Teaching philosophy
Teaching and mentoring have always been a priority and an exciting part in my career. I have extensive and broad teaching experience from independently leading lab sessions and lectures of several undergraduate/graduate courses. At the University of South Alabama (USA), I am currently teaching Genetics (BLY302), Developmental Biology (BLY411/511) and Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions (BLY490).
I believe that teaching should always be coupled to student's intrinsic motivation to learn, both in the traditional classroom settings and in the research laboratory environment. Therefore, I always engage my students by referring course materials to real-life examples so that my students can find inspiration throughout the learning process. I approached student-centered learning through dynamic course objectives that address Bloom's taxonomy educational objectives and ensure that students can understand, apply, evaluate and analyze knowledge learned during lectures and in-class activities. I always seek to invoke the students’ curiosity and engagement by going for depth over breadth in terms of dissecting primary literature and approaching teaching materials.
I give my students regular feedback throughout the course and help them to come up with detailed plans to improve their learning experience, rather than waiting until after midterms or final exams. This feedforward approach focuses on the students’ development throughout the course rather than their performance and will provide the students a practical and effective pathway to improve their learning process, regardless of course formats.
Teaching and mentoring have always been a priority and an exciting part in my career. I have extensive and broad teaching experience from independently leading lab sessions and lectures of several undergraduate/graduate courses. At the University of South Alabama (USA), I am currently teaching Genetics (BLY302), Developmental Biology (BLY411/511) and Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions (BLY490).
I believe that teaching should always be coupled to student's intrinsic motivation to learn, both in the traditional classroom settings and in the research laboratory environment. Therefore, I always engage my students by referring course materials to real-life examples so that my students can find inspiration throughout the learning process. I approached student-centered learning through dynamic course objectives that address Bloom's taxonomy educational objectives and ensure that students can understand, apply, evaluate and analyze knowledge learned during lectures and in-class activities. I always seek to invoke the students’ curiosity and engagement by going for depth over breadth in terms of dissecting primary literature and approaching teaching materials.
I give my students regular feedback throughout the course and help them to come up with detailed plans to improve their learning experience, rather than waiting until after midterms or final exams. This feedforward approach focuses on the students’ development throughout the course rather than their performance and will provide the students a practical and effective pathway to improve their learning process, regardless of course formats.
Developmental Biology students participated in active discussion of research articles with fun games and followed up with the corresponding authors of the papers with their questions/ideas (Spring 2022)
Student testimonials
"I greatly appreciate the concern and ambition Dr. Tran consistently had throughout the semester regarding his student's success in his class. This was apparent through seminar-bonus opportunities, exam review days, end-of-unit reflections (about how he might be able to do better in the subsequent units), and having an approachable and respectful attitude."
“I just want to say that I came into this course nervous because I don't know much about biology. You have made this course awesome! You're such an amazing teacher and you are so helpful when my group gets confused. We got confused a lot, but you helped us and didn't make us feel dumb. You are by far one of my favorite college professors.”
“This is the first time, in my 3 years, at South where I truly did not feel alone. I felt my professor actually wanted me to succeed and I want to give an immense thank you. I feel it really impacted my overall grade in this class.”
“I liked the format of the lectures. I personally can't learn very well from the textbook, so the way the class is structured now was great for me. I especially liked that we covered related topics on Fridays, because it really helped me grasp the concepts better.”
“I liked how he explained the material as well. He cared and listened to us when we had a question as well as did everything in his power to assure we succeeded in his class. He responded to emails and messages in no time. He also worked around our schedules to assure we had adequate time to spend taking our exam, so we were never rushed. Overall, for his first semester teaching, Dr. Tran did an excellent job! I would definitely recommend and take him again if the chance ever came up.”
“Such a great professor I would take him again. He cares a lot about his students and he gives you many extra credit opportunities! Canvas was well set up and everything was super organized for the class. This has been my favorite class I've taken and I would recommend having him as a professor.”
