Teaching Philosophy

Concept of teaching and learning

Due to rapid technological growth and other socioeconomic factors in the industry, education and job requirements have become so competitive that it has become necessary for students to become efficient learners for life. Hence my core philosophy of teaching is based on the principle that a teacher is a facilitator of learning. I see my role as a provider of guidance and support to the students in achieving the required knowledge and skills through a well-orchestrated learning process. I provide this support by following a teaching style based on the pedagogical principles described below.

Hierarchical Learning:

I believe an effective way to teach a technical course is to introduce the fundamental concepts and ensure the students have a solid understanding of those ideas. The next logical step is to build up with increasing order of complexity. For example, the best way to learn a topic such as machine learning is to look at the basic concepts as linear models of classification and later understand harder topics such as support vector machines and artificial neural networks. I believe that a practical way to understand complex concepts is to understand their constituents first and then try to synthesize them to a broader scope.

Practical Assignments:

The students are usually interested and likely to pay attention when they take up practical and challenging problems. This problem-solving process helps them better understand the underpinnings of engineering principles. Examples of such challenges include assignments related to solving real-world problems through computer assignments and writing analytical reports. The primary skill for solving broader practical problems is to break them down into smaller components and resolve them separately.

Adaptation to Learning Styles:

Students have their learning rates and styles. Some may learn quickly by listening to lectures, some learn effectively through reading, and others learn only through practice. A possible approach to address these issues is to present the material through several different media, for example, a standard explanation of mathematical details, the use of visual representation such as block diagrams to help understand the big picture, and simple illustrations to demonstrate critical concepts. Another important factor I consider is to trade-off between my expectations of what to teach and the student’s expectations of what to learn.

Multi-modal Assessment:

Aside from in-class exams that test the ability to solve known problems in a given time, I also assign tasks that need critical thinking, programming, technical reading, and writing. A typical example of such a task is a group project in which a team of students solves a challenge. The process includes framing the problem statement, data collection, and developing a viable solution and corresponding computer code, followed by its implementation on the collected data and an analysis of the results. A typical example of such a project is developing a working classification model of existing benchmark datasets.

Written notes:

One of the principal pillars for the efficient delivery of course material is the amount of preparation that goes into building the course content and the delivery methodology. For my lectures, I prepare the content through clearly articulated handwritten notes. This practice helped me in providing quality classroom learning experiences for my students. Moreover, I usually share my notes and video recordings immediately after the lecture to enable students to review the material at their leisure.

Justification:

Generally, a professional with an undergraduate degree faces various challenges in the workplace. For example, in the early stages of their career, they require coding and problem-solving skills acquired through practice in various course assignments. Later in the career, as one gets to experience and exposure, the job responsibilities evolve. For example, one may have to work on the system-level design of products. At this stage, the fundamental knowledge acquired through a hierarchical learning process, for example, in courses such as signals and systems and control systems helps to grasp new concepts smoothly. The adaptive learning mechanism allows a student to develop a self-paced learning style which is very useful later in the career for embarking into challenging areas. Finally, a multi-modal assessment helps analyze student performance in various aspects and subsequently helps to identify vital areas that need extra attention and lead to the development of a well-rounded professional.