I have served as the instructor of record for the following course at Montgomery County Community College as adjunct faculty:
BIO 121 General Biology
Semesters: Spring 2019
Enrollment: 23 students (one section)
Enrollment: 23 students (one section)
syllabus_bio121_durkin_2019_spring.pdf |
I have served as the laboratory instructor for the following course in the Temple University Department of Biology as adjunct faculty:
BIOL 2241 Invertebrate Biology
Semesters: Spring 2019
Enrollment: 42 students (split between two lab sections)
upper-level biology majors
Enrollment: 42 students (split between two lab sections)
upper-level biology majors
2019syllabus_biol2241.pdf |
I have served as the Teaching Assistant for the following courses in the Temple University Department of Biology:
BIOL 1001 Human Biology
Semesters: Fall 2012
Spring 2013
Fall 2014
Fall 2016
Enrollment: 55-60 students (split among three lab sections)
non-science majors of all years
Responsibilities:
Spring 2013
Fall 2014
Fall 2016
Enrollment: 55-60 students (split among three lab sections)
non-science majors of all years
Responsibilities:
- Covered topics including light microscope specimen preparation, testing for biomolecules, cellular respiration, Mendelian genetics, mitosis & meiosis, and anatomy & physiology studied through fetal pig dissections.
- Delivered active lectures during lab and individually guided students through two-hour long lab exercises
- Assigned students different partners to work with during lab exercises throughout the semester
- Wrote and graded quizzes
- Graded worksheet-based assignments
- Worked with lab coordinator and up to two fellow instructors to ensure consistent course experience across lab sections
- Recommended online resources including curated YouTube playlists of educational videos
- Created a tutorial to instruct students on graphing lab-collected data in Excel for an assignment
BIOL 1001 Human Biology syllabus |
BIOL 1911 Honors Intro to Biology
Semesters: Spring 2015
Enrollment: 20 students (one lab section)
first-year biology students in the honors program
Responsibilities:
Enrollment: 20 students (one lab section)
first-year biology students in the honors program
Responsibilities:
- Covered topics including light microscope specimen preparation, microbiology, plant diversity and identification, invertebrate diversity and identification, and anatomy & physiology studied through fetal pig dissections.
- Delivered active lectures during lab and individually guided students through three-hour long lab exercises
- Delivered a guest lecture on "Intro to Animals" and a second guest lecture on "Population Ecology" to the full course enrollment of approximately 60 students.
- Wrote and graded quizzes
- Graded assignments
- Worked with lab coordinator and many fellow instructors to ensure consistent course experience across lab sections
- Recommended online resources including several curated YouTube playlists of educational videos
BIOL 1911 Honors Intro to Biology syllabus |
BIOL 2227 Principles of Ecology
Semesters: Spring 2017
Enrollment: 300 students
upper-level biology and environmental science majors
Responsibilites:
Enrollment: 300 students
upper-level biology and environmental science majors
Responsibilites:
- Covered topics including climate, population dynamics, food webs, evolution, species competition, succession, and macroecology.
- Took notes and made notes available to students unable to attend particular lectures
- Managed course content on Blackboard and integration of course assignments with electronic textbook readings through McGraw-Hill Connect
- Wrote online quizzes through Blackboard
- Answered student questions through high volumes of email and well-attended office hours
- Organized and ran student question-driven optional exam review sessions that had up to 40 students in attendance
- Proofread, printed, and graded resulting scantrons from exams
- Provided links to online materials including articles and YouTube videos to help students prepare for each exam
BIOL 2227 Principles of Ecology syllabus |
BIOL 3244 Experimental Marine Biology
Semesters: Summer 2013
Summer 2014
Summer 2016
Enrollment: 14-20 students (one lab section)
upper-level biology and environmental science majors
Responsibilities:
Summer 2014
Summer 2016
Enrollment: 14-20 students (one lab section)
upper-level biology and environmental science majors
Responsibilities:
- Covered topics including physical oceanography, water chemistry, ocean acidification, population dynamics, and marine physiology
- Delivered active lectures during lab and individually guided students through two-hour long lab exercises
- Taught students how to statistically analyze their data and write publication-style lab reports during two-hour long recitation sections
- Delivered guest lectures on "Intro to Marine Bio" and "The Ocean Floor" and revised the latter to incorporate more student participation and an online fact-finding activity instead of two hours of straight lecturing
- Created rubric for effectively communicating lab report feedback to students along with additional constructive comments on scientific writing
- Communicated with lab preparation staff to request materials at correct supply levels for enrollment and at correct times for course schedule
- Instructed students on water chemistry testing and ecological survey in the field during a trip to Shark River Estuary
- Revised lab and recitation handout materials for clarity in instructions
- Coordinated with lecturer and one other TA to ensure consistent course experience across both lab sections
- Created tutorials to guide students through testing experimental data in Excel and plotting appropriate graphs for lab reports
BIOL 3244 Experimental Marine Biology syllabus |
BIOL 8250 Programming for Biologists
Semesters: Spring 2015
Enrollment: 19 students
biology department PhD students, masters students, and a few undergraduates
(no previous computer programming experience required)
Responsibilities:
Enrollment: 19 students
biology department PhD students, masters students, and a few undergraduates
(no previous computer programming experience required)
Responsibilities:
- Course introduced students to the basics of programming in Python along with brief tutorials on programming in R and shell-scripting and taught students how to use Python to address biological questions, especially those which involve genetic sequence data
- Answered students questions during class sessions as they worked on their assignments post-lecture and answered questions through email and very well-attended office hours
- Graded weekly scripting assignments and provided constructive feedback
- Troubleshot technical issues across operating systems and Python modules
- Created tutorials to introduce students to the Python development environment and guide them through installing modules
BIOL 8250 Programming for Biologists syllabus |
I was twice invited by the Center for the Advancement of Teaching to facilitate the following session as part of Temple University's Annual Teaching Assistant Orientation:
Captivating Classes: Improving Lectures and Presentations
Workshops: August 25th, 2016
August 23rd, 2017
Enrollment: up to 25 students per session, two sessions per orientation day
graduate student TAs from all colleges and departments of Temple
Responsibilities:
August 23rd, 2017
Enrollment: up to 25 students per session, two sessions per orientation day
graduate student TAs from all colleges and departments of Temple
Responsibilities:
- Delivered an hour long workshop that demonstrated active learning techniques including Think-Pair-Share
- Created a handout that included information on each active learning strategy discussed and prompts for the TAs to take notes on which strategies would work best for their course and subject matter
- Assigned students to discuss active learning in groups and brainstorm the best techniques for making their classroom more engaging