Brady S. Hardiman

College of Agriculture

Engaging students in work that contributes to projects outside the classroom is one of the teaching strategies that prompted Brady Hardiman’s nomination for the 2021 Exceptional Early Career Teaching award representing the College of Agriculture. In nominating the assistant professor of forest and urban ecology, the awards committee noted that Hardiman seeks to “create engaged citizens who are scientifically-literate critical thinkers.” 

Hardiman serves in the departments Forestry and Natural Resources and Environmental and Ecological Engineering. He works to integrate lectures, reading selections, class discussions, and guest speakers to engage students in active investigation of the complex interactions between the social, technical, and ecological forces that shape urban ecosystems.  

He was especially recognized for the transformation of FNR 210 Natural Resource Information Management to help students better understand and develop the computer skills needed in geographic information systems (GIS), a foundational data science skillset and a core component of the emerging field of digital natural resources. 

Hardiman also serves as faculty mentor to numerous EEE students, and mentors undergraduate independent research students. Students recognized his efforts to help them succeed and care for them as developing professionals.  

How has your teaching evolved over the last five years? 

Beyond updating content to reflect the current state of the science and the general tweaks we all make to help things run smoother, one area of my teaching that has evolved quite a lot is an increased emphasis on the obligations those of us in the STEM disciplines have to our broader society. In both of my courses, I’ve designed assignments that incentivize students to actively engage with their local and global communities through citizen science and community service projects like collecting water samples for the local Wabash Sampling Blitz. These projects are linked to class discussions that emphasize the central role of a diverse, active, and engaged public in building sustainable and resilient communities. 

I also redesigned lab modules in my GIS class (FNR 210) to teach students important aspects of environmental justice as they learn and apply fundamental GIS skills to map natural resource management patterns.  

I have also implemented course policies designed to create a safe and inclusive classroom environment; one example is the “Ouch! Oops!” method which teaches students constructive strategies to deal with and learn from the inevitable microaggressions that arise during earnest conversations on complex subjects among a diverse class of students. 

What changes to your teaching during the pandemic did you take with you going forward?

In 2020, I had to skip a major data project that involves students working in teams and sharing equipment to measure the growth of trees on campus as part of a long-running data collection project in my Urban Ecology Course (FNR 586). I still wanted the students to get out into their local urban ecosystems, so I designed a virtual, asynchronous “Urban Bioblitz.” This required students to collect observations of species in their local area using an app (Seek by iNaturalist) that logs this data to a global citizen science project (iNaturalist). Students get badges for observing unique species or a certain number of species from a given taxonomic group. It’s sort of like the mobile game “Pokemon GO” but with real-life Pokemon. It’s now a permanent part of the course. 

Students liked the gamified nature of the assignment. They loved getting outside in a time when they were otherwise locked into wall-to-wall Zoom classes, and they learned a lot about biodiversity in urban ecosystems. Students contributed species identifications from wherever they were, including West Lafayette, Houston, Seattle, San Diego, and even some from cities in China. Altogether, the 81 PWL students in Fall 2020 recorded 7,546 observations of 2,027 unique species, all of which were logged to the international citizen science platform where they will be used to inform research and conservation efforts.  

I’ve since brought back the Campus Tree Inventory, so if you see students hugging the trees on campus there’s a good chance they are doing it to collect data as part of my class. 
Teaching during COVID emphasized the importance of compassion for my students. It was eye-opening to realize how many of them are operating very close to their limits most of the time. A huge number of students are taking an overload course schedule, working a full-time job in the evenings and on weekends, or have significant caregiving responsibilities, and sometimes all of these at once.  

I used to be much stricter about deadlines, but now I care more about the fact that my students are learning than if they turn a particular assignment in by the exact deadline. My expectations around deadlines, late work, and attendance have all shifted to maximize flexibility and to err on the side of compassion.  

What suggestions do you have to Purdue instructors who want to improve their teaching and/or their students’ learning?

Just ask. I frequently ask both my colleagues and my students for input on how I can be a more effective teacher. Students don’t always know what pedagogical strategies are most effective in achieving the learning objectives, and they might not always enjoy the strategies that are empirically most effective, but they have a keen nose for busywork and are eloquent in describing which course elements are confusing or disorganized.  

I find student feedback to be incredibly useful and ask for it frequently. I want to know what they learned from the article they read or the project they just completed. I want to know if they are connecting the ideas in that article to the goals of that project like I hoped they would. And yes, I want to know if they had fun too!  

I try to be transparent about the fact that I am continually trying to improve my classes and that feedback from the students is essential to making the class better next year. This engages students in reflecting on what they have learned but gives them ownership in the long-term effectiveness of the course.  

I also engage my colleagues, especially those who have more teaching experience than I do, as mentors. From their input, I have learned new strategies for how I can be more effective with the limited time I have in the classroom and make sure my efforts are devoted to maximizing the impact I can have on students.  

What motivates you to do your best work in a student-centered learning environment?

I really care about the material I teach, and I feel strongly it is important for the students to learn it. I find that students can tell from the moment I walk into a classroom if I’d rather be somewhere else, and they mirror my level of enthusiasm. So, I try to authentically show students that I am excited about the material and to show them why it is exciting and important. If my teaching methods are interfering with this goal, I change the way I am teaching the material. 

The Exceptional Early Career Teaching Award recognizes undergraduate faculty members with the rank of assistant professor/assistant clinical professor. It is among several PWL-wide teaching honors awarded annually in the spring semester. Each college/school selects and advances its own nominee the previous fall as a model in exceptional undergraduate education and includes input from its students. For other nominee interviews, see the Insights webpage. Further details on the award and selection procedure and university awardees are available on the Office of the Provost website.