My Courses
I consider it a priviledge to teach, and learn a great deal from my students and faculty colleagues. My teaching is guided by the following principles:
- Respect students and hold them accountable.
- Provide relevant, updated course materials.
- Give students opportunities to learn in many ways: hands-on learning, reading, quizzes and exams, simulations, problem-based learning, group projects, field trips, guest lecturers, video and audio clips, oral presentations, and website creation.
- Set high standards, but in disputes with students, give them the benefit of the doubt if they are learning.
- Provide timely feedback on student questions, quizzes and exams, assignments, and projects.
Sample Course Syllabi:
ENPH 210 Introduction to Environmental Health
ENPH 445 Solid and Hazardous Waste Management
ENPH 460 Fundamentals of Industrial Hygiene
ENPH 490 Environmental Toxicology and Risk Assessment
NRSG 255 Introduction to Public Health (taught with Dr. Cheryl Lapp)
Comments on My Courses
- "I really learned alot, as well as I enjoyed the content in this course. Thanks!"
- "I just want to say this was my first environmental class I have taken and I have found much, if not all that I have learned very useful. I found this class very interesting and helpful for my life and the life of my child. This class has caused me to pause at my choices that I make and have made better choices to the improvement of the environment. The class was one of the best classes that I have ever taken. THANK YOU!!"
- "Overall the class was fair, and well taught."
- "Loved the class."
- "I really enjoyed this class and feel that Dr. Pierce did a really good job of being available to students with questions/concerns/suggestions/issues."
- "Overall I liked the class!"
- "I enjoyed the course, learned a lot, learned more about how to use my computer, and can now say I completed my first online course. The fact that Dr. Pierce enjoys his work, and has a pleasant, helpful attitude made the class all the more enjoyable."
- "A great talk and a great speaker."
- "I'd love to take his class! Very interesting."
- "Thank you!"
- "Like the inclusion of audience participation."
- "Very good intro to the topic."
- "Tough to satisfy the diversity of expertise on the topics covered, so I thought this was done well."
- "Enjoyed interaction w/ audience."
- "Very comprehensive presentation thanks!"
- "Nice energetic speaker."
- "Thanks so much for your patience and availability this summer!" (During an online course.)
- "Thank you so much for this opportunity this summer!" (To take an online course.)
- "You provide a safe environment for sharing all points of view."
- "I just wanted to take a moment to tell you that this class has been a great learning experience. It has helped me prepare to sit for the Registered Sanitarian exam. ... Taking this class has honed in my studying skills that have been dormant for the last 20 years and given me a drive to continue my education and work towards my Masters. Thank you for your assistance and valuable feedback during this course."
- "I'm excited to spread the knowledge from your class to my peers in such a unique way that you as an excellent professor brought to our attention!"
- "You provided a supportive atmosphere so everybody could contribute to class discussions."
- "I just wanted to take a minute to Thank you. Last summer I took your environmental health course on line. You set the pace I needed and gave me the basic's needed to prepare for the Registered Sanitarian Exam. After a year of study and review I earned my RS. Thanks again!"
- "One of the best presenters and presentations I've ever seen at a conference and I've been to many
in the last 42 years." (NEHA Conference)
- "You are really an alright kind of guy!"
Links to Student Projects
I take great pride in the environmental health projects that my students have created online. Here are several examples: