Teaching philosophy

Beyond limit, Beyond innovation, Beyond myself: Healthy critical thinking-centered education

I believe critical thinking is a central element of education. I teach students about what counts as knowledge and explain that producing new knowledge is not simply about discovering facts or creating something practical. I ask students to challenge and problematize taken-forgranted notions. By doing so I hope that students transform their own worldviews and everyday decision-making to be more independent and understanding about themselves and others. As a professor, I also try to be reflexive, understanding the ways in which my ways of thinking and speaking are delivered to students and improving my methods of teaching based on students’ feedback.

I believe that harmonious learning with “why” questions is the basis for healthy critical thinking-centered education, leading to new challenges and innovations. I am ready to perform research-oriented teaching.

Efforts to improve teaching skills

Through many lectures, I have learned that it is not easy to convey my knowledge to students. I have worked to improve my teaching skills. It has become clear that accepting and learning from criticism are keys to successful education. I aim to be an open-minded professor who emphasizes communication with students.

I have extensive teaching experience. I delivered lectures on ecology at Dankuk University, obtaining 95/100 in a student evaluation survey. From March of 2020 to now, I have taught classes on ecology, environmental biology, plant classification, and plant restoration and received positive feedback from students. At the graduate level, I have taught advanced courses in ecology, plant ecology, and special plant research. By reflecting on feedback from students, my teaching skills have improved consistently.