TEACHING PHILOSOPHY

Statement of Teaching Philosophy

About the Engineering Education at University

Engineering is a unique discipline, which is distinguished from basic (pure) science, and it is often referred to as ‘applied science’. For any problems we confront in our daily lives, engineering practices guide us to search for the relevant existing knowledge, think how the knowledge can be useful for the problems, and apply the knowledge appropriately to come up with solutions. This entire process requires training from both educational institution and industry; therefore, licensing of professional engineer in Canada requires both undergraduate level education from an engineering program at university and at least four-year work experience after the completion of study. These requirements exist, because the engineering education at university establishes an important foundation of work that a new graduate will face when he/she enters industry. However, I have observed many undergraduate students not finding the curriculum of engineering program interesting nor practical; furthermore, I even heard from some students saying that such complicated theories are not useful while working for industry. From these comments, I could figure out that many engineering students do not recognize the linkage between undergraduate curriculum and industry work. If instructors of undergraduate engineering programs can guide students to recognize the importance of theoretical knowledge for industry work and demonstrate how the knowledge can be applied to real-world projects, I believe that students will have the higher motivation for learning and have a better learning experience.

My Goals for Instruction

What I would like my students to learn is both theoretical and practical knowledge. Based on my seven-year engineering work experience in construction, I think that theoretical knowledge is the most important asset as an engineer. While contractors have many years of experience in construction work, engineers from design/inspection parties are required to have proper understanding of what is happening at the construction site and estimate what is likely to happen in the future. If an engineer is only familiar with basic applications, he/she will not be able to think deeply about the potential risks that may be harmful for the construction project. Although the engineer figures out the potential risks, if he/she cannot support his/her idea with solid background knowledge, then he/she will not be able to convince the contractors and lead everyone in the project into danger as well. Another key component I wish my students to have as engineers is practical knowledge. This one is more difficult to teach than theoretical knowledge at university and I see that most universities tend to rely on their co-op systems for this part. Practical experience during co-op is undoubtedly beneficial for students; nevertheless, not every engineering student can have successful co-op experience which provides them with enough engineering-related tasks. By explaining the connections between the two parts, students will be able to adapt theoretical knowledge in a practical sense as well.

The Roles and Responsibilities of the Student

Students must understand that their enthusiasm and dedication are the most important components of learning. Beside course notes, supplementary explanations will be provided during lectures; therefore, students are strongly recommended to attend all lectures for the full achievement of learning. Since my teaching will be based on the various feedbacks from students, presence of students during lectures will allow me to collect more information about the learning process of students. Attendance for laboratory sessions is not optional, but mandatory. If a student does not attend laboratory sessions, he/she will not be granted any grade for the labs. Lastly, the university places a very high value for academic integrity; hence, students must get themselves familiar with the university’s Code of Student Behaviour (COSB).

The Roles of the Instructor in This Process

As an instructor of a course, I will be responsible for providing lectures and formative/summative assessments. I will clearly present the scope of the course, in terms of learning objectives and intended learning outcomes; furthermore, I will explain the details of gradings with corresponding rubrics. If a student is not able to complete any assessments and he/she has a valid reason for it, I will consider providing a special accommodation. If a student has a theoretical question, which cannot be answered by TA, I will take my responsibility to provide an answer to him/her as best as I can. Since the laboratory is an important part of an engineering course, I will constantly monitor lab sessions and make sure that students are having satisfactory hands-on learning experiences. For situations like COVID-19 where students are unable to experience laboratory in-person, I will accommodate online lab meetings to provide sufficient learning experiences. Lastly, I will try to bring at least one guest speaker from industry to share the practical information to students.

A Description of the Variables Which Promote Learning

As previously mentioned, I will plan my lectures to present both theoretical and practical aspects of engineering. With theoretical concepts in lecture notes and my sharing of practical work experience from industry, I will try to keep reminding students that theory and practice are closely related. Practical explanations will be associated with some case study examples that require theoretical understanding to solve the problems. For example, if I am required to instruct students about density of soil and ground improvement techniques, I will first provide students with a theoretical explanation about density of soil. Once I finish the explanation of theories, I will share some of my construction inspection/testing experiences that are related to compaction evaluation of soils. Finally, I will introduce a case study example question that relates to both theory and my experience and solve it together. For students who are curious about the derivation of any equations from the course curriculum, I will prepare additional reference materials or my own derivation notes. I personally had difficulties finding resources about derivation of engineering equations during my undergraduate/graduate studies and I do not want my students to have the same difficulties. For students who wish to extend their learning beyond the curriculum, I will guide them to research further about the topic and encourage them to re-visit me and discuss their findings. The reason I want to do this is because these students might be interested in graduate studies in future. I will try to make sure our lab experiments are closely related to what we are learning during lecture; furthermore, I will try to provide background information about the experiments. For example, if my students are required to conduct the Standard Proctor Test, which determines the maximum dry density and optimum moisture content of soil, I will try to provide relevant practical explanations: when this test is needed, who conducts this test, why this test is needed, how the result of this test will be used, etc. Once students understand the purpose of the experiment, their motivation to learn will become higher. Since writing is another important requirement to become an engineer, I will work together with TAs to guide students to produce reports with high-quality writings. To ensure the effectiveness of learning and wellness of students, I will constantly check if most of the students are overloaded and try to flexibly adjust the amount of learning.