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V-P, AcademicVideo: Lynne Quarmby takes a broad view of teaching
In the video post above, Lynne Quarmby expresses a realistic view of the teaching challenge she faces as a professor in the Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry: “Many students come into the class pretty disengaged. It’s a requirement, they need the credits … but they come in expecting that it’s going to be boring, difficult, painful.”
That assessment could lead to discouragement, but in Quarmby’s case it has served as a motivation for exceptional work as an instructor and, earlier this year, to a 2011 SFU Excellence in Teaching Award. In the video interview, she talks about the wider perspective that gives purpose to her teaching.
“Although I teach cell biology, I consider that I’m actually teaching a group of citizens,” she says. “So these people may go on to become lawyers or bankers or journalists or all sorts of things, and a very few of them will become scientists. But all of them, I hope, will leave my class with a deeper understanding of science and how science is done and what scientific knowledge is really about.”
In the video Quarmby also discusses what leads to memorable learning experiences and what excites her as an instructor.
Watch this video on YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Xy7yWFyMft0
Visit Lynne Quarmby’s faculty profile page: www.sfu.ca/mbb/People/Quarmby/
