Overview
I have been a longtime instructor and tutor in the social sciences, ESL/EFL (English as a second/foreign language), and EMI (English as medium of instruction) coursework, first in the US, then China, and now Canada; now, as I am writing my dissertation, I am also preparing to resume a teaching-focused career in higher education. My work up to this point has been driven by a desire to encourage students' engagement with (rather than alienation) from their growth as writers, scholars, and thoughtful members of their respective societies. For international students, learners of ESL/EFL, and first-generation university/college students, I have sought to ensure their smooth landing and continued thriving in Western (and Western-influenced) academia. In recent years, these two endeavours have been considerably complicated by the aggressive marketing of software branded as generative AI; in the face of this development, I have undertaken an ongoing effort to understand how writing instructors can foster students' interest in writing as part of their creative selves and stave off students' deskilling through overreliance on this technology.
For further details on my instructional work, see my course list below. Additional descriptions are provided for some courses (not all, for brevity's sake) as highlights of my teaching and subject matter experience.
For further details on my instructional work, see my course list below. Additional descriptions are provided for some courses (not all, for brevity's sake) as highlights of my teaching and subject matter experience.
Roles
At UBC Okanagan, I have served as a Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA) for several terms, usually leading tutorials/workshops for writing-intensive courses and otherwise in a grading-only capacity. I also work as a student consultant for the Centre for Scholarly Communication (CSC), advising graduate students on academic writing and working with the Academic Integrity Matters (AIM) Program on academic integrity issues and the unwritten curriculum of Canadian academia.
For the two academic years from fall 2018 to spring 2020, I was an English lecturer at Dongbei University of Finance and Economics (DUFE, 东北财经大学). I taught academic and business English, including both foundational skills (speaking-listening-writing-reading) courses and EMI (English as medium of instruction) social science courses. For the 2019-2020 academic year, I additionally served as the English Department's Course Coordinator for the Sophomore English division; in this capacity, I designed syllabi, assessments, and lesson plans for four courses (two of these with several sections) and led team meetings for the Sophomore English division. In the first quarter of 2020, this also entailed assisting my department with LMS set-up and redesigning instructional modes for online for the sudden shift to online instruction prompted by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
From fall 2015 to spring 2018, when I worked initially as a Student Success Tutor at Irvine Valley College in southern California, I was asked to serve in a pilot Supplemental Instructor (SI) program for the College's sizeable ESL Department. In this program, I assisted in ESL courses as an in-class discussion facilitator and essay grader, and I gave the occasional lecture on English academic writing topics; I also led writing workshops outside class sessions.
For the two academic years from fall 2018 to spring 2020, I was an English lecturer at Dongbei University of Finance and Economics (DUFE, 东北财经大学). I taught academic and business English, including both foundational skills (speaking-listening-writing-reading) courses and EMI (English as medium of instruction) social science courses. For the 2019-2020 academic year, I additionally served as the English Department's Course Coordinator for the Sophomore English division; in this capacity, I designed syllabi, assessments, and lesson plans for four courses (two of these with several sections) and led team meetings for the Sophomore English division. In the first quarter of 2020, this also entailed assisting my department with LMS set-up and redesigning instructional modes for online for the sudden shift to online instruction prompted by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
From fall 2015 to spring 2018, when I worked initially as a Student Success Tutor at Irvine Valley College in southern California, I was asked to serve in a pilot Supplemental Instructor (SI) program for the College's sizeable ESL Department. In this program, I assisted in ESL courses as an in-class discussion facilitator and essay grader, and I gave the occasional lecture on English academic writing topics; I also led writing workshops outside class sessions.