Teaching Philosophy
In my teaching, I use practices that increase equity, are based in learning science, and engage students in a collaborative learning environment. This philosophy is grounded in two principles, described below, that emphasize collaboration and accessibility.
Teaching and learning is a collaborative effort between students, their peers, and their professor.
To this end, I believe that effective teaching includes opportunities for collaboration at all stages of the learning process. When students begin learning new information, collaboration with their peers fosters metacognitive awareness, helping them identify the material they don’t know. For example, in my research methods course, students complete shared annotations for their readings. In this activity, students are asking and answering questions, and providing extra resources and examples. This process supports students in their first attempt at the reading and also serves as a resource for studying later.
In the classroom, collaborative learning can be formal, through discussions or small group activities, or more informal, by creating opportunities for students to work together and with the professor. For example, in my statistics course, class time is structured in a way that students have several chances to practice the skills they are learning during and after short lectures. This practice time is often completed with peers and gives me the opportunity to work individually with students who are struggling. Students benefit from working with each other by either teaching someone else, or hearing explanations of concepts or practices from a different perspective.
Collaborative learning is also important in informing my teaching practice. Student input is fundamental to the design and implementation of my courses. For example, I have students complete an exam wrapper where they reflect on their exam preparation and performance, and rate how well different activities prepared them to answer the exam questions. Finally, collaboration with my colleagues further informs my teaching practices, through teaching oriented conference attendance, participation in an informal peer teaching group, and engaging with colleagues outside my institution and discipline through The Novice Professor (a teaching blog I founded and regularly contribute to).
Learning should be made accessible to students through practices that increase equity and are based on learning science.
In order to best serve students who come to college with varied life experiences, it is important to identify barriers we may unwittingly adopt in our classrooms in order to increase equity and foster student success. One such barrier is the financial burden of higher education. To help overcome this barrier, I use free open educational resources in nearly every class I teach. This allows every student to participate in the course from day one. For example, my General Psychology course uses an open source ebook supplemented with videos and news articles to engage students with diverse perspectives and sources of information. Other barriers are less noticeable, such as the accessibility of information within a syllabus. For some students, the typical jargon found in syllabi can be difficult to navigate and understand. To help students locate the information they need within my syllabi, I have started to use questions such as “where can I go for help” and “what textbook do I need for class”. Another invisible barrier can be found in our course policies and the extent to which we offer flexibility to students who ask, forgetting about students who don’t know to ask, or for whom asking for exceptions is outside of their cultural norms. One way I attempt to help overcome this barrier is to offer every student one no questions asked late pass. Students get extra time to complete the assignment, regardless of the reason, without any grading penalty.
The other way in which I strive to make learning more accessible is through practices that are backed by evidence. As I mentioned previously, I regularly attend teaching conferences such as the National Institute for the Teaching of Psychology. Participation at these conferences increase my exposure to research about teaching, as well as activities, techniques, and curriculum ideas that have been successful in other classrooms. I also seek evidence for effective learning in my own courses through pre- and post-assessments and research projects focused on teaching and learning. For example, this year I have developed a new approach for my general psychology class with a colleague at another institution and we are collecting data on the effectiveness of this approach in meeting learning outcomes throughout the semester.
Teaching and learning is a collaborative effort between students, their peers, and their professor.
To this end, I believe that effective teaching includes opportunities for collaboration at all stages of the learning process. When students begin learning new information, collaboration with their peers fosters metacognitive awareness, helping them identify the material they don’t know. For example, in my research methods course, students complete shared annotations for their readings. In this activity, students are asking and answering questions, and providing extra resources and examples. This process supports students in their first attempt at the reading and also serves as a resource for studying later.
In the classroom, collaborative learning can be formal, through discussions or small group activities, or more informal, by creating opportunities for students to work together and with the professor. For example, in my statistics course, class time is structured in a way that students have several chances to practice the skills they are learning during and after short lectures. This practice time is often completed with peers and gives me the opportunity to work individually with students who are struggling. Students benefit from working with each other by either teaching someone else, or hearing explanations of concepts or practices from a different perspective.
Collaborative learning is also important in informing my teaching practice. Student input is fundamental to the design and implementation of my courses. For example, I have students complete an exam wrapper where they reflect on their exam preparation and performance, and rate how well different activities prepared them to answer the exam questions. Finally, collaboration with my colleagues further informs my teaching practices, through teaching oriented conference attendance, participation in an informal peer teaching group, and engaging with colleagues outside my institution and discipline through The Novice Professor (a teaching blog I founded and regularly contribute to).
Learning should be made accessible to students through practices that increase equity and are based on learning science.
In order to best serve students who come to college with varied life experiences, it is important to identify barriers we may unwittingly adopt in our classrooms in order to increase equity and foster student success. One such barrier is the financial burden of higher education. To help overcome this barrier, I use free open educational resources in nearly every class I teach. This allows every student to participate in the course from day one. For example, my General Psychology course uses an open source ebook supplemented with videos and news articles to engage students with diverse perspectives and sources of information. Other barriers are less noticeable, such as the accessibility of information within a syllabus. For some students, the typical jargon found in syllabi can be difficult to navigate and understand. To help students locate the information they need within my syllabi, I have started to use questions such as “where can I go for help” and “what textbook do I need for class”. Another invisible barrier can be found in our course policies and the extent to which we offer flexibility to students who ask, forgetting about students who don’t know to ask, or for whom asking for exceptions is outside of their cultural norms. One way I attempt to help overcome this barrier is to offer every student one no questions asked late pass. Students get extra time to complete the assignment, regardless of the reason, without any grading penalty.
The other way in which I strive to make learning more accessible is through practices that are backed by evidence. As I mentioned previously, I regularly attend teaching conferences such as the National Institute for the Teaching of Psychology. Participation at these conferences increase my exposure to research about teaching, as well as activities, techniques, and curriculum ideas that have been successful in other classrooms. I also seek evidence for effective learning in my own courses through pre- and post-assessments and research projects focused on teaching and learning. For example, this year I have developed a new approach for my general psychology class with a colleague at another institution and we are collecting data on the effectiveness of this approach in meeting learning outcomes throughout the semester.