TEACHING PHILOSOPHY

In teaching, I believe in three principles: hard work, hands-on-experience, and stimulate critical thinking rather than memorizing. 

1. "I believe that the optimal outcome of the learning process is achieved only when both the students and the instructor work hard during the course."

I expect students in my courses to dedicate significant hours to completing homework, assignments, and studying for both formative and summative assessments. When students work hard, it motivates me to work even harder, and I welcome that challenge. For example, I invest considerable time in developing original homework rather than relying on standard problems, and I make it a priority to always be available to help students with questions. As I enjoy teaching, I often meet with students outside of regular office hours and respond to their emails in the evening. I believe my mission as a teacher is to guide students through the difficult areas of the subject rather than oversimplifying concepts to make students more comfortable and reduce my out-of-class working hours.

2. "I believe that hands-on experience helps students understand theory in practice."

In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice; however, in practice, there is. I believe that hands-on experience is crucial for subjects like marketing. Understanding fundamental marketing theories and concepts is straightforward, but hands-on experience reinforces the knowledge gained. In my undergraduate Principles of Marketing course, I encouraged all students to participate in marketing activities during Entrepreneurship Week on campus. They were divided into groups and engaged in various marketing activities on campus, applying core marketing principles such as product, price, promotion, and place. The following week, all groups presented their experiences and explained how they applied what they had learned in class.

In my advanced undergraduate marketing course, I proposed empirical projects that analyzed the marketing strategies of global brands, comparing those strategies from historical and contemporary perspectives. This allowed students to gather information by interviewing company representatives, collecting data from corporate websites and annual reports, and gathering information from newspaper clippings. During project presentations, students discussed their findings, related them to the module's content, learned new materials that augmented or illuminated the lectures, and, most importantly, performed hands-on activities to demonstrate the topics covered in class. These activities always prompted lively discussions, and students' understanding of the phenomena became more nuanced through two-way communication, providing everyone with the opportunity to speak.

3. "I believe in the power of understanding, which generates critical thinking rather than mere memorization."

I believe that students should be well-equipped not only for assessments like quizzes, tests, and exams, but also for applying their knowledge after completing their studies. I strongly believe that three to five years post-graduation, students are likely to forget specific concepts and fundamental approaches to solving standard problems. For instance, they might forget the details of frameworks such as Porter’s Five Forces, SWOT analysis, or the basic principles of the marketing mix. However, if they truly understand these concepts during the course, they are less likely to forget them and will derive more practical value from this understanding than from memorizing and subsequently forgetting the concepts and approaches.