Teaching Philosophy

My statement of teaching on Climate Science, Geology, Paleontology, Evolution of the Earth, Stratigraphy, Sedimentology (Course Code: Geo 4721)

Each time that I am standing in a class and pointing at the chalkboard, writing new lecture notes for different courses and exams, or sitting with an individual in my office, I try to keep the following thought process (questions) in my mind.

• Am I being clear and concise?, Are we being critical?, Is my approach working?

1. Am I being clear and concise?

Speaking and writing clearly and concisely is essential. I often use diagrams and demonstrations to expose an essential causal mechanisms and feedback in different courses I teach. For example, I typically explain Climate Science (Geo 4721) by showing a flowchart representing climate drivers and executing several demonstrations of the mechanisms and phenomenon with small datasets. Often students adopt my diagrams and demonstrations, or create their own; this serves as feedback that the students are benefiting from this approach. When I sense that students are not sufficiently understanding a certain causal process, I may reteach or reiterate that material from a new “viewpoint.”

Given that the earth’s climate have changed in the past and will change in the future. I adopted a flexible philosophical approach to teach Climate science, hypotheses about climate change, and how man’s effects on climate figure prominently in the news and popular culture. I designed both theoretical and practical aspect of Climate Science. This introduces students to science that describes the major forces or drivers, feedbacks, cycles and oscillations that create climate at local and global levels. Changes in climate over the geological as well as historic time is studied, and impacts on biodiversity and man is being discussed. This concept will expose students to appreciate Climate Science as a tool to familiarize themselves with how modern science is practiced and how evidence is assessed by the scientific community. The Missouri University of Science and Technology mission also explicitly states that students should demonstrate an understanding of global issues and challenges and be able to formulate solutions to global and regional problems. I teach in a class in which the capacity is 34 – 40 to ensure a concise and friendly atmospheric space for teaching (Class size depends on discussions, intensive review of student writing and computer lab availability).

2. Are we being critical?

This course aims to cover parts of climate science that are well established, differentiate them clearly from parts of climate science where genuine uncertainty exists and use these contrasts to illustrate the scientific method, culture of science and science practices of the 21st Century. I designed the following specific course objectives in order to engage and:

• Convey to students an appreciation for the complexity and functioning of the earth’s climate systems;
• Acquaint students with contemporary climate issues and understand why developing solutions to climate problems requires knowledge of scientific facts while at the same time accounting for cultural, social and economic considerations;
• Empower students to think critically about climate science and how decisions about carbon emissions and other human activities might impact future climate.

At the end of the course the assessable learning outcomes is to: Demonstrate the ability to acquire and apply scientific information to reach well justified conclusions including, a base of knowledge in a scientific field (Climate science) for the students. This also, include: Arguing against common misconceptions and respond in a civil yet factual manner to a climate skeptic; and recognize the interconnectedness of scientific disciplines, specifically physics, chemistry and biology as relevant to climate science. On the long run, students should be able to understand the nature of scientific inquiry as a means to increasing the knowledge of the natural world and as an approach to problem solving. In addition, this will demonstrate a critical understanding of the role and impact of natural science on society by explaining the importance of societal support for scientific research (Geo 4721 engage students in critical thinking about contemporary issues in climate science).

3. Is my approach working?

My methods of instruction is by discussions, computer laboratories, take home examinations (as formative experiences as well as evaluations), in class and homework exercises and problem sets, lectures. In addition, to engage the students in problem solving, I adopted these methods of evaluation: 2 midterm exams (30%) (Including take home portions), research paper (15%) and Class presentation (10%). This also includes, daily activities (30%) (In class and homework problems) and final exam (15%). I grade student according to the following scales: A= 90-100%, B= 80-89%, C=70-79%, D 60-69%, F 59% and below. As an instructor I have the right to curve the grading scale, as needed.

Finally, I find that different students, and different groups of students, learn in different ways. Some students or groups seem to prefer high-level overviews, while others want to know exactly how every component contributes to the greater design. Some prefer many small practice problems while others enjoy working on larger projects. And some students prefer working in pairs while others perform best on their own. I facilitate these differences among students and groups by remaining observant and flexible. During every individual consultation, I listen to the student’s concerns and devise a way to best address that student’s needs. This may involve drawing on a whiteboard (for diagrams and other visualizations), describing a concept with an analogy from their prior experiences, or writing models with them and testing their real understanding. Additionally, I allow students to resubmit homework assignments, work in groups on the more difficult tasks. I remain observant and flexible with groups of students by allowing them to vote on deadlines and teaching approaches (such as more or fewer demonstrations).

Moreover, attendance is expected and participation in classroom discussions, lab activities and timely completion of assignments is a requirement of this course. I do not accept dishonesty in such academic practices as assignments, examinations, or other academic work such as any form of plagiarism or cheating during an exam. It is my philosophy that teaching is both about helping students grow as learners and increasing their knowledge about a subject. Continually asking these three thought process stated above (questions) keeps my focus on both of these aspects of teaching.