Megan McCaghey was a Scientific Teaching Fellow in 2019 while pursuing a PhD in plant pathology. Today she is an assistant professor of plant pathology at University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. In her free time, she enjoys gardening, keeping chickens and fish, running, and taking her daughter on hikes.
What was your favorite part of the Scientific Teaching Fellow program?
My favorite part of the program was seeing the modules we designed in action. It was useful to see what helped students learn and what could use revision to better support their learning. It was also useful to observe that teaching a course is iterative—both within the semester and each year. I’m excited to teach my own course now and to have the opportunity to make changes each time I teach it.
What was one of the most valuable things you learned as a Fellow?
One of my biggest takeaways as a Fellow was a learner-centered approach to teaching. We implemented methods for centering learning, including goal and objective setting, DEI considerations and representation, and active learning strategies. These have been valuable strategies as I design and facilitate my current courses.
How have you applied the skills and knowledge from this program in your career?
I regularly apply the knowledge I gained from my teaching fellowship! I incorporate active learning and assessment into each lesson, consider accessibility of information, and take a critical eye when thinking about what information to include in my lessons: does this support my learning objectives? Who and what is represented by the examples I am using? I also assess the course with student feedback during and after the semester and aim to realign my content to the course learning goals using this feedback.
Learn more about Scientific Teaching Fellows.