Teaching & Mentoring
Teaching Philosophy
It is my philosophy that the classroom should be a place where students can learn biological concepts and apply what they learn in an envioronment that fosters collaboration. My aim is through inquiry-based learning to prepare students to share and apply their knowledge and ideas on conservation and human health, not only in my classroom, but in their communities and beyond. I believe that students with the skills to think broadly and engage with emerging technologies will be highly valued in the workforce. Likewise, professionals will want students who can connect basic biological principles and apply them across multiple disciplines and fields. I utilize a range of inquiry guided learning techniques in my teaching and below are examples of courses I have taught, evaluations, and my experieces with undergraduate mentoring.
Courses Taught
There are a multitude of courses that I have taught over my decades of teaching experience. Below, I will highlight some to show the diverse subjects and class sizes I have experience with.
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Meredith College: Principles of Biology: Molecules, Genes, and Cells-BIO110
Class Size ~30. An introductory biology course designed for students interested in pursuing a science major. The primary focus is on the molecular and cellular processes standard to life, emphasizing the control of energy and information flow. The course is primarily lecture-based, with small in-class activities for engagement.
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Meredith College: Organisms, Ecology, Evolution BIO-111
Class size 20-48. An introductory biology course focused on biodiversity within the context of structure and function. I independently created the curriculum for this course based on my experience teaching at other universities. The course is 50% evolution, 25% ecology, and 25% biodiversity. The course is a mixture of lectures and in-class activities. There is a co-requisite laboratory in which I have helped design and implement new laboratories.
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​Meredith College: Communicating Science Effectively- BIO 188
Class Size 10-15. A half-semester course that covers the means of science communication. This course covers what it means to be an effective science communicator, what we mean by good or bad science, and how science is communicated. The final project teaches science to an audience of the student's choice with an accompanying written justification.
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Meredith College: Conservation Biolog BIO-288
Class Size ~12. A special topics course was introduced at Meredith College. An introductory course to conservation biology for biology majors. It is designed to be a split between lecture and discussion. There are no exams, and this course uses un-graded pedagogy. Instead, students have writing prompts they are given to reflect and expand upon. The final project is to find a way to teach a topic of their choice using a form of media and then have a written justification of the project accompanying it.
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NC State University: Introductory Biology: Ecology, Evolution, and Biodiversity BIO 181
Class Size ~250. Emphasis on interactions of organisms with their environments; evolutionary change and role of natural selection in the evolution of life forms; biological diversity in the context of form and function of organisms; and critical thinking, problem-solving, and effective communication. This is a lecture class with small in-class activities.
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NC State University Honors course: Ethics of Biotechnical Communication Honors 296.
I co-designed this course with a colleague in the field of communication. The honors course aims to enable students to explore questions related to the ethics of biotechnical communication. Throughout the semester, we integrated an in-depth discussion of technical approaches to genome manipulation with humanistic inquiry into the ethical stances that guide approaches to communication. The course featured a series of real-world case studies. Students had frequent opportunities to refine their public speaking skills and engage in discussions with science, communication, and ethics scholars. Here is a sample of a student's final project for the course.
Teaching Assistant for Herpetology Course: Zoology 542. This is an undergraduate/graduate course designed to supplement the lecture section. Here, I was responsible for preparing the laboratory specimens, presenting the curriculum, and lending help with local species recognition and taxonomy. I was responsible for helping to design and grade laboratory practicals, and I led several state-wide field trips with other trained herpetologists. Unlike traditional herpetology labs that only use preserved specimens for species recognition, we also incorporated other assessment forms, including live specimens, identifying species by call, and species distribution maps.
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Pictures are of Student Work
Course Evaluations
For reflection I often ask students for self-reflection by post-exam surveys. For written assignments I often employ self-designed rubrics for grading essay responses. I also reflect myself and will analyze exams for frequently missed questions. Below are some statistics and comments from my teaching evaluations. I feel evaluations and reflection are important to see how courses can be improved upon for the future.
"I really enjoyed Dr Serr. I thought she was a very upbeat person. She knew biology well and she really liked it. She was very helpful outside of the classroom, especially responding to emails. I would love to have her for another class in the future."
Undergraduate Mentoring
In addition to teaching, I have had the opportunity to mentor several undergraduate students. I firmly believe that when I mentor students, they should learn biological research skills and skills that will help prepare them for their future. When I take on an undergraduate student, they are first trained in proper laboratory safety and animal handling techniques. Once acquainted and familiar with proper laboratory procedures, students will begin to assist in collecting data and eventually conducting their own experiments. I have guided several students through the process of writing a research grant, and all of these grants have been funded. For these projects, student designed their own research project, collected data, and performed statistical analyses. I then have students present their work at local conferences and incorporate it into published papers. Below are a sub-set of students and their research works.
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Pilson, J. Upton, G. Perez-Heydrich, C. Serr, M. Investigating Potential Threats to Endemic Neuse River Waterdog (Necturus lewisi) Populations. North Carolina Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation and The North Carolina Wildlife Society Joint Meeting. Winston-Salem, North Carolina. February 25, 2025 (Poster Presentation)
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Klein, C. Exploration of the rates of skeletonization of House Mice (Mus musculus) Using Dermestid (Dermestes maculatus) and Darkling (Tenebrio obscurus) Beetles. North Carolina Academy of Science 120th Annual Meeting. Winston Salem State University, NC. April 6, 2024. (Oral Presentation)
Award: Second Place in the John Bowley Derieux Research Award for Ecology, Botany, and Zoology.
