During my undergraduate studies, I was inspired by some of my professors. Their teaching strategies and problem-solving methods on specific engineering problems made me realize that it is important to encourage students and to make them curious about engineering. The inspirations taught me that engineering courses are not as boring as my classmates used to think. Because I realized that engineering teaching materials have strong theoretical foundations. And, I have sought to find easier ways to learn and to teach by using all types of materials.
In my teaching philosophy, student-centered teaching method has been my main technique. The topics I teach in my classes create waves in the class atmosphere and these waves get bigger and bigger at the end of the semester. Eventually, I can observe the improvements in measuring the distance between the first and the last wave. Moreover, effective teaching is an essential process in learning. Since there is not only one correct method for teaching, in my opinion, a teacher should try various ways to reach out to the students. For example, while some students prefer to follow the teacher through whiteboard, others want to learn from technological applications such as PowerPoint presentations or note-taking methods by using a tablet. I mostly prefer taking notes on a tablet an reflect it to the class since it is one of the most visually observable ways, and easier and quicker way to make some adjustments such as changing fonts, colors, even add photos. Also, it allows sharing the class notes with students in a desirable format (as a PDF or Word document).
I enjoy making experiments in civil engineering discipline. I also like to make my students excited about that. During my teaching period in Turkey, I let my students make their hands dirty with all materials (of course all the safety requirements were met). I created student groups for the experiment. They enjoyed it when they put their hands into construction materials such as cement or soil when we were trying to make concrete. After 28 days (it is the suggested waiting time to test the strength of the concrete) we broke each group's concrete and announced the winner.
In conclusion, teaching engineering related subjects should not be complicated. We have lots of opportunities such as technology and laboratory compared to our previous counterparts. When we use these opportunities wisely, we can educate our students well. Because they are our future and are the people who are going to improve our civilization.