Teaching Statement

What inspired you to become a budding educator?

Being a victim of the Sri Lankan education system (the local GCE O/Ls and A/Ls), I had a difficult time to embrace how the system 'caged' students inside an unbreakable, unappreciative, opportunity-losing, hyper-competitive confinement. Thanks to my American Higher-Ed experience, I was able to regain my scholastic sanity, due to the flexibility and fairness encompassed in the system. Therefore, I am trying my best -- at least in smaller steps -- to induce a positive change in the Sri Lankan education system. 

How did teaching exposure start for you? What did it teach you?

My teaching experience mostly revolves around an academic, post-secondary environment. Initially, I obtained my first-aid in teaching through the experience of working as a Peer Teaching Assistant for an undergraduate statistics course in Northern Arizona University, a Public Research University in Arizona, USA.

Secondly, I started off a new chapter of teaching prospect as a lecturer, teaching foundation science and undergrad-level statistics courses, and preparing the students for a scholarly-but-fun mindset in Colombo Institute of Research & Psychology, a private higher-educational institute in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Being immersed in two drastically different cultures: Sri Lankan and American, I have gained experiences in extending my understanding of humans, coming from different backgrounds. My teaching experience enhanced this understanding further. Appreciating the diversity of students has become a core part of my teaching.

What are some areas of improvement in the teaching element of the Sri Lankan education system?

Primarily, I believe students should practice realizing the essence of subject matter. Sri Lankan education system has endorses memorization over understanding a certain concept, especially in high school examinations. This eventually produces students who are only able to memorize and relate it with the subject matter, instead of implementing pragmatic ways of grasping the concept and applying. As an example, students need to stick to word-by-word, exact concept-by-concept elements of the marking scheme. If students failed to do so, regardless of the fact whether they have provided the correct answer -- the examiner would award them no credit. 

When I started off to work in my motherland's academia, I noticed that students expected a traditional lecturer in me. In order to break this monotony, I incorporated a lot of communication and technology in classroom. It was a refreshing experience to students. For more interesting insight, please access Student Feedback to understand how my teaching method refreshed the students' lives. South Asian (specifically Sri Lankan) culture's one-way communication and limited student interaction in classroom, apart from the monotony of the teaching method, has brought in numerous caveats in providing a memorable, happy scholastic experience.

In parallel to the improvement of teaching methods, students’ skills should be improved. Out-of-the-box thinking, networking and collaborating are some of the spheres which need immediate improvement among student. Although Sri Lankan Culture -- in whole -- is quite collectivistic, I have noticed a constant abundance of individualistic culture among students. Being a student in Sri Lanka, educated for 2 decades, from elementary to high school, I have experienced this -- which extends up to the toxic peaks of getting bullied from students and unfortunately, from some teachers as well. This comes to a concern on which the attitude of Sri Lankan students and teachers should be improved in an optimistic way, where constant appreciation, motivation and constructive feedback is regarded.

How are you executing the theme of being "well on my way to become THAT educator"?

A. Interact, interact, interact

Instead of enriching the lecture presentation with wordy slides, I use an interactive approach not only to deliver the course content to the students, but also to understand who they are as human beings. I have witnessed that Sri Lankan students are a bit reluctant to interact with the lecturer, since they have been encultured to establish a barricade in between the lecturer and them, especially among the students who have followed the local syllabus (GCE O/Ls and A/Ls).

Therefore, I had to use a multiple tactics like scheduling personal meetings and providing them personalized plans as post-exam and overall class feedback. In these personal meetings, I would not straightaway get into the topic. Initially, I would try to get into student's world on what his/her dislikes and opinions are. It is important to acknowledge the fact that students have opinions and ideas, and as educators we must appreciate for their attempts. After such a personalized movement I initiated, students approached me over email to seek help -- which was pretty much a turning point in my life as an educator. For me, a class without interaction is probably like a living graveyards -- where the students would not express their ideas, due to the fear factor exerted by the educator's personality. 

To this interaction facet, I implemented my maiden attempt on co-creation with my students. One such example was providing the space to the students to brainstorm on finding a possible therapeutic venue to treat Alzheimer's. I was inspired to implement this co-creational idea by the freely available HHMI BioInteractive resource: Alzheimer's Disease: Piecing Together the Evidence. 

B. Make the students tech and eco-friendly

I would incorporate the digital version of the textbook with the slides in the presentation. Accordingly, I would teach the students to utilize the digitized version -- where blended learning comes into play. Nowadays, technology is the new fad to progress. It is always important to take note that Sri Lankan education system is still at an embryonic stage of using technology to teach students -- especially in STEM. It was an unexpected experience to most students. In fact, some students commented that using digitized version of the textbook is challenging, because of the non-tangible nature which apparently makes them 'feel' to study.

In order to face the challenge, I asked them to type short notes in the computer with the help of the e-textbook, print them and highlight important terminology/definitions afterwards -- filing them into a binder. In addition to this, I compiled a chapter section guide for students to make it easy for them to study using the textbook. In this way, the student gets used to technology and approaches to a scholarly status of being an undergraduate student. Also, in order to make them more motivated, I made the textbook content mandatory for exams -- so that they could not 'escape' the textbook and avoid relying on the slides. Apart from the technology, less-paper will always translate into less eco-pollution. Using technology in an efficient way is definitely eco-friendly and time-saving. 

C. Avoiding surface-teaching

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Surface-teaching (interestingly rhymes with surface tension) is a term I coined which refers to the sub-standard, traditional way of teaching the mere concept. Rather than teaching a mere concept, it is very important to verify whether the student really understood it. The degree of understanding drastically varies among students. While teaching, educators synchronously deal with multiple individuals with substantially different learning skills.  

However, a clarity of the concept taught should be embarked on student's mind, so that he/she feels confident of the upcoming lessons. The slides of a lecture presentation handled by me would mostly consist of pictures and less text, equipped with a proper color combination. I also incorporate tiny comic strips and "memes", interesting research facts and relevant anecdotes to make sure the students do not feel the lecture as a monotonous one.

Delving deeper into the content, I would also use interactive simulations, platforms and animations from classroom resources provided through several websites like HHMI (Howard Hughes Medical Institute) biointeractive, PBS LearningMedia, StatKey and etc. In order to enhance my lecture on certain sub-topic, I would open the venue to the students to ask open-ended questions, proceeding towards clarification of doubts and improving critical inquisitiveness -- most importantly, they could interrupt me if they don't get it. After they reach home, they would have to refer the interactive lecture notes I have compiled through Google Classroom, Padlet and Blendspace (in conjunction with the e-textbook), which they would eventually remind of what they learned in the class today. That's what I believe as a complete learning experience!