I believe each learner is unique, with unique needs, experiences, and goals and a one-size fits all approach to education does not assist students in their success.  Motivating and engaging students within the curriculum and learning, through a student-centered approach is at the core of my teaching philosophy, as shown in my statements below.

• Andragogy & Student-Centered Learning: As a facilitator of learning in higher education, it is extremely important to understand that adults learn much differently than children in K-12.  I utilize the learning concept of andragogy and the student-centered approach to facilitate learning throughout my curriculum and interactions with adult learners as each adult learner comes with their own unique experiences, traits, goals, learning styles, motivations, and needs. This may include learning through hands-on activities/applied-learning, video or audio accompanied by written script, learning through reflection, or giving students a choice of how they would like to complete the assignment to align with their learning styles. 

• Student Assessments: I set high expectations for myself and for the students. One of my goals in teaching and learning is to assist students in achieving mastery of a topic or subject using continuous learning, which allows students to continuously improve upon learning assessments to reach mastery level. My philosophy is that it is a disservice to learning if students are not provided a safe space within the classroom to make mistakes, learn from them, and provide opportunities to achieve mastery.

• Skill Building: Another goal of mine in teaching and learning is to assist students in building the life and career skills needed, such as problem-solving and critical thinking, through applied learning, in-depth discussions, and reflection of learning.  

• Universal Design Learning (UDL) & Inclusion: A goal for my curriculum is to design for accessibility and inclusion, meaning the material provided to students allows students to view the materials in different ways based on their learning styles or accessibility needs such as providing an assignment in written, audio, and visual ways.   

• Continuous Improvement: I am a firm believer in continuous improvement, and I take students feedback seriously.  Students are provided with multiple platforms throughout a course to provide feedback.  I utilize a pre-course survey to ensure I understand any student needs or questions coming into the course; I utilize a mid-term survey to understand students perspectives and experiences of what we should keep doing, quit doing, and/or start doing within the course; and at the end of the semester I utilize the department provided instructor/course evaluations as well as a post-course reflection survey I provide students to allow an opportunity to provide detailed feedback or improvement suggestions. At the end of each semester, I reflect upon the data collected and make improvements as needed to the course or my teaching style. I also ensure I am keeping up with industry trends and engaging myself in professional development to ensure the content is up to date and relevant.