TEACHING
At Eckerd College, I teach Introduction to Sociology, Research Design, Statistics, Gender and Society, and a Sociology of Sexualities course. One of my major instructional goals is to create a classroom that emphasizes participatory learning. In recognizing the diverse learning styles of students, I use a mixture of lecture and discussion-based strategies. I primarily adopt this style of teaching because it conveys to students that they need to take ownership and responsibility for their own learning; it also encourages students to move away from top-down approaches to learning that assume that the pursuit of knowledge is solely for the elite. Another major aim is to help students understand the experiences of members of marginalized groups and inequality in U.S. society. I am, thus, intentional about my curriculum choices, often choosing texts and assignments that offer students first-hand knowledge about diversity and inequality in U.S. society. Finally, regardless of course content, I guide students in developing their research skills, which I accomplish through assigning and teaching students how to read empirical articles and offering hands-on assignments that expose students to various stages of the research process.
My pedagogy is also guided by the belief that teaching and research need not be separate spheres. In fact, teaching has served as a creative impetus in allowing me to develop new research projects. For instance, in prepping for my Sexual Diversity class, I noticed key gaps in the research on women’s sexualities, a moment that inspired the early development of my dissertation project. Since then, there has been a synergy between my teaching and research. I work to integrate research—including my own—into the classroom as a way to help bring the material to life. In addition, I regularly review research on what works best in college classrooms to use as a guide for my own teaching practices. I have also conducted research in the area of scholarship on teaching and learning, including an interview-based project that examines the strategies that college instructors use to practice feminist pedagogy in their classrooms. Further, I have implemented some of the active learning strategies used by my research participants into my own classroom.
If you would like to view my course syllabi, please contact me directly at: millerlr@eckerd.edu
At Eckerd College, I teach Introduction to Sociology, Research Design, Statistics, Gender and Society, and a Sociology of Sexualities course. One of my major instructional goals is to create a classroom that emphasizes participatory learning. In recognizing the diverse learning styles of students, I use a mixture of lecture and discussion-based strategies. I primarily adopt this style of teaching because it conveys to students that they need to take ownership and responsibility for their own learning; it also encourages students to move away from top-down approaches to learning that assume that the pursuit of knowledge is solely for the elite. Another major aim is to help students understand the experiences of members of marginalized groups and inequality in U.S. society. I am, thus, intentional about my curriculum choices, often choosing texts and assignments that offer students first-hand knowledge about diversity and inequality in U.S. society. Finally, regardless of course content, I guide students in developing their research skills, which I accomplish through assigning and teaching students how to read empirical articles and offering hands-on assignments that expose students to various stages of the research process.
My pedagogy is also guided by the belief that teaching and research need not be separate spheres. In fact, teaching has served as a creative impetus in allowing me to develop new research projects. For instance, in prepping for my Sexual Diversity class, I noticed key gaps in the research on women’s sexualities, a moment that inspired the early development of my dissertation project. Since then, there has been a synergy between my teaching and research. I work to integrate research—including my own—into the classroom as a way to help bring the material to life. In addition, I regularly review research on what works best in college classrooms to use as a guide for my own teaching practices. I have also conducted research in the area of scholarship on teaching and learning, including an interview-based project that examines the strategies that college instructors use to practice feminist pedagogy in their classrooms. Further, I have implemented some of the active learning strategies used by my research participants into my own classroom.
If you would like to view my course syllabi, please contact me directly at: millerlr@eckerd.edu
