Career

My applied study site reflects my future career goals appropriately, as I hope to teach science in many different ways than simply the traditional classroom experience. Experiential education is, in my opinion, the best way to learn and it involves learning by actually participating directly with the material. Rather than reading about otters in a textbook or watching videos about their social behavior, it is much more effective for children to, if possible, witness these lessons first hand. The Phoenix Zoo offers a multitude of opportunities for experiential education, which is exactly where I see my career heading in the future. I am currently in the process of applying to the graduate program here at ASU which integrates teacher certification with a Master’s degree in education. Ideally, I would love to learn more about classroom teaching by working with middle school students, teaching science for a few years. Then, I would like to study the difference hands on learning makes for middle school students by working with an organization such as the Phoenix Zoo in an outreach education program. The Phoenix Zoo would be a great place for me to begin as their outreach program is, in my opinion, one of the best in the area. Somewhere in the future, I would like to write a textbook for teachers involving ways to teach science, specifically biology, through hands on techniques beyond the classroom laboratory. My applied study site is providing me with great experience and knowledge about wildlife education and experiential learning. The skills I am beginning to learn involve public speaking, critical analysis of educational programs, and age appropriate lessons and concepts related to the animals at the zoo. Education is definitely where my future lies and I hope to make a difference in the way students learn science, as it has traditionally been a difficult subject for many – especially young girls. It is difficult to determine anything that I dislike about my study site, as I have had such a great experience so far. If anything, I would like more opportunity to work directly with children so that I can learn, for myself, which educational strategies work best at a zoological facility.