Teaching
- In the spring 2009, I was honored to receive the Lerner Student Choice Teaching Award. This award was especially important to me, since my students made the selection.
- I also received the 2009 Lerner Outstanding Teaching Award, which was selected by a committee of my peers, based on
my achievements.
- I received the 2007 Exemplary Use of Technology in Teaching Award.
My
Teaching Philosophy
Learning. When I teach a class, my goal to create an effective learning experience for the student. "Learning" is the incorporation of material into a student's long term memory. A student's performance on an exam, therefore, is a less valid measure of learning than how the person would do on the exam six months after the class is over.
Coverage. In my opinion, college courses too often sacrifice learning in the name of “coverage.”
A professor must therefore focus on the material students should know six months
after the class is over.
Making Mistakes. No one ever hits a homerun the first time they bat or parallel parks the first time they drive. To effectively learn, students must be allowed to make mistakes.
Students must digest and think about how the material relates to them, and apply course concepts to a real world problem.
Teaching. Students learn best when actively applying class concepts to solve a problem.
Students are expected to complete class exercises that allow them to exercise their knowledge of the material. Focusing class time on a problem that provides a context for the course’s learning objectives encourages students to relate the material to something tangible, and (hopefully) better incorporate the material into their long term memory.