Faculty Spotlight: Michael Stebar

This month, Elizabeth concludes our 2023-2024 Faculty Spotlight series by letting us get to know a bit more about Michael Stebar, Senior Lecturer of Biology and Co-Director of the Summer Enrichment Program. Find out what you can learn when your middle school teacher is the Six Million Dollar Man and what activity can distract Michael from grading…

For the past few years you’ve served as co-director of the Summer Enrichment Program (SEP) at UMW and helped organize the Science Olympiad on campus. What have you enjoyed about being involved with these events?  

Interacting with the students is one aspect that I enjoy the most when working with SEP and the Virginia Science Olympiad; it’s just fun!  The students are genuinely inspirational.   Seeing them engaged in and enjoying learning, makes me feel excited, and honestly gives me a sense of optimism for the future.  Also, I think hosting SEP and VASO extends our connections to a myriad of communities and provides UMW additional opportunities to support students of all ages.   I grew up in the southwestern part of the state near VA Tech.   In elementary school, I was lucky to participate in several field trips to the university where I explored science labs, watched theatrical performances, and toured art galleries.  I was mesmerized by each experience and quickly perceived universities as centers of knowledge and creativity.   I am happy that I can help UMW provide similar experiences to students.   

Your research interests are rooted in science pedagogy. As you direct the intro biology program, how do you see this research reflected in what you do in this role and in the classroom?

I have always had an interest in the “art and science” of teaching.  Before joining the UMW community, I taught high school biology for 16 years.  Although I really LOVED teaching that age group, I always thought there wasn’t enough time or weren’t enough opportunities to get students into the lab or into the field to “do” science.  I thought that students finished my class not fully understanding scientific methods.   Since then, UMW and my colleagues in Jepson have given me phenomenal opportunities to really explore science pedagogy, and, in particular, to develop lab experiences that model more authentic research experiences.  

When I started at UMW a few years ago (okay, maybe 10… 11?) the majority of labs conducted in introductory biology were the traditional “cook book” labs where students follow a set of instructions to conduct observations or experiments resulting in a prescribed and guaranteed set of outcomes.  These can be useful in reinforcing content understanding, but do little to explore the actual research methods and quantitative analyses involved in “doing’ science.  In 2016, I collaborated with Drs. Baker, Wynn, and Zies to completely revamp the labs for fall semester intro bio. We threw out the cook-book, and developed three, multi-week lab modules that mimic the stages of scientific research. Since then, I’ve continued to modify and update the labs to increase their efficacy.  Students now finish the class with a better understanding of experiment design and data analysis.  I’m about to tackle revamping our spring intro course and am looking forward to creating new lab experiences. 

Is there anything that stands out to you that has prepared you or continues to prepare you most for effective teaching?

I think continuing to be a learner myself, helps me be a better teacher.  I enjoying learning about learning so I try to keep up with current research in pedagogy and cognitive psychology.  I’m always looking for strategies that help me to help my students learn better.   I’ve got 28 years (yikes) of teaching experience to pull from, and I enjoy integrating new strategies into my repertoire.   

Who was your favorite teacher?

That’s a tough question because I have always enjoyed learning and liked all of my teachers.  However, if I had to only pick one, I think my favorite teacher was Mr. Steve Austin who taught 6thand 7th grade science.  In addition to being bionic and worth 6 million dollars (hopefully most folks get that reference), he really enjoyed teaching science.   It’s obviously been decades, but I still remember that he always incorporated lots of labs, field work, and enrichment opportunities in our classes (including trips to VA Tech).   There are skills I learned in his class that I still use today in my work and at home – setting up/maintaining aquariums, identifying frog calls, telling the difference between a rock and a mineral, and – most useful – tucking the bottom of pants in to your socks while doing field work so that ticks don’t crawl up your legs! 

8:00 a.m. class or 4:00 p.m. class?  

I am definitely a morning person so I would prefer an 8:00 a.m. class.  I usually wake up around 4:30 – 5:00 a.m.; I have much more energy and mental focus in the mornings so I am probably more engaging in class.  We should get students’ opinions from my 8:00 and 11:00 labs! 

What is your dream class to teach? 

Other than introductory bio,  I think my dream class would either be Entomology or Chordate Anatomy – they were my favorite classes when I was a student and include the biology topics that I am most interested in.   Plus, they would provide lots of opportunity for field work which gets us outside.

What is one piece of advice you’d give a brand-new faculty member? 

Only one?!  That’s tough… how about a dozen?  Let’s go with a core Teaching 101 activity = state your learning objectives!  For every topic you cover, firstly decide what you want your students to actually know and skills you want them to develop.  Then build your lessons and assessments to help them reach those objectives.    AND share these with your students so they know what you expect of them.

What podcast, book, or show would you currently recommend?

I recently read Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver; it was intense.  I think she’s an excellent researcher and writer.  I loved how she put a modern, and incredibly relevant, spin on a classic tale (I won’t spoil it by saying which one).  

If you could take any class in the UMW catalog, what would it be? 

Any studio art class.   I took a couple art classes when I was young.  I really enjoy working with charcoals, and I used to spend/lose hours engrossed in sketching (to the detriment of getting grading done).   But, I’m really out of practice, so I would enjoy the chance to get back into it.  

What were you like as a student in college? 

As an undergrad, I was not the greatest student and was too social!  I was one of those high school students who never had to any work or thinking to get good grades. Getting my first D’s and F’s was a big wake up call.  It took me a couple years to learn how to study and learn effectively. Fortunately, I got my ducks in a row, and for graduate school, I was a tremendously better student … and too social.   

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