TEACHING PHILOSOPHY

PHILOSOPHY

My teaching philosophy is centered on two core beliefs that every student is (i) inherently capable of mastering new course material and (ii) that they have a unique perspective to bring to bear on subject matter.

Drawing from learner-centered teaching frameworks, my goal is not to transmit information to students but to facilitate opportunities for students to engage with the course materials in ways that are meaningful to them. For me, teaching human geography is about helping students draw connections from everyday experiences and local actions to larger political, economic, cultural, and environmental processes.

My goal is always for students to leave a course as more globally informed citizens, able to use critical thinking, effective communication, and information literacy skills to better analyze and engage their world. I believe that building relationships to create safe, inclusive environments is the cornerstone to achieving these goals.

I view effective teaching to be a professional skill that must be constantly worked upon, and accordingly pursue professional development opportunities in order to further develop my pedagogical approach and methods. At the UA I have pursued a 10-credit Certificate in College Teaching, which provides training in learner-centered pedagogy (LCP) and universal design for learning (UDL), which has allowed me to practice implementing these practices in the classroom. The goal of these pedagogical frameworks is to open up the classroom to all types of learners and all varieties of knowledges.

APPROACH

Setting the bar: rigorous and inclusive standards and assessment

​

Whether it is a small upper-level seminar or a large introductory, general education course, my role as the instructor is to provide high expectations of every student, while remaining compassionate to divergent abilities, interests, and motivations. I have found my pedagogical goals are best achieved through intense up-front work in the beginning of the semester. I always begin courses with student surveys where I ask students to rank interests, articulate learning goals, and describe their familiarity with course themes. Second, I provide students an opportunity to collaboratively create ground rules for the classroom as well as define their educational goals, assets, and areas for improvement. Leaving some flexibility in the syllabus in terms of major assignments and classroom activities helps facilitate students taking ownership over their learning experience.

Assessing students effectively is a key tool to their learning success. I find that frequent low and high stakes assessments are essential for students to track their own learning as well as for me as the instructor to see what material needs more focus. I use a mix of individual and collaborative assessment activities on a weekly basis to supplement more traditional midterm and final exams. Using a mix of assessment activities from traditional short quizzes to more unorthodox methods such as asking them to interpret images or political cartoons allows for students with different learning styles to demonstrate their understanding of material.

​

Engaging students through active learning

​

Structuring class time so as to minimize lecturing is another key strategy. Based on LCP and UDL methods, I use a wide-range of materials and activities in my classes, so that all types of learners have something that resonates. The class period is clearly structured and may consist of traditional lecturing, short video clips or podcasts, small and larger group discussions, as well as classroom debates and role-playing exercises. Whenever possible, I employ strategies of a ‘flipped classroom’ where the students become the teachers. Using Google Slides, I assign each group a different piece of reading or chapter section from which they prepare 1-2 slides and proceed to “team-teach” for the last 30 minutes of class. For example, in GEOG 362: Environment and Development we read Naomi Klein’s book This Changes Everything about climate change and capitalism and each small group was responsible for teaching one of the chapters to the rest of the class. For example, in GEOG 210: Political and Cultural Geographies of Globalization students were all assigned short podcasts about President Trump’s recent trade policies, from which they summarized key points, did additional research, and collated a series of exemplary images to present to their classmates.

​

Building core skills and engaged citizenship with real-world assignments

In any college classroom, a common challenge is that students often have very divergent motivations for taking a course and widely ranging interest in the subject material. Realizing this, I work to keep all learners engaged by providing frequent connection of the material to potential occupational opportunities and real-life examples. I also focus on professionalization skills in my class and place-heavy emphasis on helping students develop their verbal and written communication abilities. I do this through several types of in-class presentations, as well as more unorthodox composition assignments that are based out of ‘real world’ scenarios. In GEOG 362: Environment and Development students found, analyzed and presented on current event articles related to course themes throughout the semester (see appendix A). They then composed and sent a letter to the editor of the newspaper that stated their opinions on the issue. Not only did this assignment require students to scan the news for potential articles, but allowed them to apply course concepts to real-time events and find their voice in public debates. Finally, in an unprecedented information age, a crucial skill I aim to develop in all level courses is the ability to critically evaluate different information sources, and to know where to start looking for different types of knowledge. I incorporate several stand-alone assignments (e.g. annotated bibliographies) and in-class activities (e.g. workshops on how to be discerning users of Wikipedia) so that students begin to learn how to find information and critically evaluate it

​

Incorporating student feedback

Students’ learning needs and classroom dynamics always differ across semesters and thus I view collecting and incorporating student feedback as an indispensable part of effective teaching. Anonymous mid-term evaluations are an important tool I use to allow students the space to provide honest feedback and for me to adjust course components that might not be working. It is also helpful to find out activities, films, or reading were successful to better plan the second half and to keep the syllabus updated. Similarly, I frequently solicit student feedback during office hours and while meeting with small groups. Another tactic I have found useful is to use anonymous ‘minute papers’ at the end of selected class periods where students can provide more focused feedback on the specific class period as well as ask any questions about course content they may have not wanted to ask in class. I have found that summarizing student feedback for the course and explaining key changes in course implementation that will result is a highly effective practice for creating an environment of mutual respect and commitment to larger learning goals.