I have loved teaching since my undergraduate years and my first experience before a classroom, subsitute teaching for one of my chemistry professors. Some years and many lectures later I returned to my undergraduate alma mater, and told my professor how much I enjoyed my teaching responsibilities in graduate school. He responded whimsically, "It's the power, isn't it!" He was nearly right. It's the opportunity to make a real difference in students lives, and the responsibility that carries. I believe that all educators have a duty to teach well. But though I have continuously striven to improve my teaching skills, only retrospectively have I come to understand the core elements of my educational philosophy.

My experience in the classroom has taught me that student learning is impeded where the end goal of the learning is not apparent. Unfortunately this is almost always the case in the typical classroom, as educators strive to generalize and avoid "training to a job." However, when the essential question - the real life problem to be solved - becomes apparent, a host of obstacles to learning are cleared away, including student motivation and transfer of knowledge. As professionals, we are more than familiar with these real world applications - they consitute what we do every day. Thus, teaching students to "do as I do" forms the basis of my pedagogical approach. For example, I teach cell and molecular biology to undergraduate engineering students wholly within the context of human diseases (1) which are the ultimate reason for my own scholorly work. Further, writing and peer review are used as tools to advance student knowledge in specific areas, to teach the nature of peer reviewed literature, and to gain a useful skill necessary for professionals at all levels (2).

Similarly, I believe that undergraduate involvement in research is invaluable to student and scientist alike. In my experience, undergraduates that spend multiple years doing research "as I do" and applying their classroom knowledge typically perform at the level of a Masters student. Thus far, five undergraduates have completed the research portions of their senior theses in my laboratory, and four undergraduates are currently pursuing independent projects as undergraduate research assistants. Of these talented young men and women, two have published manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals, two more have manuscripts in review, and one has a manuscript in preparation. I continue to encourage all students I teach to get involved in basic research. I believe this can and should be implemented at a programmatic level.

Finally, I firmly believe that technology will not fundamentally alter the efficacy of educational techniques. In the headlong rush to implement technology in the classroom, it is too often forgotten that computers cannot replace organized material, an enthusiastic teacher, classroom presence, and hands-on experience. I believe that computer-based materials should be treated, as often as possible, as supplements and enhancements to the classroom experience, not as replacements or even necessarily as a vehicle. That said, all my lectures are multimedia-based and suppored by comprehensive web sites (3), yet designed to encourage class attendance.

At home on my mantle rests a photograph of me and two of my undergraduate students standing before one of their research posters at a national scientific conference. Both are smiling broadly after successful presentations of their research, and both are now in graduate school. That photo brings a smile to my face daily. It serves as a reminder of my love for teaching, and the impact a single teacher can have on the lives of students. Indeed my own teachers and professors instilled in me the love of learning, and made apparent the responsibility educators have to teach well. I look forward to an entire career of such awesome and joyful responsibility.