“I have really enjoyed having you as a teacher this semester. Your class is always so much fun and it is obvious that you actually care about the things that you teach us! I am very grateful that you always have time to answer any questions that we have, no matter how dumb they may be!”
“Thank you so much for everything you do! I have really enjoyed your class. I also really appreciate how much you care for your students. You are doing a great job!”
“I loved how organized it was and the project we got to do as well. I feel like I learned so much this year in this class and it made it so easy when he was staying organized throughout the year.”
“This class was really one of the best classes I have had in a very long time where it shows that you genuinely care about us as students, which makes me want to come and be excited about everything.”
“Excellent teaching style with questions during the class. It keeps students focused on the lecture.”
“I think the class is very engaging and very informative. Everything that we cover in class is on the exams. One of my favorite classes this semester!”
“I really like the structure of the class and the professor-student relationship through understanding. I also liked how we related the content of the class to things we see in everyday life and the medical field.”
“I loved the energy you had teaching, made the class a lot more fun and made me want to come.”
“Overall, I really enjoyed my time in this class. The content was both interesting and informative and I think you did a great job of teaching the class this semester. I appreciate the hybrid class format you used as well as how accommodating you have been with regards to deadlines, test dates, review, etc.”
"I greatly appreciate the concern and ambition Dr. Tran consistently had throughout the semester regarding his student's success in his class. This was apparent through seminar-bonus opportunities, exam review days, end-of-unit reflections (about how he might be able to do better in the subsequent units), and having an approachable and respectful attitude."
“I just want to say that I came into this course nervous because I don't know much about biology. You have made this course awesome! You're such an amazing teacher and you are so helpful when my group gets confused. We got confused a lot, but you helped us and didn't make us feel dumb. You are by far one of my favorite college professors.”
“This is the first time, in my 3 years, at South where I truly did not feel alone. I felt my professor actually wanted me to succeed and I want to give an immense thank you. I feel it really impacted my overall grade in this class.”
“I liked the format of the lectures. I personally can't learn very well from the textbook, so the way the class is structured now was great for me. I especially liked that we covered related topics on Fridays, because it really helped me grasp the concepts better.”
“I liked how he explained the material as well. He cared and listened to us when we had a question as well as did everything in his power to assure we succeeded in his class. He responded to emails and messages in no time. He also worked around our schedules to assure we had adequate time to spend taking our exam, so we were never rushed. Overall, for his first semester teaching, Dr. Tran did an excellent job! I would definitely recommend and take him again if the chance ever came up.”
“Such a great professor I would take him again. He cares a lot about his students and he gives you many extra credit opportunities! Canvas was well set up and everything was super organized for the class. This has been my favorite class I've taken and I would recommend having him as a professor.”
“I have really enjoyed having you as a teacher this semester. Your class is always so much fun and it is obvious that you actually care about the things that you teach us! I am very grateful that you always have time to answer any questions that we have, no matter how dumb they may be!”
“Thank you so much for everything you do! I have really enjoyed your class. I also really appreciate how much you care for your students. You are doing a great job!”
“I loved how organized it was and the project we got to do as well. I feel like I learned so much this year in this class and it made it so easy when he was staying organized throughout the year.”
“This class was really one of the best classes I have had in a very long time where it shows that you genuinely care about us as students, which makes me want to come and be excited about everything.”
“Excellent teaching style with questions during the class. It keeps students focused on the lecture.”
“I think the class is very engaging and very informative. Everything that we cover in class is on the exams. One of my favorite classes this semester!”
“I really like the structure of the class and the professor-student relationship through understanding. I also liked how we related the content of the class to things we see in everyday life and the medical field.”
“I loved the energy you had teaching, made the class a lot more fun and made me want to come.”
“Overall, I really enjoyed my time in this class. The content was both interesting and informative and I think you did a great job of teaching the class this semester. I appreciate the hybrid class format you used as well as how accommodating you have been with regards to deadlines, test dates, review, etc.”