Personal Educational Philosophy
When
students come into process of learning they are but a few steps away from their
professional careers. Although somewhat
of a cliché, what is true for a business is also true for its employees, to
succeed an individual must learn to be faster, smarter, more creative, and be
able to learn from mistakes. How can we
prepare students to succeed in this competitive environment? The answer is, at least in part, to move
them out of their comfort zone by presenting them with realistic problems that
have undefined boundaries and solutions and that require cooperation as well as
competition. The goal of this is to help
students to learn to be critical thinkers and effective problem solvers so that
they can be effective competitors in their careers.
My
Teaching Strategy
To
achieve the goal of helping students learn, an educator must have a teaching
strategy that guides the delivery of the course content and specific tactics
that can be used to achieve success.
Several of the principles that I use to guide my teaching activities are
presented below.
Preparation
is Key
I
believe that one of the most important ways for me to provide high quality
teaching is to be prepared for each and every class period. As a student I
observed many lectures where the instructor was ill prepared. I vividly remember the frustration that I
felt in those situations and determined that I would not exhibit such behavior
in the classes that I teach. Therefore,
I always strive to be prepared by knowing the material, having visuals prepared,
and ordering the class in a logical and consistent manner.
Know
My Subject
A
corollary to preparation is the need to know the subject matter. To present course content adequately, it is
critical to know what I am talking about.
This does not imply, of course, that I create a false façade to my
students by pretending that I know everything about the topic. This is
impossible in most cases. Rather, it is critical that I know the material well
enough to help students see how the material relates to society, organizations,
and/or themselves.
Know
My Students
A
second corollary to preparation is to know my students. When I say that I need to know my students, I
not only mean that I need to learn their names so as to personalize my
relationship with them. In addition, I
believe that to be an effective educator I must know pertinent information
about my students. I should be
knowledgeable about things like their skills, their reasons for taking the
class, and their expectations about the class.
This comes from something that I learned in a business writing class
that I completed as an MBA student. To
write well, you must know your audience so that you can write to your reader. This adage is appropriate for educators as
well. To share knowledge that is
pertinent to students, I must know their needs, expectations, and career
goals.
Individual
Instruction is Important
I
think that an educator should treat each student as an individual. This comes from my recognition that the
original role for educators was as a mentor.
The mass lecture that is so common in the university setting today was a
later adaptation so that a greater number of students could be educated. Although the lecture setting is a necessity,
students can still benefit from one-on-one interactions with the
instructor. Therefore, I attempt to
learn each of my students' names and address them as individuals in and outside
of the classroom (e.g., to facilitate this I take each student's picture during
the early part of the semester). This
not only helps me to have a better rapport with students, but I am sure that it
improves many students' self esteem and positive feelings about the course and
the material presented.
Students
Should be Encouraged to Participate
A
corollary to individualized instruction is encouraging and expecting
participation by each student. The
classroom should not be a venue for one-way communication. An important part of the learning process is
expressing individual opinions and receiving feedback about these
opinions. Therefore I use a number of
approaches to encourage individual students to participate. For example, I generally require that
students in my courses earn participation credit via activities both inside and
outside of the class. Further, in all of
the classes that I teach I frequently call on individual students to answer
questions or respond to my inquiries.
Finally, in project-based courses involving difficult concepts I
generally ask students to work on in-class cases and exercises. I have found that practical examples help students
to better understand complex concepts because each student will need to
actively focus his or her thinking on the concept rather than passively
listening to a lecture.
Quality
Must be a Top Priority
Make
the Material Relevant
I
think that to properly educate students at the university level, an educator
must make the material he or she is teaching pertinent to students. Often this means that material should be
taught in such a way that each student is able to relate to the material and
apply it to his or her life and career.
This can frequently be accomplished by providing real world examples and
cases that demonstrate the concepts that are being taught. For example, I frequently utilize current
events to illustrate important concepts and ideas. By discussing information that is in the news
and relating such information to the course, students often maintain high
levels of interest and are better able to see how the concepts operate in a
real setting. One very useful tool to
accomplish this goal is the Internet because it can be used to show students
web sites that illustrate in more concrete ways the concepts being discussed in
class.
The
Use of Information Technology Demonstrates Its Usefulness
A
corollary to the previous point is to make the topic of information technology
(IT) relevant by using it extensively in teaching and managing the courses that
I teach. It is somewhat ironic that
professors frequently do not practice what they preach to students. I think that it is critical that when I teach
topics related to IT that I demonstrate its value by using it inside as well as
outside the classroom. Towards this end,
I utilize technology in presentations, in contacting and tracking students, and
in disseminating information and course materials. For example, I often utilize PowerPoint, the
Internet, and software packages that are being discussed in the classroom in
order to make presentations or convey ideas to students. In addition, I extensively use tools like
e-mail to keep in contact with students and, in effect, create a virtual
classroom environment. In fact, my use
of e-mail in the classroom dates back to the early 1990's. On a related note, I make extensive use of
the web to disseminate to students course materials like assignments and the
syllabi. As with e-mail, I began using a
course web page in 1995 and have continually used this technology since that
time.
Students
Learn Best by Taking Action
Another
corollary to the tenet of making course content relevant is the issue of
activity-based teaching. I believe that
the best way for a student to develop a good understanding of a topic is to
create opportunities for him or her to act rather than to merely read a book or
listen to a lecture. To do this, I
incorporate numerous hands-on activities in the classes that I teach. For example, as early as the fall of 1996, I
have required that students in most of my classes build either individual or
project web sites. This is a very
practical exercise that most students find to be very useful and which provides
them with experience that helps them understand the difficulties involved in
developing web sites. This type of
exercise is very practical and helps students to understand important concepts
related to the course.
Change
is Good
To
provide a quality teaching environment, an educator should be willing to change
the way that he or she teaches. I am
open to change and constantly try to reevaluate the courses that I teach with
the goal of improving the teaching environment.
In addition to changing the broader components of the course, I also try
to vary the way I present material to students on a day-to-day basis. It is somewhat counterproductive to use the
same lecture style day after day.
Therefore I often vary the mode of presentation by using, for example,
the whiteboard on one day, PowerPoint the next day, and hands-on lab
instruction on the third day.
Create
a Fair but Demanding Learning Environment
I
think that it is critical that students be expected to act responsibly, to
learn to be professional, and to meet high standards in the classroom. At the same time, it is also important to be
fair and evenhanded with all students.
To achieve these goals I require that students adhere to deadlines, that
they produce quality work, and that they act professionally in their
interactions with one another and with me. To make sure that all students have
the same opportunity to achieve these goals I always attempt to make my
expectations about required performance clear both in written as well as verbal
instructions. In addition, however, I
also attempt to be fair to all of my students by being impartial in grading and
interacting with students and by treating individuals with respect.
Research
is Relevant
I think that the research that an
educator is involved in is very relevant to teaching. In my experience, every manuscript that I
have published has been relevant to my classes in one manner or another. In addition, the excitement that I feel in
discovery cannot help but spill over into the classes that I teach. Thus, scholarship and teaching are closely
intertwined and are critical to successful teaching.
It's
Fun to Learn
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