TEACHING PHILOSOPHY  

Finding ways to engage the students in their learning and cultivating the critical intellect is of greatest importance; especially in science where technology is constantly developing and our knowledge is expanding at exponential rates. My goal as a teacher is to assist the learner in developing the necessary skills to explore, analyze and interact with any subject matter and then to effectively communicate their ideas. My teaching philosophy includes the belief that adults learn best when they are fully engaged in the learning process. I find this easiest to establish through participation and discovery, especially when learners can connect what they are learning to their world around them. Thus I tend to use ‘real life’ examples, humour, discussion, presentations, visual aids, animations, games, and rewards to ignite scientific curiosity and promote critical thinking. To reach a larger audience and provide more options to the students, I have also become very comfortable with web-based teaching.

By connecting with the students and engaging them in their own learning, I feel students will be more willing to not only learn the material required in the course, but will also learn how to learn and how to think more effectively while looking for ways to see how concepts in science pervade into their daily lives.

However, to fully engage the students in their learning process, an environment of respect and trust must be established. This is accomplished by providing a highly developed syllabus of material, consistent testing mechanisms, and opportunities for teacher/student interactions in which feedback is elicited regularly and acted on as quickly as possible to provide an optimal learning environment. Clear objectives, succinct presentations and effective role modeling are important aspects to developing a respectful environment in which students can then focus on their learning. A focus on building congruity between learning objectives, class activities and assessment are essential. When my students leave the classroom, physical or virtual, I want them to feel the excitement of learning and a development of a broad range of learning and thinking skills that will pervade into all aspects of their education and further into their career choices.