It is a privilege of mine to work for the Georgia Institute of Technology, both as an assistant instructor and as a researcher. I believe that the work we do here is Transforming Tomorrow.
The School of Biosciences, specifically, is working to make discoveries that will significantly advance the field. Most importantly, our goal is to train students to think critically, solve problems, and to become the next generation of scientists. It is definitively more important that we equip students to be critical thinkers who can solve problems present in the world rather than rote memorization of biological facts. Indisputably, students both as science majors and also those fulfilling the science requirement will not remember the minutiae of the content of introductory biology classes.
Therefore, we must recognize as educators, it is our priority to create scientifically-minded citizens who can gather and use research and evidence to make informed decisions. This is accomplished through the higher-order teaching of science and scientific processes, rather than simple communication of biological facts. I believe that Georgia Tech is the best at creating students who possess this scientific mindset, largely attributed to our excellent instructional faculty.
The quality of the education we provide- reflected in the quality of scientists we produce- is directly dependent on the quality of the educators we employ.
The best educators, those who can communicate what it means to do science, are those who ARE scientists. These educators dedicate their lives to research and advancing our knowledge of the world. While many faculty members at Georgia Tech are deeply engaged in the processes of scientific inquiry, there are some who, despite their teaching roles, lack direct experience in conducting research or engaging with the scientific process beyond textbook knowledge.
This gap between theoretical knowledge and practical scientific application creates a fundamental disconnect in how science is communicated to students.
Science is not merely a collection of facts but a continuous process of asking questions, experimentation, and discovery. When educators have not actively participated in research- formulating hypotheses, designing experiments, analyzing data, and interpreting results- they WILL struggle to convey the true nature of scientific thinking. They may focus on memorization and standardized assessments rather than emphasizing critical thinking, problem-solving, and the iterative nature of scientific discovery.
Far too often, we see individuals who call themselves “biologists” but whose experience extends no further than observing ecosystems or writing theoretical papers. While these fields may have their place in academia, they do not equate to the kind of biological research that drives innovation in medicine, genetics, molecular biology, and biotechnology. These individuals, lacking firsthand experience with laboratory techniques, biochemical pathways, or genetic engineering, are simply not equipped to train the next generation of true scientists. How can someone who has never conducted a real experiment—who has never worked with cell cultures, performed a PCR, or analyzed protein structures—expect to instill in students the ability to think critically and engage with the scientific method?
The difference between those who do science and those who merely talk about science has never been more apparent, and it is time that we as an institution recognize the importance of ensuring that the educators responsible for training future scientists are, in fact, scientists themselves. As a key member of the instructional team myself, I have long since recognized this. I work every day to research drugs that kill cancerous cells, with a deep understanding of molecular biology and biochemistry. This translates to an instructional pedagogy that helps students grasp key concepts by making them relevant, my lectures relying far more on how science can change the world rather than blanket statements from a textbook. It is time for the rest of the instructional team to rise to the same standard.
If we are to truly prepare students for scientific careers—or simply to be informed citizens capable of evaluating scientific claims—we must ensure that those teaching them understand and embody the scientific process themselves.
Georgia Tech has a reputation as being a leader in training scientists and a responsibility to our students to do so. It is time to support, defend, and drive this reputation forward. We can no longer fail to hold our faculty to the highest standards of scientific expertise and research involvement. We can no longer allow those who lack true research experience to misrepresent science as mere memorization rather than an active and evolving discipline. If we are to remain at the forefront of innovation, we must ensure that those teaching our students are not just instructors but true scientists—individuals who engage in discovery, push the boundaries of knowledge, and instill in students the ability to think critically, solve problems, and advance the field.