Currently, I am mostly concerned with graduate education, although I taught undergraduate courses in mathematics and bioinformatics prior to coming to Bloomington. I also welcome undergraduate research students into my group.

My basic approach to teaching in an academic setting is to emphasize the integration of research and textbook learning. In my classroom and one-on-one teaching I seek to encourage the students to learn by asking interesting questions and then pursuing logical ways to derive answers for themselves, with appropriate guidance and help. Even when dealing with classical textbook material, I strongly believe that such approach is essential for a student to "own" the material for him- or herself.

A second point of emphasis in my teaching is interdisciplinary study. Bioinformatics and Computational Biology (BCB) require knowledge of molecular biology , statistics, and computer science, and I require serious BCB students to attain the necessary background in all these disciplines, independent of their initial biases towards any one field. I seek to encourage the students to go beyond their current limitations, although typically I am only successful in this with the very best and most highly motivated students.

A visionary perspective by Walter Gilbert published many years ago reminds us of the essential goal of Ph.D. level education: to acquire the general ability to find whatever old or new techniques are needed to solve novel problems.

In my classes, I have often organized the students into small groups with combined expertise in the contributing core BCB areas. The groups are assigned different tasks throughout the term. This arrangement has proved very successful in getting the students to interact across the different study programs and seems an excellent way of introducing them to interdisciplinary work environments they will encounter later in their academic or business careers.