I was born in Tokyo, Japan and received my elementary education at Nishimachi International School.  I left Tokyo at the age of 10 for Honolulu, Hawaii.  After graduating from high school as class valedictorian, I pursued my passion for the sciences at Washington University in St.Louis. 

Initially pre-med (along with the majority of ArtSci students at Washington University), I was unimpressed with the concept and memorization-orientated introductory science courses.  It still escapes me why these introductory courses are still taught this way (as I recently discovered as a graduate student at Columbia University).  Perhaps the desire or need to “weed-out” students from these courses perpetuates this outdated and inefficient teaching method.  For example, biochemistry students were still being told to memorize the structures of the 20 amino acids… this does not involve/develop any thinking or analytical skills that is fundamental to science and for many other disciplines.  It’s important to understand the implications of the structures and chemical properties of amino acids to the final structure and function of the protein… I am confident that most molecular biologists and perhaps even organic chemists no longer “remember” the structure of all 20 amino acids!  It is simply not essential!  In this current age of Google, Wikipedia, and the internet, there should be less emphasis on “facts and information”.  Science students should be developing the thinking and analytical skills necessary to make contributions in today’s scientific fields in industry and academia.

With students to present S.M.A.R.T. Team project at the NSTA National Convention in Atlanta, GA.  The six students in the picture worked with Dr. Richard Ebright from Waksman Institute, Rutgers University to build a physical model of Class I Transcription-Activation Complex using computer visualization programs and rapid prototyping.  (link to Pingry S.M.A.R.T. Team project)

Upper level sciences courses at Washington University got better. Many of them required more thinking and I began to enjoy “thinking” about my problem sets and exams. I wondered why the introductory courses couldn’t be taught the same way. I was discussing this experience and my thoughts with my advisor… and before I knew it, I took a few educational method courses and declared a second major in secondary education. I completed my student teaching at the University City High School in St. Louis and graduated with a BA in Biology and Secondary Education in 2002 and got my first full-time teaching job at The Pingry School in Martinsville, New Jersey.

My goal is to encourage thinking and to develop curiosity in my students. I design activities and learning opportunities to encourage students to ask “how does this work?” and “what will happen if?” rather than the simple “what is?”. I utilize a course Wiki where students work in groups to organize and present group work. This forces students not only to research information but also to evaluate everything they are presenting to their peers. In turn, each student has the opportunity to critique and evaluate others’ sources and work. Students are not rewarded for simply finding information, but rather for their ability to analyze information and to articulate their understanding to others.

During a recent project, I simply posted the question “what is a pea and what does it need to germinate?” My instructions were to gather information on their group wiki and to come up with their own method to germinate peas . Students had to evaluate the many “methods” they found online and decide which they thought was most effective. Students were asking each other “do they need water?”, “this site says they need oxygen. Why do plants need oxygen?” and “don’t they use carbon dioxide in photosynthesis?” Students generate these questions on their own, find the answers, and test these answers through classroom activities… they develop a “method” based on what they learned and understand about the biology of plants. Students also, without realizing it, teach THEMSELVES the major concepts of cellular respiration and photosynthesis! This experience demonstrates all of the hallmarks of higher thinking and potential for long-term retention. I want my students to understand science as a “process” and not simply the memorization and regurgitation of facts and concepts.

Course assessment must reflect classroom teaching methods. Biology teachers at The Pingry school enjoy the support of our administration to reduce the emphasis on “covering” the entire biology textbook and to focus on developing understanding of a few core concepts. Tests and other assessment methods can be open-notes and open-book (again, to take the emphasis away from factual recall and memorization) as long as the questions walk students through the steps to analyze and apply what they know to novel questions. I am fortunate to be working at a school and with colleagues that support this philosophy.

With the support of the school and a few private grants, I also introduced the course “Intro to Science Research” at Pingry. Students are given the opportunity to apply their understanding of molecular biology to explore fundamental and current methods in molecular biology and biotechnology. Students perform practicals including recombination-based cloning, PCR-based cloning, hybrid protein tagging and purification, and bacteriophage isolation and analysis to apply many of the lab protocols fundamental to research in the life sciences. This course has set students up for summer internships in university laboratories and put them in a better position to immediately pursue undergraduate research opportunities. I am developing a working relationship with local scientists and universities to incorporate scientifically valid and interesting projects into the course curriculum. Once such project, “Phage Hunting at The Pingry School” was awarded a private grant to allow our students to explore environmental phage metagenomics with the help of scientists at The Waksman Institute at Rutgers University and at The Rockefeller University.

Our society continues to be influenced by advances in science, medicine, and technology; my students will become scientifically literate so that they can make educated decisions about how science should continue to influence our lives. The understanding of science is also influencing fields of law and business as reflected by development of new degree programs (e.g. Professional Science Masters). Science literacy is no longer an exclusive field; science influences people in all fields of society. I want students to realize that there are many career opportunities in science besides medicine or a bench scientist.

I enjoy sharing my passion for biology with my students and hope that my excitement will ignite my students' curiosity and interest in the sciences. I welcome any comments and would be happy to discuss projects and resources we develop at The Pingry School.