Teaching Philosophy

I believe in the importance of understanding student experiences and employing multiple teaching modalities to cater to differences in students’ learning styles and finding a pedagogical approach that works best for each student’s needs. For instance, I utilize a combination of lecture, hands-on demonstrations, in-class debates, face-to-face and online discussions, as well as other learning strategies and techniques. This approach helps to more effectively engage students regardless of their learning style. In addition, in each of my classes I tell the students that the syllabus is subject to change and that it is never set in stone. If I find that students are struggling with a particular concept, I am not afraid to allow for more time to ensure that students properly comprehend the material while still meeting the course’s learning objectives.

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In a similar manner, I work to encourage my students to adopt growth mindsets. I use two primary strategies to accomplish this. First, when providing feedback, I use language that avoids praising intelligence or effort as these sorts of comments do not allow for students to evaluate their work. Instead, I focus on their growth in achievement relative to previous assignments in order to highlight each student’s progress. Second, I allow students to have the opportunity to elaborate on their responses to questions during class sessions. This allows students to process course content at a deeper level and to reflect on their responses, which may enable them to work through any mistakes they make on their own. Likewise, having students elaborate on their answers to discussion questions allows me to more clearly see their thought process and correct misunderstandings. When teaching, I think it is necessary to consider students’ economic, cultural, and social backgrounds as influential in each individual’s ability to build knowledge. Research has shown that factors such as these can lead to inequalities in how students learn and engage with course content. However, having a growth mindset has been shown to temper the effects that structural factors have on academic ability.

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I apply similar concepts to my own pedagogical approach— that is, I continually modify my teaching in order to better reflect what my students want out of my classes. I routinely ask for, and embrace, student feedback regarding their enjoyment of the class, if there is anything they would like to see done differently, if there is a content area that they would like to hear more about, and just how they are doing in general. By communicating openly with students and using tools like mid-semester evaluations, I can work with my students in order to co-construct learning environments that are tailored to each class’s specific needs. Also, by continually using formative and summative assessment from my students, I can aid my students in further developing their academic abilities.