Teaching philosophy: As an educator, my role is to encourage, facilitate, and support students' learning, and assist them in reaching the goals they have, not just for an individual unit, but for their studies and future careers as well.

To do this I focus on three questions:

What: the content, presented clearly, and mindful of students' learning preferences

Why: frequently linking content to unit outcomes, assignment requirements and their study goals

How: tips for how to study the material or apply it (including detailed assignment materials)

Lectures apply Gagné's nine principles for instruction through the following 

• capturing learners’ attention

• informing students of the objectives of the unit, and each week's module with a concept map that links the sections of that week's material with broader objectives of the unit and students' study goals, as well as a capstone 'outcome' - a reflection or summation document for students to complete. 

• Breaking up material into small, manageable sections with a clear aim for each

• Each section follows the TEA model

  • Theory to provide context and intellectual background

  • Example to make concepts specific and relevant to students' experiences/ practical

  • Activity - self-directed learning and active learning applied

  • Resources and further material for students to explore in their own time, facilitating individual and intrinsic learning preferences

Other teaching principles applied

• Weekly discussion boards provide a peer-learning environment for online students that mirrors the in-class discussions. 

• End-of-week reflection questions to summarise the content and encourage students to engage with the material deeply (how and why)

• All material is presented in multiple ways and provided at the earliest opportunity to facilitate asynchronous learning and different learning preferences. For instance, lecture slides, recordings of each section of material as it is presented in the in-person lecture, plus the opportunity to attend the in-person lectures.

• Weekly 'welcome' announcements reminding students of important aspects of the unit (assessments, timetabling etc), providing encouragement, and keeping students well-informed about their studies.

• Drop-in online sessions for students to ask questions about assignments, and engage with the discussion questions with their peers. This provides online students the same opportunities as in-person students to speak directly to the lecturer (me) and their peers.