My teaching philosophy

Teaching is a noble profession. In the past teaching has only been done by the highly regarded people and great thinkers. As an educator, I have a great responsibility to give my best in this noble profession. My teaching philosophy has always been that while I am imparting knowledge I should develop my students so that they can give their best to mankind. I embrace teaching as an opportunity to educate, inspire and empower. In order to achieve this I must not only deliver well and sound knowledge but also meaningful outlook of real life situations so that they can cope when they come out to face the world. I must also show good habits and idealism to my students so that they will become good and responsible human beings.

As an educator, I strongly believe that if my students leave my classrooms feel unmotivated or do not have clear understanding I did not deliver my job well. Thus, I encourage my students to actively involve in the teaching and learning process so that they are responsible for their learning and the knowledge is meaningful to them. To keep my students interested, fresh and involved, I strive to use various teaching strategies including small group exercises, videos, in class demonstrations. I adapt my teaching methods to students rather than expecting my students to adapt to my teaching methods. Since technical education courses are design and problem oriented, I placed as much emphasis on working problems as on the theory. I always incorporated many practical examples into lectures at appropriate places. I always put high priority on my lectures that they are very well prepared and organized. This is to make sure that I disseminate knowledge that is factually correct, meaningful to students, meets the curriculum standard and up to date. Through my numerous observations, I found one cannot teach something well and confidently unless one knows the subject well. A disorganized lecture is distracting to the students and make an instructor looks incompetent in front of his/her students. A thorough knowledge and experience of the subject matter will allow the instructor to see and make connections between seemingly diverse concepts and show these concepts to the students.

As an educator, I believe that I should never intimidate or talk down my students. A friendly and non threatening classroom induces the possibility for real learning to take place. I am sensitive if the students view my subjects as “killing” subjects. I will make it clear from the first day that asking questions is a welcome and imperative part of the learning process. In fact, I ask students a lot of questions as I lecture and encourage answers and discussion. I believe this makes them think and keeps up their attention. In addition, I encourage them to visit my office as often as necessary. Students need to be treated with kindness and understanding. I understand that my students have feeling and I will always put myself into their place when I deal with.

As an educator, I am also an advisor and a mentor to my students. Students need to feel comfortable approaching their instructor for discussion outside of class. By instructor acting as advisor and mentor to students, the students can begin to make professional contacts, find instructor to aid in career plans and use for recommendations, and have an academic source to call upon when stresses of classes begin to be overwhelming. I make education as enjoyable and beneficial as possible to for students. Students’ education will be more complete and enjoyable than one in which students’ only see an instructor in the classroom.

Any good teacher remains a good student throughout life. I feel never stops learning and that by teaching actually I learn more and more. For example, learning about the students I teach and listening to their experiences has helped me to consider ways of making course material relevant and fostering critical thinking skills. I am passionate about finding the most effective ways of stimulating and sustaining intellectual growth among those who enter my classroom. Learning is a complex process that is individual, content and context specific. As an educator, I am attentive to these factors and work to be flexible, adapting my approaches according to the needs of learners, subject matter and setting. I believe it is crucial for instructors to cultivate learning partnerships with students. I believe there is so much to learn and there are so many ways we can help our students to be better.

After several years teaching at a university setting, I strongly agree that research and teaching go together. Instructors need to be at the cutting edge of recent scholarship, in order to help students see the dynamism of their work. Education is not a collection of facts, but rather, an area of research that is still alive with puzzles, contradictions, and new areas of inquiry. I try to "demystify" research for students, by encouraging them to discover the excitement that can be found in researching the education and business world. I welcome the opportunity to supervise independent projects, and I have encouraged students in my own classes to submit their writing to appropriate journals, magazines or newspapers for possible publication.