Teaching Philosophy
I believe that every student possesses a great capacity for scientific inquiry and critical thinking, but that these capacities are often diminished by a lack of understanding on the part of educators and students themselves on how students learn most effectively. Over the past several years, I have committed significant time and energy to adopting teaching strategies to enhance student learning in all of my courses. My current approach to teaching and learning that evolved during this time can be best described as a student-centered evidence-based approach. This approach is an adaptive style of teaching in which the use of research-based best teaching practices, which are centered on the learning needs of the student, is coupled with assessment of student learning gains and experiences. Teaching practices may then be improved and refined over time based on the knowledge gained in these assessments. To adopt this new approach to teaching required a complete restructuring of my courses. As I provided my students the opportunity to show me their individual strengths and talents, I was amazed by their extraordinary capacity for learning. Most importantly as my students became more aware of and embraced their full learning potential, I observed considerable gains in their self-confidence and independence as learners.ÌýÌý My current and future goal as an educator is to continue to create an environment in which my students may realize and reach their full learning potential.
Courses
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