Ximena's sustained teaching excellence is evidenced in her strong teaching evaluations and glowing student feedback. This is particularly evident in her infectious enthusiasm and use of her work in animal behaviour research which allows students to engage in contemporary scientific challenges. One first year student described her as "an interesting, passionate and helpful teacher – I really enjoy listening to you, especially the examples you give of studies you have done yourself."
Her reflective, iterative approach to teaching has led her to develop a variety of carefully tailored learning experiences including classroom, online, laboratory and research projects, that optimise learning for students with diverse needs. Students flock to her courses and end up benefitting from the acquisition of a range of core life skills, such as analytical skills, communication skills and other transferable skills.
She is a role model for other biology teachers for both curriculum developments and teaching delivery. Her students appreciate her clearly presented content and regular quies.
Students describe her as friendly, organised and engaging teacher who is "generous with her time, and is a wealth of no-nonsense, practical and intelligent advice". She challenges her students to think critically and set high standards for themselves, whilst providing them with the toolkit that enables them to succeed. One of her colleagues who co-teaches with her admires her "knack for making complex concepts (like neurobiology) accessible without over simplification so that students feel the reward of having mastered difficult ideas."
Ximena brings admirable levels of empathy and commitment to the learning environment which truly empowers her students at each level of their intellectual development from 100-level to postgraduate research. She has an impressive track record of encouraging postgraduate students to be ambitious, to publish in high-impact journals and to obtain research grants which has led them to obtain prestigious educational opportunities and secure sought-after jobs all over the world.
