Synthesis
Before beginning the Certificate of Accomplishment in Teaching (CoAT) program, I knew what kind of instructor I wanted to be for students. I wanted to be the instructor students respect because of command in the classroom. I wanted to be an instructor with confidence in front of the classroom. However, I did not know what this meant or what I had to do to be this instructor. In the Spring of 2014, I attended 5 workshops; workshops which helped to further develop my identity as an instructor. Those workshops are FIT: Motivational Teaching Strategies supervised by Dr. Barbi Honeycutt during February 13 online, FIT: Shaping your Teaching Philosophy presented by Dr. Clint Stevenson on February 21 at Witherspoon NCSU, FIT: Classroom Management supervised by Dr. Barbi Honeycutt during February 2024 online, FIT: Active Learning presented by Dr. Barbi Honeycutt on February 26 at Witherspoon NCSU, and the “How to Feel as Smart as They Think You Are” presented by Dr. Valerie Young on March 5 at Talley Ballroom NCSU. I learned what I could and could not do to motivate students; I learned about my current teaching style; I learned how to manage a classroom and how to prevent situations I cannot handle; I learned the technique of enforcing active learning; and, I learned how to feel more confident. While each workshop has provided useful lessons, they have all helped to shape my style and identity as an instructor by promoting methods which increase self-confidence and self-awareness.
In Dr. Young’s presentation, she discusses the Imposter Syndrome. This syndrome is specific to achievements. A person may have evidence they are intelligent and capable, but still feel as though they are not. Her lecture was directed toward graduate students as students who do not think they are smart and cannot fathom why others do. Dr. Young went over the reasons why people feel this way, the coping mechanisms, and a possible cure. Although the lecture was intended for students, the information can be applied to teaching. As instructors, we need to feel as smart as the students think we are. Using the tools Dr. Young provided us, the following thoughts can help instructors feel more confident. First, we would not be instructors if we weren’t capable of teaching; someone had to hire us, to recommend us, to believe in us. Second, it is okay to make a mistake on the board, because it is difficult to talk, write, and think at the same time. And third, you can never expect every type of question. You may not have the answer right away; it is okay to answer the question at a later time. If we keep these things in our minds as we teach, we can be more comfortable instructing. Comfort makes one feel as though they belong, and the feeling of belonging raises confidence.
With the self-inspired confidence, an instructor can feel capable of commanding the classroom and inspiring respect in the students. In the workshop FIT: Classroom Management, I learned the best way to keep command is to inform the students of what kind of behavior is acceptable at the beginning of the semester. Because students know the behavior which is acceptable, they will most likely be less disrespectful. This helps an instructor maintain order, which builds confidence.
While believing in your capabilities and commanding the classroom raises confidence, knowing your limitations can also make you a better instructor. Previous to taking the FIT: Motivational Teaching Strategies workshop, I believed that if students are not learning then the instructor is at fault for not motivating them properly. However, I learned that there are two types of motivation, and I learned that the instructor has control of only 3 out of 6 forces which influence a student’s motivation. The two types are intrinsic, i.e. learning for learning’s sake, and extrinsic, i.e. there are goals to accomplish. The three forces that an instructor has direct control over are: belief about self, relevance and clarity of goals, and level of involvement. If an instructor believes in the students’ ability to learn and gets them involved in the material through exercise, the instructor can show the student how to believe in themselves, i.e. raise the student’s confidence. In the workshop, we are told that clear and concise goals can help the students know what the expectations are from class to class and the semester as a whole. Because the students know what to accomplish, they are motivated to do so. If an instructor is aware of their own limitations, the instructor can put more effort into those elements that are controllable, as well as know that if a student is not learning the way we hope it is not always our fault and we are doing the best we can to impart knowledge.
Self-awareness not only involves knowing one’s limitations, but also knowing one’s comfort zones. In the FIT: Shaping Your Teaching Philosophy workshop, we learned the biases of our teaching styles. My teaching style happens to be teacher-oriented (by a few points) and my strength is in transmission of knowledge. Although this should not be a surprise given my mathematical field, I was caught off guard. The workshop survey stated that my intentions are greater than my actions. I learned that the teacher I want to be and the teacher I actually am are not equivalent. I intend to be student-oriented, and hope my strengths may be well-rounded. However, given the knowledge that this style is typical for Mathematics (and other scientific fields), I am not as disappointed. To effectively impart Mathematical knowledge in a specific amount of time, there is a limitation to how student-oriented the lessons can be. I can use this knowledge and my strengths to my advantage and to the benefit of the students. This workshop helped me clearly see what type of instructor I am.
