Professors inspire alumna to teach

May 15, 2009

“I got my first taste of teaching at PC in the general biology labs,” Anna Hiatt said, “and the biology department there really helped foster my passion for teaching.”

After graduating from PC in 2007, Hiatt found her way to Oklahoma State University, where she is pursuing a Ph.D. in zoology. She focuses on life science education and plans to teach at a liberal arts college.

This past semester, Hiatt helped revitalize an embryology course taught in the zoology department.

“I was able to take very routine slide preparation laboratory exercises and turn them into an active learning experience for students,” she said.

Hiatt received her first teaching award for her work, designing activities in which students use case studies, design and implement experiments, use primary research literature, and incorporate concepts such as bioethics, molecular biology, and genetics into lab exercises.

Hiatt is currently participating in a University Faculty Preparation Certificate Program and will have the opportunity, as a graduate student, to teach the general biology lecture course to over 100 students.

Plus, in November, she will present research at the conference of the National Association of Biology Teachers, an organization that PC biology professor Dr. Jane Ellis introduced Hiatt to when she was a senior at PC.

“With having such a great undergraduate experience and professors who were so compassionate about my future, I can give that back to my students and hopefully impact their lives in positive way’” Hiatt said. “I only hope I am as successful in the future as the professors I look up to at PC.”

This summer Hiatt will work as a seasonal biological aid at Crescent Lake National Wildlife Refuge in western Nebraska. Next spring she will present research at the Society of College Science Teachers conference.

While at PC, Hiatt served as Student Government Association senator, Students for Environmental Education president, Student Volunteer Services program coordinator, and Sigma Sigma Sigma sorority honor council chair, service chair, and risk chair.

She also coordinated PC’s Earth Day celebration, wrote for the Blue Stocking newspaper, and dj’d with the college radio station, WPCX.

Posted by Stacy Dyer '96
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