I possess a Ph.D. in biochemistry and have been a University researcher for over twenty-five years. During this time, I have worked as a physicist, a chemist, a biochemist, a microbiologist, a molecular biologist, and a bio-medicinal scientist. Consequently, I have developed a wide range of scientific knowledge and mentored students in many scientific disciplines.
Early in my career, I taught a formal enzymology course at the University of Manchester (UK) to pharmacy masters students. During my subsequent career in the USA, I became an instructor in pharmacology at the University of South Alabama. However, during my time in the USA, I have primarily been a research scientist. The heads of my laboratories recognized my teaching abilities and gave me the job of mentoring their incoming researchers. They have ranged from high school graduates to undergraduates, new graduate students, and Chinese MDs with little scientific experience and limited language skills. Clearly, the educational needs of a high school graduate are very different from those of an MD or graduate student. I was able to modify my teaching plan to the abilities of the person to be tutored. Generally, I quickly found the best technique to engage the student. One of the beneficial side effects of being a research scientist is that in order to solve my assigned tasks, I had to become a very patient person. As a result, I am quite happy to go over a student's coursework multiple times until they are confident with the subject matter.
I attempt to simplify any subject and then intellectually engage the students at the appropriate academic level. I feel that while many people have problems learning a list of data, they are able to process the information if they are provided with a coherent framework and taught in an entertaining way. In order to find the most effective way to mentor a particular student, I take the key aspects of any course and prepare as many different ways as possible to teach a subject. Some students are quite happy to learn a list of facts, others are much more visual, and still others are natural problem solvers. One of my major aims has always been to intellectually stimulate the student so that when they take more advanced classes, they will be able to think through scientific problems by themselves. This ability is vital for professional scientists, as it separates them from technicians. I also find that if I can intellectually engage the student, they are more likely to remember the underlying concepts. This is essential as the scientific education system assumes that the students retain the knowledge imparted in earlier classes. The majority of the students that I mentor typically go on to do well in their finals and professional examinations. This is partially because I impart them with good study habits that should stay with them for the rest of their academic career.