Teaching Philosophy
During my time at SFA, I have taught four courses in the undergraduate program: ECON 2302 – Principles of Microeconomics, ECON 3339 – Applied Statistical Analysis, ECON 3353 – Intermediate Microeconomics, and ECON 4360 – Energy Economics. I have taught all four in a traditional face-to-face setting as well as in a hybrid configuration during the COVID-19 pandemic. I have also taught ECON 3339 fully online for the past several summer terms. ECON 2302, ECON 3339, and ECON 3353 were existing courses included in the curriculum when I joined SFA, while ECON 4360 was a course I created and built “from the ground up.”
Each course services a different set of students. The principles course typically involves freshmen and sophomores that pursue degrees in majors across SFA’s campus, not just in the Rusche College of Business. The statistics course is an upper-level class in the business foundation taken mainly by juniors and seniors. While the intermediate and energy course are upper-level classes for economics majors. Because these courses encounter students at different points in their college careers, my approach to teaching must consider their academic preparedness and experience. Below I explain my “teaching philosophy” and how I approach teaching such varying audiences.
Economics and statistics courses present an immediate challenge in that students often come into them with preconceived notions that the material is overly complex and inaccessible. Such beliefs are spurred by the topic itself as well as the mathematical prowess required to grasp the material. It is my responsibility to conquer these barriers and provide students with a rich set of tools necessary to master the topics. I accomplish this in several ways.
First, I provide my students with the organizational framework and materials they need to take the concepts and connect with them. I go about this by utilizing the calendar and announcements in Brightspace. At the beginning of each week, an announcement is posted in Brightspace with the assignments due that week. If students prefer a more forward-looking approach, the calendar contains all the due dates for the semester. It may seem trivial, but providing students with this type of structure has helped them prioritize their time for the course.
Further, I believe that to relate with students, I must meet them where they are and find common ground. The examples in my lectures are updated regularly to match the current topics that interest my students. For example, in ECON 4360, we explore nonrenewable resources, like coal, natural gas, oil, and uranium (nuclear). In those lectures, the class first learns about the resource but quickly the discussion evolves into one of the current resource landscapes in the U.S. Over the past several years, the lectures on coal and natural gas have led to a discussion of the pros and cons of each resource for electricity generation and the current public policies that pertain to those fuel sources. Students at SFA have been interested in this type of discussion given the shale gas and oil drilling activity in the state.
Second, I incorporate in-class exercises and out-of-class projects in addition to the traditional lecture/discussion format to make the material more accessible. I have found that teaching a concept using more than one method is an effective method for connecting theories to practice. For example, in ECON 2302, each chapter covered has at least one corresponding in-class worksheet that the students complete together then walk me through the solutions.
In ECON 3339, students apply the information they learn throughout the semester in a two-step group project. Students choose their groups and dataset that has a corresponding research question. The first step requires students to clean, organize, and visualize the data. They are tasked with familiarizing themselves with the data by determining the type, measure, and scale of the variables. They are also required to research each variable to understand how it is related to the research question. They build pivot tables and charts and calculate descriptive statistics to help describe the variables in their chosen dataset. The second step requires students to analyze the data using multiple linear regression models. They must determine which of the models they have estimated best answers the research question. Then they fully analyze the regression results. It is through this application that students truly grasp the usefulness of data work.
In ECON 4360, students pick a topic covered in the course to explore more in-depth. For the last two-thirds of the course, the student researches their chosen topic by finding academic articles, organizing common themes in those articles, and synthesizing the material into a literature review. Throughout this literature review process, students typically find one article they gravitate toward the most. As part of a separate grade, students present this paper to the class. It requires them to fully grasp the article selected as they must explain it to their peers that have not read the paper themselves.
Third, I focus on practicing economics and statistics, because repetition and application allows one to “make that knowledge their own.” As a class, we work through example problems in lecture. Then students work through example problems using in-class worksheets before completing homework that contains similar, though more difficult, problems. All of my classes follow this general framework for practicing the material. Students find that they are well-equipped to handle my exams if they complete these assignments with dedication to comprehending the concepts.
Moreover, I have been a champion for student use of SFA’s Academic Assistance and Resource Center (AARC). This is especially true for the ECON 3339 course that students find demanding. I have made it a point to have a student supplemental instructor and walk-in tutors for ECON 3339 for every semester I have taught at SFA. Students have found consumption of these tutoring services quite useful in forming working groups to complete homework assignments. One student may understand a specific skill better than another and teach them in the working group, whereas that other student may have a better handle on another topic from the course and can reciprocate. I am a firm believer in these types of working groups. If a student can teach another how to complete a problem on an assignment, that means they truly grasp the material. The AARC presented me with the Bravo Award for my encouragement of student utilization of the AARC.
Lastly, no one is the perfect instructor. As time passes, new technology emerges and new learning techniques are created. It would be a disservice to my students if I did not try to adapt my teaching style to incorporate appropriate changes. Understanding my students and their needs is important to me. That is why I became a Certified Online Instructor through SFA’s Center for Teaching and Learning, and why I completed level one of the Diversity and Inclusion Certification Program facilitated by SFA’s Office of Multicultural Affairs.
I take student evaluation feedback seriously. Over the past five years, I have altered the structure of my course based on recommendations from students as well as colleagues. For example, I have added quizzes, in-class worksheets, and Excel practice problems to my courses at the suggestion from student evaluations to add more practice problems before students attempt the homework. It is a regular occurrence for me to converse with other members of my department on their course set-up and execution. These conversations have provided invaluable information for my courses. SFA emphasizes “continuous improvement” for good reason, and my approach to teaching encompasses that goal.