelines promote supplying background knowledge and extra materials to increase comprehension. If the students were provided with extra material to better understand the assignment, perhaps they would feel more prepared during class. This would promote inclusivity in that there would be no "leader", everyone would be able to contribute equally. Finally, I simply think it would be a good idea to address that Joe continues to take Marie's ideas. It's not fair to assume she doesn't understand chemistry as that is blatant exclusion. Whether that be by talking to the TA or to her group mates, Marie should stand up for herself.

Since I completed this case study online, I didn't feel quite as included with my classmates, but that is to be expected haha. I always appreciate your comments though, Dr. Watson, they make me feel included!

# data[].attributes.body
My SoTL was about the levels of stress among active learners versus those in a traditional lecture environment setting. I think it would also be interesting to somehow study diversity and inclusion within both groups. I wonder if one may promote diversity more than the other (I'd hypothesize active learning would). This is also another way to measure stress levels because feeling excluded is a huge stress motivator!

On this same note, it would be interesting to study stress levels in different types of students. How do stress levels in first generation students compare with those who come from a higher education background. This may be interesting to assess in both active learning and traditional lecture environments.

# data[].attributes.body
Through today's material, I learned about the ADDIE model which I found very interesting. ADDIE stands for analyze, design, develop, implement, and evaluate. The analysis phase is when basic goals and objectives are developed and students' existing knowledge is identified. The design phase is where the course format is chosen including assessment tools, learning objectives, and lesson plans. The development phase is where the contents from the previous phase are assembled and brought to life. The implementation phase is where we take all of this material we've built and develop a way to teach it to others. This includes covering all the objectives, curriculum, and methods of delivery. Finally, the evaluation phase is where we assess the effectiveness of the course and how it is taught. I believe all of these phases weave themselves into different parts of my teaching philosophy. For example, analysis is partially based on students' prior knowledge which can be assessed through individual readiness assessments. From there, I could design assessment tools that would benefit the learners. This would include case studies, kahoots, problem-solving activities, and other similar tools. Implementation would be taken into account by offering different ways to learn the material and to teach it to others in a meaningful way. Finally, we would evaluate students based on projects and exams by delivering feedback and providing information on areas where the student excelled versus where they have room for growth!

# data[].attributes.body
The first principle states that it is important for learners to be engaged in real-world problems to help their learning. While the professor incorporates real-world problems into his exams, he doesn't focus on them in lecture. He only spends five minutes doing practice problems which is not conducive to real learning. The students don't have a chance to practice more advance problems that will prepare them for the exam. In terms of principle two, students learn better when they can recall and relate the information from past experiences to the new material. Reading 1-2 chapters before class and then listening to a lecture about them does not promote active recall. They are not in an environment where they are required to recall the information. Since this is foreign material, they may not be able to relate it to past experiences either, which also hinders their learning. The third principle states that instruction should demonstrate what is to be learned rather than telling it. For example, the professor only presents the information as a lecture and doesn't really provide the students another way to learn the information. The book may or may not help some students, and the practice problems are not entirely reflective of the exam. Therefore, the material they are receiving is told instead of being demonstrated. Principle four ties back with the first principle in that application is necessary. Students must be able to solve problems based on the new information which, once again, they do not have the opportunity to do with such limited time. Principle five encourages the use of new knowledge into everyday life, but if the students are unable to learn it in the first place, they will not be able to apply it. To redesign this course, it would be important to deliver the material in different ways, make it more engaging, and allow for active recall during class. Spend more time doing applicable practice problems and find ways to connect the material to the real world. Ecology fits into the real world very easily!

# data[].attributes.body
This week's concept of backwards design is something I've never heard of, but I found it really intriguing. There are three stages of backward design: identify desired results, determine acceptable evidence, and use all of that to plan learning experiences. This model begins by assessing what is important for students to understand and be able to do based on the material they are learning. Secondly, it's crucial to establish guidelines to determine whether students are actually proficient in the subject. It's beneficial to look at proficiency in the course as a whole, rather than just the content covered daily. Lastly, based on the evidence collected, we can construct the most effective learning tools. Through the vodcast, I also learned the difference between evaluation and assessment. We may evaluate students through exams, papers, projects, etc... and assess their learning based on these evaluations though grades and GPAs. One concept that I found extremely interesting was the visual on "who should pay for my education?" Since we are spending so much to attain a degree, we prioritize obtaining that degree over learning what that degree is meant to teach us. I think that visual would be a great thing to show students because it's very eye-opening. To compile all of this into my learning philosophy, I think projects and exams can be appropriate ways to evaluate a student, but we would need to collect evidence that they actually work. From there, it would be important as an instructor to provide a rubric and feedback wherever possible to help students improve. I know that I always hate losing points without being told why, so I don't want to do that to others. Projects, especially, also help the active learning model. Additionally, as the backward design suggests, we must find a way to determine whether students are truly proficient. I think formative assessments are a great way to do that. Many of my classes have implemented individual readiness assessments (IRATs) to collect data throughout the course rather than just at the end. This would be a great way to find common motifs on where students are struggling and provide better instruction on those topics. It also enables students to determine where they are confused and get help. When promoting inclusion via these strategies, providing all students the opportunity to get help ensures that no one is left behind. We may encourage inclusion by showing that the learning of every single student is valued.

