Teaching Philosophy

I originally entered college with the goal of becoming a high school physics teacher. While I did not leave with that degree, I did have the opportunity to take several education classes, which helped greatly when I started teaching as a graduate student. I received instruction on assessment strategies, student learning profiles, and providing accommodations for students with disabilities. These classes were instrumental in helping me shape my teaching philosophy, which is comprised of three main parts – great teaching provides the students with instruction via multiple methods, assesses student learning through various strategies, and shares the responsibility for student learning with the students.

The basis for my teaching philosophy centers around this fact: in every class, there will be several different learning styles represented. I feel strongly that it is the responsibility of an instructor to present material using a variety of techniques to best communicate the information to all students. I believe that reading assignments, in-class problems, student presentations, lectures, and group projects can all aid in student learning and comprehension and should be utilized as best suits the class structure. With comprehension as the end goal, students are tasked with receiving the information, understanding it, and using their knowledge to solve and analyze problems, eventually creating new ways of thinking. It is impossible for students to achieve success in all of these areas when receiving only one method of instruction, and so I have always attempted to utilize multiple techniques when teaching.

Of equal importance to student learning is the variety of assessment strategies that are used. I believe that multiple types of assessment are necessary, not only as accurate measure of student learning but also to provide students with an opportunity for further learning through feedback. The highest levels of learning, according to Bloom’s taxonomy, are synthesis and evaluation, wherein students must create something new by combining previously learned information and make judgments using their newly obtained knowledge. I believe it is very important for students to practice these higher level skills through assessments such as presentations, projects, case studies, and hands-on experiences.

The final integral part of my teaching philosophy centers around the belief that the responsibility of learning is shared between the instructor and the student. It is the responsibility of educators to teach students how to learn. For undergraduate students, I believe that proper study skills, technological experience, and investigative methods should be woven into the curriculum as is appropriate for the level of students. These types of skills will not only arm students with the ability to succeed academically, but also provide them with a learning foundation for when they leave school and further their education formally or in the workplace. The teaching of these skills, along with providing instruction and student assessment via multiple techniques, is essential to being a great educator. As well, since the responsibility is shared, it is up to the students to take the opportunities presented to them, both in the classroom and outside of it, and become well-educated.