Teaching Philosophy

Teaching is my passion. As a teacher, my concern is to find out who my students are, where they are heading,
how to help them to learn, and how to stimulate their interest in further learning to become more strategic and
self-regulated. I consider myself a cave explorer who guides students with a flashlight. I shine the flashlight on
the secrets to help my students explore the hidden things. I lead them though sometimes I am stumbling behind.
I do not have all answers but I know how and where to look. My mission is to guide the students to show that
they have the ability to succeed but need to find in the right place.

I want my students to get maximum benefit out of me. So I give them choice of learning. I remember, while I
was teaching undergrad engineering students, I gave them handouts as well as spoke, showed slides, drew or
demonstrated the topic. I gave lectures in different ways to address diverse students showing information in
different ways to make learning flexible for them. I have used voice thread to explain the assignment and give
instructions to students regarding what to do. It makes them interested and focused. I prefer to offer students
alternative ways to understand lessons. I like my students to have more than one choices to show what they
know.

The most important way a class can be successful is when the students are motivated and engaged. There is no
single approach that can engage all students. In my teaching, I used short videos or real life case studies to
motivate students. Once I was teaching physics (forces and Newtons laws of motion) and started the class with
a short video entitled, We cannot cry in Space. After watching, we had a small discussion about the reason
behind the issue that related to my teaching topic. In this way, I created the foundation before I started my
lecture. When Im finished with my lesson plan, I always keep 6 minutes for the wrap-up. During this 6 minutes,
I ask students what they learned today just to make sure they will remember it after the class and beyond.
Because I saw that most of the students find difficulty remembering the specific content of the class lectures
spending the last 6 minutes to refresh their memory by asking them questions about what they did today, might
help them to remember further once they are out of my class.

I believe in active learning environment in the class. When I use smartboard, I ask each group to come up with
the solution and solve the problem on the smartboard. There are four boards in my class. And I ask each group

to work on a specific problem and write the solution on the board. At the end of group activity, I stand by each
board and review the problem and discuss with students. It is so interactive and makes students engaged like a
magnet. I include some demonstration that is related to the topic. For the 1st year chemistry, I was teaching how
to balance chemical reaction equation. I used different solid plastic molecules that show how they are bonded.
For example, oxygen is naturally found as O2, and the demo shows the way they are bonded giving them a clear
view of understanding.

When students leave my class, I want them to ground their ideas in practice. I inspire them to come up with the
possible solutions and ignore the limitations behind them. This tech-innovative approach is exemplified in my
class lectures and assignments through the course. For example, while instructing my students on chemical
engineering principles, at the end of my course I asked my students to prepare a short project on the industrial
process (based on the real world) using various engineering disciplines to assess them authentically.

My educational experience integrates both active learning and collaborative learning strategies that will foster
students critical thinking skills. Active learning, authentic assessment and student engagement are the basic
principles that I employ in my teaching. I do not only want my students to be inspired by me but I am also
inspired by them.

References:

"Getting Started on your Teaching Philosophy" from the University of Minnesota:

http://www1.umn.edu/ohr/teachlearn/tutorials/philosophy/start/index.html
"Statement of Teaching Philosophy" from University of Toronto:
http://www.teaching.utoronto.ca/topics/documenting-teaching/s-t-p.htm
"Writing a Philosophy of Teaching Statement" from Ohio State University:
http://ucat.osu.edu/read/teaching-portfolio/philosophy
"Philosophy of Teaching Statements: Examples and Tips on How to Write a Teaching Philosophy
Statement":http://moodle.technion.ac.il/file.php/1298/yanai/report_16.pdf