Teaching Philosophy

Promoting Student Motivation to Learn

I promote student motivation to learn by 1) emphasizing content purpose and value and 2) providing student autonomy to personalize their education.

When I was in my third year of pharmacy school, I realized that, unlike my peers, my interests were not in practicing as a pharmacist forever—I wanted to conduct research that would make pharmacists’ jobs more effective and safer. Even though I was interested in graduate school, I still had to take clinical courses to earn my PharmD degree and license. My overall motivation to participate in these courses was low… until I met a faculty member who encouraged me to speak with my professors and tailor the experiences to better suit my interests. Although I ultimately wanted to pass and graduate, I enjoyed the courses more when I saw their value to my role as a future researcher. I had autonomy to personalize my education and was motivated and excited to matriculate through the PharmD program. I continue to practice part-time as a pharmacist for the same reasons—I see the value to my research, patients, and the professional community. My teaching philosophy and views on student motivation are heavily influenced by my own experiences as a student, evidence based practices, and desire to contextualize purpose and value while having autonomy to personalize education.

I emphasize purpose and value by aligning content with students’ expectations of what they will need to know as a future professional. In addition to leveraging my own experiences as a pharmacist, I obtain student expectations through various feedback loops including focus groups, informal conversations within student organizations, and student surveys. Within the profession of pharmacy there are numerous external motivators and stakeholders that influence student behaviors— desire to pass national board certification exams, having knowledge sufficient for the needs of a future job or residency, and patient safety concerns and legal ramifications for lacking knowledge or making errors. Within the classroom, I recognize the importance of those looming extrinsic motivators. As a licensed and practicing pharmacist, I am qualified to prioritize content in a way that will meet the students’ career needs and goals. In Spring 2021 I served as the teaching assistant in a Pharmacy Law and Regulation course. I held informal conversations with student members of the Kappa Psi Pharmaceutical Fraternity and ascertained their primary goal for the course--attaining knowledge sufficient to pass the law exam required for licensure. With the students’ purpose in mind, the course coordinator and I aligned national competencies established by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy with the course, module, lecture, and assessment learning objectives. We compiled this information into an “index” that was available to students to promote their self-determined extrinsic motivation in the course.

Beyond the external motivators, I also motivate students’ purpose and value intrinsically by fostering their sense of belonging in the profession of pharmacy. Just as I am qualified to share my experiences as a practicing pharmacist, students have experiences as interns, technicians, and humans that are valuable to share. While providing a guest lecture to students in a Safety and Quality in the Medication Use System course, I asked students to share their experiences and struggles in meeting expectations of the health care system. Students shared their perspectives from various areas of pharmacy (e.g., community, inpatient, managed care) and we engaged in a discussion as colleagues about what we, as a profession, can do to address the burnout and fatigue that impacts our workers. Within the Pharmacy Law and Regulation course, I designed an assignment asking the students to write a letter to their legislator on a pharmacy issue of their choosing. Although they were not required to send the letter, the assignment fostered the students’ sense of belonging in the profession of pharmacy by asking them to serve as an advocate on a topic they were passionate about and reiterated that their voices and perspectives were valuable.

Another way I promote student motivation is by providing students autonomy in their learning experiences. As an educator, I align content with student interests to enhance participation, attention, retention and positive cognitive outcomes. Before the start of the Pharmacy Law and Regulations course, I sent out a survey to enrolled students and asked them what time they would like their assignments to be due: 12:00 pm, 7:00 pm, or 11:59 pm. Students identified their preferred assignment deadline and often provided justification—citing work schedules or family obligations, personal preferences or even indifference. By responding to the survey, students provided their input into the structure and organization of the course. In the same course, students were also permitted to “drop” their lowest grade on their weekly quiz assessments. Although there were students who completed every quiz regardless of their ability to eliminate one, some students planned their “dropped” grade in advance based on other work, school, or personal schedules. The course coordinator and I emphasized that it was ultimately the student’s choice to prioritize their semester. Just like the legislator letter assignment, I also encourage students to personalize their education by completing assignments on topics of interest. As part of an assignment on pharmacist licensure and requirements for continued education, students were asked to complete a “Continuing Education” course on any topic of their choosing. The objective of the assignment was for students to locate and navigate resources they could use as a future professional—I wanted the topic to be something that they would enjoy to enhance retention and completion of the assignment.

Fostering Inclusive Practices to Make Learning Accessible to All

I foster inclusive learning and inclusive practices by 1) cultivating students’ sense of academic belonging and 2) iterating transparency and clearly communicating expectations.

I am the first in my immediate family to attend college. As a first-generation college student, I navigated my academic institution’s assumptions regarding their students’ backgrounds and prior knowledge. During my first college class at the University of Pittsburgh, my course schedule included a biology “Recitation,” and I had no idea what the word even meant let alone what to expect for the weekly meeting. I regretfully didn’t know how to take advantage of faculty “office hours” until my second year of pharmacy school. When I sat in my professor’s office in pharmacy school discussing graduate education, I told her that I wasn’t sure I could afford four more years of student loans. She shook her head and told me, “Taylor… in graduate school they pay YOU.” My experiences navigating the academic system influence my teaching philosophy and remind to critically examine my own assumptions and utilize inclusive practices to make learning accessible to all students.

I foster inclusive learning by emphasizing and rewarding academic belonging in the classroom. Just as I encourage motivation by propagating students’ sense of belonging in the profession of pharmacy, I similarly foster inclusive learning by propagating students’ sense of belonging in the academic community. I bring my own set of experiences to the classroom, and I validate the range of backgrounds and prior knowledge of my students. I recognize that some students may have years of practice in various sects of pharmacy while others have none. Students from all experience levels are invited to share their experiences and encouraged to participate in the course community, whether asking questions or sharing unique experiences so that others can learn. I have achieved this sense of academic belonging and shared learning in my courses by carefully constructing discussion boards in the Pharmacy Law and Regulations course. I jumpstarted the discussion by providing sample posts and introductory questions--asking students to provide their input on questions that I had as a pharmacy professional. Students used the discussion board to apply course concepts to their experiences working in pharmacy, ask their colleagues questions, or relay pharmacy law news. Academic belonging is crucial to my philosophy of teaching and learning. I share my valuation and importance of this sense of community by assigning points for participation.

I also foster inclusive learning by iterating transparency and clearly communicating my expectations to students. I recognize that hidden curricula and inlaid assumptions may inhibit student outcomes—just as my freshman biology instructor assumed I would know what a “recitation” was and how to prepare. I utilize the syllabus to establish common understanding of course norms at the beginning of a semester—from due dates and other assignment guidelines, pre-requisite expectations, to my open-door communication policy. I dedicate time to explaining the syllabus and, in Pharmacy Law and Regulations course I recorded a video to walk students through the document and the course website. The course coordinator and I emphasized how much we valued the syllabus by providing a “Syllabus Quiz” for extra credit. While planning for the Pharmacy Law and Regulations course, the course coordinator explained that students previously did not utilize the office hours hosted by teaching assistants. I wanted to transform the session into a resource that would be useful for students and leveraged teaching and learning resources provided by the University of Wisconsin-Madison Delta Program to create a new “guided discussion session.” I advertised the session in the syllabus and accompanying video and over 40 students participated the first week. I attempted to mitigate common student assumptions… that they could only attend if they had questions… and instead invited everyone to participate in learning activities such as a completing a worksheet together via a Google Doc or playing review games. Throughout the semester, students continued to attend the sessions and shared via email and course reviews that they appreciated the time and effort put into these "transformed" office hours.