Teaching Philosophy

“Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers,

because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.”  (James 3:1)

            Teaching is a public trust.  As teachers, we are the keepers of knowledge for this generation, a position that carries with it the responsibility of passing this knowledge on to the next generation.  The quotation from St. James illustrates the gravity of our position.  He speaks of those who instruct in matters of faith and doctrine, but his charge might well apply to academics: all eyes are on us to diligently, conscientiously, and ethically disseminate the knowledge and wisdom we have received.  Our task, in short, is to somehow bring about the transformation of high school graduates into creative contributors to society within four to twelve years.  There exists a tacit expectation that our own mastery of the subject matter is comprehensive and that our transmission is of the highest quality; nothing less will be tolerated.  With this in mind, I approach the craft of teaching.

            When I anticipate the need to teach something, whether it is deciphering the instructions for my father’s new MP3 player or explaining a lecture on DNA replication to my undergraduate recitation students, something interesting happens: I learn differently than I would merely for my own understanding.  I automatically pay attention to the way details relate to the “big picture,” try to organize the information into logical categories or steps, look for connections to previously learned concepts, and anticipate questions or pitfalls that might arise.  This process results in a more complete construction of knowledge in my own mind that is also more useful and easily retained.  Moreover, I am more readily able to explain the new information to someone else.  It strikes me that this sort of mastery is exactly what I desire for my students.  Therefore, it makes sense to structure classroom learning such that students learn in this mindset of heightened awareness and responsibility.

As a teacher, I work with great passion and seriousness, both as one who instructs and one who is still learning.  I see my role in the classroom as that of the local “expert” learner, who is a model to follow, but who is also a co-learner.  By analogy, it is as though we are all climbing the same rock-wall; I have climbed higher than my students and can describe to them the terrain between us.  I can suggest the best path to take, and how to avoid stumbling blocks.  Once they have covered that ground, they are then able to describe the terrain to those climbers who have not yet covered it.  In terms of learning science, my objective is for my students to understand the landscape of biology and chemistry such that they can ultimately teach it to others.  This goal requires mastery of the subject on the part of the learner, but may be achieved in stepwise fashion through the mastery of discrete bits of knowledge and their interconnection, even as one progresses from novice to expert.  Thus, I believe that any student can ultimately achieve this high level of discourse—given the proper guidance.

Since I expect my students to be able to teach what they know when they leave my class, I design learning environments that foster those skills.  First, I model for them the forms of expression that will help them to be successful teachers.  I speak in complete thoughts that are clearly articulated.  These frequently take on the form of a story or narrative.  I encourage my students to “tell the story” about a particular term or concept in order for them to assess their own understanding of it.  It often surprises them how inarticulate they feel, even after hours of study.  There is a gap between recognition of the correct facts and the ability to explain them.  It is precisely this gap that must be filled in order for students to master a body of knowledge.  I give my students the opportunity to develop the skill of explaining (in words and drawings) their recently acquired scientific knowledge at every step in the learning process.  In the classroom, I ask them to “turn and talk” to their neighbor about a question I have posed.  In small group active-learning exercises, students refine their conversation skills with biological language.  When students wrestle with problems together, the discussions illuminate individual strengths and weaknesses and provide an atmosphere in which self-correction can take place.  The social interaction of discussion is vital to learning, not only in terms of brighter students teaching slower ones, but also group dynamics and cooperation that are important (but frequently unarticulated) goals of education.  My role as the expert learner is to monitor these discussions and point the students in the right direction.  In addition, students learn pedagogical content knowledge while they acquire scientific knowledge.  The area of pedagogical content knowledge includes the examples and strategies that help students understand a specific subject matter and which become the tools for teaching others the same material.  Students gain both kinds of knowledge when they explain science to each other.  Even as the students grow in both areas of content, I develop as an instructor by refining my own pedagogical content knowledge with successive iterations of a course.  The apparent, and false, dichotomy between teaching and learning is erased.  The semantics of the word “classroom” change from “a place where students are taught” to a place where they learn, and even teach.

Homework is a useful device for promoting science-oriented conversation outside of class.   When students work through problem sets, they end up teaching each other as they consider alternative answers and the “rules” that they use to solve problems.  The student is responsible for identifying his or her deficiencies and filling in the gaps.  As the instructor, I make myself available to answer questions about specific examples.  When the student takes responsibility to seek out the answers for his or her own questions, I find myself in my proper role as a guide and co-learner and engage in the conversation as a more advanced peer.  This posture makes me more approachable and breaks down the perception of hierarchy that often makes professors seem threatening. 

All this “rehearsal” is preparation for the teaching events where they teach me: exams.  My philosophy of teaching immediately precludes the use of simple multiple-choice exams.  These are simply not effective at measuring the kind of learning that interests me.  When I ask my students to teach me, it is in the form of short essays and problems that are sufficiently complex that they test the student's conceptual framework by asking the student to  describe or apply it.  Ideally, the student will use the questions posed on the exams to direct future learning in order to fill any gaps that are pointed out.  My attitude is not popular in academic circles, but its results are surely better evidence of learning than can be discerned from less-invasive measures.

My formation as a teacher began at the University of Michigan during a sixteen-month chemical education apprenticeship with Professor Brian Coppola.  Brian’s mentorship was invaluable to me: it set my course toward being the kind of professor I saw in him—caring, passionate, and fully engaged in the craft of teaching.  His use of students-teaching-students and his persistent integration of this theme into his courses have inspired me to do the same with my own.  I have participated in two seminar courses at the University of Wisconsin, one on “Teaching Organic Chemistry” and another on “Effective Teaching of Biology.”  Through interviews with professors, my own research on innovative teaching techniques, and the evaluation of my teaching by my peers, I have developed my skills and goals for teaching.  In graduate school at Columbia University, I taught two successive semesters of the introductory biology course (genetics, biochemistry and molecular biology) for sophomore biology/biomedical engineering majors and pre-medical students, for which I was recognized with the departmental excellence-in-teaching award.  I am also an active participant in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Teaching Center programs at Columbia.

The warning that is stated in my leading quotation is a challenge to me to hold my teaching to the highest standard possible.  I know that my teaching will come under the judgment of my mentors, my peers and my students, and I fully expect and hope that I will be encouraged by what I hear from them, and accept with humility that I am being perfected with time.  However, I am convinced that the mission of teaching and the satisfaction it affords me are worth the effort.  I strive to keep this in mind as I develop professionally and personally.