Rachelle SpellTeaching Professor Emerita
Education
- B.S., Wake Forest University, 1987
- Ph.D., Harvard University, 1993
Research Area
- Genetics, Cell, and Developmental Biology
Teaching Philosophy
My teaching spans graduate lectures on recombination to a mini-course on evolution to Tibetan monks, from large introductory biology classes to small research courses on genome stability. Fantastic experiences developing research-based courses inspire my work as PI with my colleague, Chris Beck, on an NSF-funded network of faculty, REIL-Biology, whose mission it is to bridge the divide between the biology education community and disciplinary researchers in biology to bring authentic research to students in intro lab courses.
I am passionate yet realistic in my efforts to disseminate evidence-based teaching practices.
My scholarship and service as Director of Undergraduate Studies address these research questions:
- Despite the identification and dissemination of evidence-based teaching techniques, why has the adoption of these techniques remained low?
- How can institutional factors (departmental governance, promotion standards, and mentoring practices) influence the adoption and sustainability of best teaching practices?
- What type of formative and summative teaching evaluation mechanisms best support the development of evidence-based teaching practices?
I help students learn; I help teachers teach. I strive to both help my students develop as scientists and support faculty develop as educators. My work on faculty and curriculum development has launched a research emphasis on how institutional factors can affect teaching practices.
