My overarching philosophy as a teacher is to consider the perspectives of students when designing and teaching courses and working with students. I aim to create an inclusive environment that gives students confidence that they are prepared to be engineers with technical and professional skills. I have been able to refine my philosophy through experiences in course design and instruction. My core teaching principles are below:
Teaching effectively begins with aligning the course design with the most important learning outcomes.
Project-based learning is an authentic engineering learning context that prepares students for their future careers in which they will solve open-ended problems.
By scaffolding knowledge and difficulty, students can advance their engineering skills with support.
CPE 350 Capstone 1
I designed and piloted a module to teach sociotechnical engineering skills during an undergraduate circuits course by combining technical knowledge with realistic engineering examples. The project was done in collaboration with Dr. Susan Lord from the University of San Diego and Dr. Cindy Finelli from the University of Michigan, along with graduate students from 7 institutions and funded by the National Science Foundation IUSE grant: Integrating Sociotechnical Issues into Electrical Engineering Starting with Circuits. My module was selected as one of three to be implemented and distributed to Circuits courses.
Instructor of record for an online Computer Architecture course with 15 students. Course topics included fundamental concepts and techniques in computational design, including labs to implement logic circuit design, digital systems, and processor architecture.
Instructor of record for and online Systems Thinking and Approach course. Course topics included the process of systems thinking and approaches to analyze engineering problems.
For two semesters, I led a recitation session for Virginia Tech's Global STEM Practice course, focused on engineering cultural competencies. The course was taught before a two-week program abroad where students learning about international engineering practices, which I co-led.