While the relationship to self-awareness and self-confidence with the FIT: Active Learning workshop is not obvious, it does exist. The workshop taught attendees about learning.. actively. While this type of learning is self-explanatory, I learned that enforcing this type of learning is very important. According to the lesson, studies have shown that Think-Pair-Share is a highly effective learning tool. Although many students do not enjoy activities in the classroom, it forces them out of their comfort zone. What kind of educators would we be if we did not challenge students to be all they can be? To successfully tend to the active learning aspect of the classroom, an instructor needs to know how to manage the students’ behavior. In order to do that successfully, we discussed earlier that an instructor needs confidence to command. Also, the level of activity that an instructor still has control over needs to be picked out of an awareness of what one can handle. Hence, confidence and awareness are important to practice active learning methods.
While the first set of workshops provided me with tools to more effectively educate students, the last 5 workshops have been pertinent in the development of my teaching philosophy. I am more aware of who I am as an instructor and who I want to be as an instructor. I am even more aware of where these two intersect, and what parts outside this intersection are within my control to cultivate into the overlap. With each course I teach, I can refine who I am as an instructor. I believe knowing who I am as a teacher and where I can improve is beneficial to students. It is my job to effectively instruct them, and one cannot do so if one is not self-aware. Mathematics is a subject many students lack the confidence in their ability as well as lack the desire to learn. Motivation is difficult to inspire. Students prefer to memorize steps rather than understand concepts. They prefer to study notes instead of pay attention in the classroom. They prefer to blindly practice problems rather than understand the important differences between each example. For most students, the only motivation is the credit they receive from the class, and so they only put minimal effort. As a Mathematics instructor, it is my job to inspire a different attitude using the tools at my disposal. I cannot use these tools effectively if I do not know which ones I am most capable of utilizing to its maximum.
Before beginning the Certificate of Accomplishment in Teaching (CoAT) program, I thought I knew what kind of instructor I wanted to be for students. I thought I wanted to be the instructor students respect because of command in the classroom. I thought I wanted to be an instructor with confidence in front of the classroom. However, I did not know what this meant or what I had to do to be this instructor. The above workshops have given me the ability to be this instructor.
Application
All workshops except one have helped to develop my teaching philosophy. While self-awareness is a tool, it is not concrete. For this Application section, I draw from the FIT: Active Learning workshop, because it is the only workshop with concrete applicability to instruction. I am providing an in-class activity that I may be able to use one day in the classroom. As I said earlier, activities are one of the most effective methods of teaching students, and it is important to force students outside of their comfort zone. In Mathematics, oftentimes an answer is either correct or not. Many students do not participate for this reason. They do not want to embarrass themselves in front of their fellow classmates. I want to use the following activity to break them out of this habit. Students cannot learn Mathematics without making mistakes and understanding why their logic is incorrect. I want students to do this without the pressure of embarrassment in front of the entire classroom. The activity I provide is Think-Pair-Share motivated, and I hope will do what I want for the students. One objective of my Teaching Philosophy is to maximize the number of students my lessons educate, and I would be remiss if I did not use a method I know effectively reaches students.
Classroom Activity
Date: January 1, 2014 Class Number: MA 231 Class Name: Calc II for Life Sciences Time: 33:50 Length: 50 min
Topic and Context: Taylor Series
Aims: To use an activity to effectively teach students the difference between Taylor Series and Taylor Polynomials.
Learning Objective: Students should.. understand the difference between Taylor Series and Taylor Polynomials.
Preliminaries: Lesson on Taylor Polynomials and lecture on Taylor Series.
Activity Instigator: Let the students take 1 minute to recall Taylor Polynomials by solving the following problem
1. Find the 3rd Taylor Polynomial for f(x) = sin(x).
Activity (for smaller classroom): Cyclically count students 1 to 4. Have all 1’s get into a group, all the 2’s get into a group, etc. Then do the following
1. Check the answer to the above problem. If anyone got the answer incorrect, explain WHY they got it incorrect.
2. Together, find the Taylor Series for f(x).
3. Have the group discuss the differences between the 3rd Taylor Polynomial and the Taylor Series.
4. Let x = 3.54, and have them discuss any other differences.
5. Have the group nominate a speaker.
6. Each speaker needs to list one difference they found.
Activity (for larger classroom): Work with the person sitting next to you. Then do 1-4. Give a quiz in which each team will hand in the differences they found.
Activity Conclusion: Provide the answers. Further motivate the students by explaining there will be a similar problem on homework and exams.