# data[].attributes.body
From this week's activities, I learned a lot about the benefits of active learning! There were two concepts from the Freeman article that caught my eye. First of all, active learning increases exam performance, while lecturing increases failure rates. This honestly makes sense because in active learning, students truly get to engage with the material instead of forgetting about it until it's exam time. Since exams are a main source of stress, this is a good way to help alleviate that burden. Secondly, in STEM-courses, active learning helps to boost grades and influence the people who were thinking about quitting to continue to persist. I love that. My teaching philosophy greatly centers around the idea that science is hard, but it's something that anyone and everyone can learn if they truly engage. Today's learning helped me grow my teaching philosophy by showing the true impacts that active learning has on students. When promoting inclusion while implementing a cooperative learning strategy, I think it would be beneficial if the students had a chance to speak among themselves. After that, each student would share what their partner had to say with the rest of the table group. This would not only encourage inclusion but also listening without the intent of responding.

# data[].attributes.body
There was so much I learned from this week's readings and vodcast! First of all, the impact of stress on our brains is so substantial. I had no idea that cortisol could go as far as inhibiting the hippocampus and its ability to produce neurons, or even eliminate preexisting hippocampal cells altogether. And the fact that classroom settings actually promote stressful environments sets students up for failure. Like Medina mentioned, if we wanted to create an education environment that directly opposed what makes our brain happy, we'd keep things the way they already are—stressful classroom environments. It's terrible how stressors like these can quite literally push people into a depression. Learning should never have to feel that way. In terms of my teaching philosophy, I want to do anything and everything to oppose stressors that lead to excessive cortisol. Building off my previous posts, I think the flipped classroom can help promote a fun environment. In order to help students learn, we can do meaningful activities that make students want to engage! For example, doing kahoots, researching case studies, fun problem-solving activities, and even consolidation games to help before exams (which is something that I have done in one of my classes and it helped a lot). I think activities like these help stimulate different parts of the brain, which we learned is conducive to forming memories. These activities also promote diversity and inclusion as students get to encounter different ways of thinking and finding what suits them best. It also promotes more interaction among peers!

# data[].attributes.body
While learning about collaborative communication and building a growth mindset, I found many strategies that I would love to implement. First of all, climate building and questioning are two things that I feel would be very advantageous to a learning environment. In many of my previous classes that have implemented team-based learning, we've sat at round tables to promote inclusion and build a comfortable environment. It is much easier to communicate with your peers when you are able to look at them and feel like you're in an inviting space. Additionally, a setting like this allows for more questions! And I love the idea of asking open-ended questions and once again, allowing individuals to critically think and search for an answer. It's just like the tiger analogy! The students have all the tools they need to learn, they just need to be pushed to try and find answers building off of each other's knowledge. Lastly, listening without the intent of responding is definitely something I need to learn. It's something I never really thought about, so I believe it may be something that others may never have thought about. I would love to share that advice with students and maybe help them become better listeners. I believe that all of these ideas promote diversity and inclusion by allowing for different ideas to be shared in a safe space. Once again, this helps students become acquainted with new ideas!

# data[].attributes.body
From reviewing the many different methods of active learning, there are several techniques that may grow my teaching philosophy. First of all, I am a strong believer in both team-based learning and a flipped classroom. These techniques don't always work with every subject, but science definitely promotes them. The best way to learn is by engaging in activities and learning with/from your peers. Since they are learning alongside you, it is far less intimidating to feel lost at times. Again, science is scary, but there is relief in solidarity. Additionally, I think case studies are a brilliant way to encourage students to investigate concepts that truly interest them. Learning is so much easier when you're genuinely interested! These methods are also beneficial in terms of diversity, equity, and inclusion because everyone learns differently! If given several different opportunities and methods to learn a concept, a student is able to find something that works best for them. Advocating for diversity and inclusion is essential in creating a healthy environment!

# data[].attributes.body
Often, when students are entering higher education, they are told to expect the worst. Straight A students will become B average, and if difficult concepts don't make sense, you won't pass. In fact, I was told that I would do poorly on the first exam I ever took in college, and you know what? I did. Walking into a class with the mindset that you are going to fail hinders not only your self-esteem, but also your work ethic. I strongly believe that with the right support and motivation, you can surprise even yourself. Science classes, especially, are often structured to make you feel dumb. You're learning new words and concepts that you've never encountered with the added pressure to know everything before an exam. Sadly, that puts a negative connotation on science. The whole point of this subject is to invoke curiosity and learn from your mistakes. My teaching philosophy, therefore, is to help students develop a positive mentality towards learning. My favorite thing to repeat to myself is that "I can do hard things". Teaching students to have that sort of attitude not only boosts self-esteem, but it helps them want to learn. This involves allowing time for questions, genuinely considering any feedback or concerns, and finding what helps each individual thrive in their environment–like bacteria :)