Reflective Statement

The goal of my teaching is to provide students with tools to improve their lives, and the world.

One of the major influences of my teaching philosophy is the fact that technology is constantly evolving. Many books are outdated the day they are published. This has influenced my teaching philosophy and practice in several ways. First, as much as possible, I focus on overall concepts, not just the current method of implementation. Second, I supplement textbook material with more current information. Lastly, in addition to teaching about certain topics or how to do something, when possible, I teach strategies students can take to learn more about certain topics or how to find out how to do something.

Another influence of my teaching philosophy is the Knowles' theory of andragogy. Specifically, I agree with the assumptions that (1) Adults need to know why they need to learn something (2) Adults need to learn experientially, (3) Adults approach learning as problem-solving, and (4) Adults learn best when the topic is of immediate value. I like to use case studies, role playing, and simulations. I think of myself as a facilitator rather than lecturer or grader.

Strategies and techniques common to my courses:

I use course management software to supplement instruction and provide course structure. I have trained extensively on the front and back end of the WebCT system and know how to take advantage of the many benefits its course tools offer.

Each chapter or major topic is grouped in a WebCT Learning Module. The learning modules include resources for the students and their assignments.

Resources include a combination of materials created by the publisher, external sources, and myself, including PowerPoint presentations, web links, demonstration videos, and more.

One of the assignments in each module in each course is 30‐40 multiple choice, matching, or short answer questions utilizing the WebCT Assessment tool. The questions are not timed so students can spend as much time answering them as they would like. They are basically designed to ensure that the students spend some time with the material. As soon as students submit the questions they are graded and students can see which questions they got right and wrong. I have added custom feedback to some of the trickier questions. I let the students complete the questions two times and their grade is the average of the two submissions. This encourages them to closely review what they got right and wrong and rewards them for following up.

For classes that meet in‐person, questions are due before the class in which we discuss the material. I believe students get more out of class meetings when they come into them having already spent some time on the topic. This allows me to repeat and help clarify topics rather than introduce them. This also allows me to run a report based on the submitted questions to see which ones were answered incorrectly by the highest percentage of the students. This lets me know which topics to spend the most time on in class.

I emphasize effective Internet search techniques and web site evaluations in all classes.

My philosophy with the networking and hardware courses is to do as many hands‐on activities as possible. Anyone anywhere can read a textbook and answer questions. The real value to the students in these courses is the availability of a lab, along with the guidance of an experienced instructor, so they can learn by doing. I present some broad concepts and the goal of an activity but purposely don’t offer step by step details. I like to see how the students go about figuring out what to do. If or when they need me to, I step in and provide them with hints or direct assistance.

My philosophy with introductory programming classes is that I am not expecting all of the students to go on to be full‐time professional programmers. Without a doubt, however, some of them will go on to do some sort of programming in the future. In addition, 100% of them will need to use problem solving skills, creative thinking, and research techniques. For these reasons, I am most concerned with those aspects of the course.

Some curricular revisions I have made in the last year:

I went to the Curriculum Committee last year to add a new course, COP 1170, Visual Basic I. After researching the statewide common course numbering system for my duties on the Syllabus Review Subcommittee of the Student Assessment Committee, I realized that the content Edison State College had been teaching in COP 1000 - Introduction to Programming, really belonged in a different course. The Curriculum Committee accepted the proposal and now COP 1000 is truly an introduction to programming. The course is now much more accessible and relevant, focusing on concepts and logic rather than features and implementations in a specific language. In addition, COP 1000 is not as much of a barrier to students who are taking it as a requirement for non-programming degrees.

In the past, I have wanted to export web links created in one WebCT course into another WebCT course. I have been told that this is not possible. To avoid this situation from causing problems in the future, I have begun using the Delicious bookmarking service instead of the WebCT Web Links tool. Now, when I want to share a web link with a class I tag it with Delicious. I have a special tag for each course, something like ESCCOP1000. I also add other descriptive tags which serve to replace WebCT Web Links categories. Then, rather than adding a Web Link to a Learning Module, I add a RSS Feed Reader, which provides access to all links created with my user name and having specific tags. This will also be helpful when the school transitions and no longer uses WebCT. Now I can browse the Internet on any computer and quickly and easily tag a link using Delicious and it will instantly appear within the WebCT course.