DrSte Cook
Principal Teaching Fellow
Department of Life Sciences - Faculty of Natural Sciences
Orcid identifier0000-0003-0902-2225 (opens in a new tab)
- Principal Teaching FellowDepartment of Life Sciences - Faculty of Natural Sciences
- 020 7594 1791 (Work)
- 505, Sir Alexander Fleming Building, South Kensington Campus, United Kingdom
TEACHING INTERESTS
TEACHING
I have been blending online and face-to-face teaching since I started teaching at Imperial in 2002. From 2002 to 2005, I was in the first cohort of Imperial's INSPIRE programme, through which I gained a PGCE in secondary school science, and a great deal of practical experience in classroom and small-group teaching.
In the first-year Cell Biology and Genetics module, I have developed a Team Based Learning exercise with the support of our Learning Technologists, which develops our students' experimental design and statistical skills, and gives them an opportunity to experience a small-scale research project well before their final-year projects. After our teaching and curriculum review in 2018/19, we introduced more miniprojects of this kind to both first- and second-year.
I am an experienced Perl programmer, but in teaching, I mostly use and teach R and Python. I have developed packages for teaching including the automated grading of Excel practical reports and for the management of Blackboard quiz packages.
SCIENCE COMMUNICATION
We introduced a Science Communication module in 2012 for final-year Life Sciences students who take a research proposal project rather than a lab/field/data project at the end of their degrees. I run this module, with the brilliant contributions of dozens of external speakers, including many graduates of the Department.
In this module, we aim to develop an understanding of traditional, modern and emerging methods of science communication. The module has a strong emphasis on the practical use of media, and developing the technical and writing skills needed to use them effectively. Something that staff and students alike enjoy about the module is the creativity and imagination it encourages.
Outside of College, my science communication work has included workshops on evolutionary biology at the Royal Institution, blogging, and editing Wikipedia. I am @Polypompholyx on most platforms I use.
FIRST-YEAR BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
I have been convening the first-year of the Biological Sciences (previously Biology) BSc since 2005. I convene one of the four first-year courses (Biological Chemistry and Microbiology) and teach extensively on two others. My first love was - and is - plants, and I'm delighted to contribute to the plant teaching on the Evolution and Diversity course. I also contribute to the core skills teaching in our first-year, particularly maths.
EQUALITY, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION
The Department aims to provide a welcoming and inclusive environment for all of our staff and students. I am a member of Imperial600, our staff LGBT group, and as an out cis gay man, I have always found Imperial a great place to work and study.
I have been blending online and face-to-face teaching since I started teaching at Imperial in 2002. From 2002 to 2005, I was in the first cohort of Imperial's INSPIRE programme, through which I gained a PGCE in secondary school science, and a great deal of practical experience in classroom and small-group teaching.
In the first-year Cell Biology and Genetics module, I have developed a Team Based Learning exercise with the support of our Learning Technologists, which develops our students' experimental design and statistical skills, and gives them an opportunity to experience a small-scale research project well before their final-year projects. After our teaching and curriculum review in 2018/19, we introduced more miniprojects of this kind to both first- and second-year.
I am an experienced Perl programmer, but in teaching, I mostly use and teach R and Python. I have developed packages for teaching including the automated grading of Excel practical reports and for the management of Blackboard quiz packages.
SCIENCE COMMUNICATION
We introduced a Science Communication module in 2012 for final-year Life Sciences students who take a research proposal project rather than a lab/field/data project at the end of their degrees. I run this module, with the brilliant contributions of dozens of external speakers, including many graduates of the Department.
In this module, we aim to develop an understanding of traditional, modern and emerging methods of science communication. The module has a strong emphasis on the practical use of media, and developing the technical and writing skills needed to use them effectively. Something that staff and students alike enjoy about the module is the creativity and imagination it encourages.
Outside of College, my science communication work has included workshops on evolutionary biology at the Royal Institution, blogging, and editing Wikipedia. I am @Polypompholyx on most platforms I use.
FIRST-YEAR BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
I have been convening the first-year of the Biological Sciences (previously Biology) BSc since 2005. I convene one of the four first-year courses (Biological Chemistry and Microbiology) and teach extensively on two others. My first love was - and is - plants, and I'm delighted to contribute to the plant teaching on the Evolution and Diversity course. I also contribute to the core skills teaching in our first-year, particularly maths.
EQUALITY, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION
The Department aims to provide a welcoming and inclusive environment for all of our staff and students. I am a member of Imperial600, our staff LGBT group, and as an out cis gay man, I have always found Imperial a great place to work and study.