Self-Assessment

In every course I teach, my goal is to provide my students with a supportive environment that challenges them to acquire skills that will benefit them in their future careers. During my first few years at Florida Southern, however, I struggled to connect with my students and also to explain my grading system so that everyone understood it. This is apparent from many of my student evaluations after 2017-2018. Below are some of those comments from my student evaluations. 

These comments refer to me needing to be better at connecting with my students, explaining concepts in more than one way, keeping the advanced students engaged, and explaining my grading system more clearly. Since the 2019-2020 academic year, I have now become successful in connecting with my students and in getting all of them to understand my grading system. I have also been successful in designing and delivering new courses. I aim to be approachable, treat students with respect, and to bring the best out of my students by challenging them to think beyond their current abilities. 

However, being a professor is as much about learning to teach as it is about teaching to learn. There will always be room for improvement. I need to keep thinking of ways at making my lectures more engaging and student focused. I need to continue learning new teaching methods and techniques that might increase my teaching efficacy or better my student's experiences. I hold my students to high standards of academic excellence in all my courses and incorporate higher-level critical thinking into my lectures. I am committed to continual refinement as I seek to be the best professor I can be in order to make a positive and consequential impact on our community. 

I have taken many steps forward (and a few steps backward) over the 5.5 years at Florida Southern in my response to student feedback. There are two questions on the student evaluations that speak to whether one is a good teacher. They are the questions that ask whether the student would take another class with the professor, and whether the student would recommend the professor. These two questions are viewed at "the most important" among faculty at Florida Southern.

The following line graph shows the overall mean scores across each semester for two questions:

Q1: Based on the course experience, I would take another course with this professor.

Q2: Based on the quality of teaching, I would recommend this professor to other students.

The question is rated from 1 - 7, with 7 being strongly agree, 4 being neutral, and 1 being strongly disagree. 

The slight decrease in mean scores in the fall 2021 semester is mainly from two sections of statistics, where I was still learning how to use the SPSS statistical software and needing to create engaging activities using that software. Those sections were in the making at the time. 

I am constantly relying on feedback from my students and colleagues to guide my teaching. I regularly evaluate my courses and reflect upon my performance after every lecture. I always modify previously written notes to make them more effective and interesting to students for use in the next iteration. Each semester I make adjustments, additions, subtractions, and modifications to my materials and the problems I use for assessments. Some adjustments are in response to student feedback while others are from research-backed methodologies concerning student learning. We as educators need to constantly be looking for new ways to connect with our students and to provide them with engaged and experiential learning.

After I started using specifications grading, I noticed that the process of reassessment enabled students to progress naturally through their learning cycle at their own pace. At first, I expected my students to initiate reassessment opportunities in my office hours. There were numerous students that earned an A in my course due to their efforts initiating reassessments outside of class. While I was pleased to witness that success as a result of the students' hard work, it was not sustainable for me to provide that much availability. In the following semester, I changed the structure to instead include frequent, short assessments in class. I still offer my office hours for reassessment, but primarily for students who are struggling, behind in the course, absent, etc. 

When I do reach out to a student who is struggling, I prefer to do so via Discord. My aim in this message is to set up a one-on-one meeting with the student, where I can describe how mistakes are part of the learning process, and that when they need help they could come to my office or send me a message in Discord. Below is one student email of appreciation of my efforts in consistently reaching out to him.

After my third year review of materials, it was suggested to me to change how my grading system was presented to my students. In particular, to change from no partial credit to a points-based system. Although this introduces some partial credit, by assigning every problem up to 3 points reduces its effect. I have found that presenting my grading in this way has indeed been more familiar to my students and thereby requires less effort and energy from me in explaining how it works. Using specifications grading has enabled me to better connect with my students by becoming an ally in their learning process rather than someone with whom to barter points.

Before 2019, I often would wait until the last minute before leaving for class. I believe this may have been a reason for my lack of connection with my classes. Since the COVID-19 semesters, I have attained the habit of leaving early enough so that I can get to class with enough time to not only set up my materials but also to welcome students as they come into the classroom. I have noticed that I have become more candid with my students by doing this consistently, and that the students have been more willing to open up. Below is a note from two students showing appreciation after a semester of Elementary Statistics.

Overall, my reviews from students have been positive and constructive, though sometimes mixed. The first semester I taught statistics, the ratings were among the lowest I have ever received. I have since overcome many of those initial challenges, but it has taken years, involving changes and adjustments to both my lecture materials and the grading system I use. 

Due to the cumulative nature of mathematics, it is profitable for students to understand fundamental concepts from previous courses. It is an unfortunate truth that many students have had poor experiences with mathematics prior to college. Success in science derives from a firm understanding of fundamental concepts rather than by rote memorization, and I promote this mindset while stressing the importance of asking questions. All my pedagogical strategies are dedicated to increasing student motivation and comprehension, and to helping students observe the beauty of mathematics. I look forward to continuing to work with others in my search for applications, materials, and ideas that will make my courses more enjoyable, interesting, and meaningful for my students.

I end this teaching portion of this website with comments I have received in my evaluations that reflect my ability to connect with students or reflect an appreciation for my teaching efforts.