EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY

I believe that helping students understand the content of a class is only the first step in successful teaching. Teachers should also strive to help students identify their interests and develop skills to communicate their ideas. Although lectures can be useful for presenting information in a short amount of time, I am strongly committed to extended research projects and seminar discussions as a means of more fully engaging students in class materials. Although my classes encourage students to utilize new technological forms of communication, I also stress a solid foundation in basic communication skills. By having the opportunity to express and refine their ideas, students build talents that will help them succeed in any profession. I also emphasize careful readings of course materials. I teach students how to extract and evaluate an article’s argument and then propose how the author could have made a stronger case for her point. My classes are demanding, but my students leave them with a sense of accomplishment and an enthusiasm for learning. When evaluating students, I look at their level of participation in class, their improvement over time, their grasp of the issues, and their clarity in written and oral expression.

COURSES FOR 2002-03

First Term

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