"I believe that understanding comes first and memorization follows. An understanding of the logic behind an experiment or theory tells you the essential facts to remember. Moreover, I shall present these ideas and then ask the student to explain them back to me. Doing so makes for an active learning experience and one that is not easily forgotten.

I have experience communicating ideas in biology thanks to my education in the subject and its use later in my career. As an undergraduate at Harvard I was taught the concepts of biology at the cellular and molecular level; as a graduate student at Brandeis I learned about laboratory research by doing it myself. Subsequently, I taught college students, thereby learning to convey material by lecturing in the classroom and explaining during office hours. In a different professional setting, I helped scientists compose manuscripts, having back-and-forth discussions on how they could best present their data and interpretations.

In order to be a good tutor, I regularly revisit the beginning textbooks. Doing cutting-edge biomedical research is of little use when the job is to explain the fundamentals of biology!" less...