My teaching philosophy references sections from my Teaching Evaluations Summary to demonstrate the effectiveness of my approach.

Classroom Environment

Philosophy is clear thinking, and it is difficult to think clearly when you are scared. Students have a lot of things to be anxious about: being embarrassed in front of their peers, failing grades, future employment, and navigating life as independent adults. I aim to create a classroom environment that serves as a haven from some of those fears while building skills that will mitigate them. Students in my classes know that I respect and care for them, and that they are expected to engage respectfully and thoughtfully with their peers. I communicate this expectation in my syllabi as well as in class throughout the semester. This mindset has proven extremely effective in generating meaningful discussions and open communication, as evidenced by my course evaluations. (Sections 2.2, 2.3.5, and 2.4)

Student Learning

The goals of my courses change somewhat based on the content. For example, I aim for my introductory courses to be true survey courses, whereas a special topics course may have a particular theme. I design my syllabi with this in mind because students take courses for different reasons. In Introduction to Philosophy, for example, they are often deciding whether Philosophy might be a suitable course of study for them, so it is my goal to expose them to a variety of subfields.

In my courses, students only read one to two texts per week. Rather than assigning multiple chapters or an entire book, I have students only read material we can reasonably expect to cover during class. This approach has proven effective to expose students to a variety of ideas. (Section 2.3.1)

In class, students engage through multiple learning modes. My students thus far appreciate the mix of lecture and discussion. I limit lectures to providing context for our readings, and the discussions focus on identifying arguments, objections to those arguments, and counterarguments. These discussions are sometimes as one group, or we divide the readings among several small groups. We often engage in thought experiments, where each student gets to test their intuitions, then discuss with the group. I learn all students’ names and create activities to help them learn each other’s names as well. This is important because students report that they learn the most by listening to and engaging with their classmates. (Sections 2.3.5 and 2.4.2)

Course assignments are purposeful and serve the overall course goals. Assignments are always due after we have covered the material in class. Each student receives individual feedback on their assignments, helping them improve over the course of the semester. (Section 2.3)

Course Administration

I am competent in multiple Learning Management Systems, including Sakai, Canvas, and Moodle. My skills as an Army Logistician lend themselves well to course administration. I am passionate about using University resources to help students and worked with the writing centers at both Duke and NCSU to help students bolster the skills necessary to succeed in my courses. I also worked closely with the student disability offices at both universities to ensure all necessary accommodations were made for students in need. I believe that success as a philosophy instructor requires (1) knowledge of philosophy and (2) leadership skills. A good leader may not know the answer to everything, but they will know who to ask. (Section 2.1)

Mentorship

I provide individualized feedback to of my students, but have mentored individual students as well. Duke has a program where students may invite a faculty member to lunch at a campus dining facility once a semester, and I have been fortunate to participate in this program twice. One of the students was in ROTC, and I was uniquely positioned to provide her with insight about how to achieve both her academic and professional goals. I have also written multiple recommendation letters for students for fellowships and graduate programs. In class communications, I refer to students as “philosophers” or “ethicists” to reinforce the idea that they are becoming independent, powerful thinkers through the skills they develop in my courses. (Section 2.2)

Learning as an Instructor

Good teachers are also good students, and I find the best way to improve is by seeking feedback from my students and my peers. I reach out to colleagues regularly for teaching advice and resources and have incorporated this into my courses. Additionally, I solicit mid-semester feedback from students to help improve courses in real time, which has proven effective in creating an engaging and collaborative learning environment. (Section 3)