Vivienne Lam

Lecturer

Academic History

  • B. Sc, B. Ed, and Ph.D in Botany from University of British Columbia

Contact Information

  • vivienne.lam@botany.ubc.ca

Teaching Interests

My teaching philosophy is based on providing a welcoming environment for scientific learning and inquiry for students from diverse backgrounds. As I strongly believe in student-driven learning, I use a variety of active learning strategies and discussion-based approaches to encourage students to learn and to help each other develop critical thinking and effective science communication skills. I believe that my role as an instructor is to facilitate learning through understanding, rather than rote memorization: I like to use ‘real life’ examples (from news articles, or social/internet-based media) to convey concepts taught in the classroom and to illustrate how they apply to us in everyday life.

Courses Taught/Teaching

BIOL 112 (Biology of the Cell)
BIOL 121 (Genetics, Evolution and Ecology)
BIOL 200 (Fundamentals of Cell Biology)
BIOL 260 (Fundamentals of Physiology)
BIOL 340 (Introductory Cell Biology Laboratory)


Selected Publications

Teaching Assistants Thrive in a Collaborative Team: A TA Development Case study. A Cassidy, J Dee, VKY Lam, A Welsh, J Fox. Transformative Dialogues: Teaching & Learning Journal 7 (2)

A New Self-Assessment Teaching Assistant Survey for Growth and Development. K Mewis, J Dee, V Lam, S Obradovich, A Cassidy. Teaching & Learning Inquiry 6 (1), 79-90