Teaching

Tell me, and I forget.
Teach me, and I remember.
Involve me, and I learn.
— Benjamin Franklin

Learning comes at four stages: sparking a student’s interest, connecting classroom topics to real-life applications, developing critical thinking skills, and sharing new-found knowledge with others. I consider myself an effective teacher if my students can explain what they have learned to others or to me and have some decent appreciation of how chemistry connects with their respective disciplines. Throughout my teaching career, my teaching philosophy has become more student-centered, wherein instructors play a crucial role in guiding students toward success in their respective fields of interest.

 The following is an excerpt from an e-mail from one of my students in General Chemistry II; it has really touched me as an instructor. Troy, [j]ust wanted to say thank you for a great semester. I really enjoyed the lab, much more than I have any other lab. You being a rigorous grader and always pushing us in the lab made [me] work even harder, which led to me growing so much as a student. I have never learned this much in any other [class] before. Thank you for pushing us hard. An effective teacher, for me, is someone who, in showing their students how they are passionate about the course, motivates them to do their best. In the field of science education, s/he should be able to meritoriously communicate present-hand information to students and challenge them to take on the task of pursuing more knowledge. I thus believe that instructors must maintain a steady level of enthusiasm in the classroom and help the students discover the scientists in them. That being said, I am humbled that I still have much to learn from my past, present, and future students, and this feeling keeps me excited and motivated to teach every day.

As an Assistant Professor of Chemistry of Filipino descent, I aspire to lead and support diversity initiatives, build supportive and inclusive education environments, and equip students with essential tools for success. I am eager to continuously improve my communication skills and help develop and hone my students' skills through classroom instruction. In particular, I always consciously design interactive lectures that will encourage students to share (in small and large groups) their knowledge and excitement with others about the topic that has just been discussed. In developing close interactions with my students, I seek to be a mentor and a role model to underrepresented students in their professional ambitions, specifically in the STEM field.

 Throughout my teaching career, I tried to be inclusive in more ways. For instance, I have attended various training sessions and seminars sponsored by the university to promote classroom diversity and support the LGBTQ community, to name a few. Racial, socioeconomic, academic, and cultural diversities create a more effective learning environment where students can share different perspectives about the topics discussed in class and beyond. Racism is not tolerated in my classroom. I find that encouraging diversity comes down to recognizing the many varied aspects of people’s identities and experiences and facilitating safe and open discussion spaces, especially for underrepresented groups. 

• Creating a course syllabus for Generation Z students

  • Oral workshop seminar presented online at 2020 Nicholls State University HyFlex/Hybrid Summer Professional Faculty Development
  • Oral session at the Open Science Presentations (2020), link  to recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_Vmjohqpck

• Resources for CHEM 105

• Resources for CHEM 106