Teaching Philosophy

Teaching Philosophy

Shanda Lauer

Goals for Student Learning: 

            As a teaching assistant in the past and a former middle and high school tutor, I feel that whenever I step foot into a classroom, I have a few goals in mind for the students about to experience my teaching.  Students should come away from my classroom with a broad understanding of the concept material and a “beyond the box” mentality to approaching problem solving.  I want students to create in their minds a deeper understanding of the material by invoking inquisitive mind-sets and voracious appetites for the big picture of life science.  I strive to teach my students how to reason their way through problems and teach them that persistence is a virtue in these modern days of electronic technology.  With the answers to most level 1 questions in Bloom’s Taxonomy just a point and click away, I feel that students should walk away from a classroom with more than simply vocabulary terms and a superficial coverage of facts, but a deeper understanding of the processes that enable our complicated lives on planet earth.

Enactment of Goals:

            In order for students to achieve this higher level of understanding, I feel that the traditional classroom set up is perhaps misguided.  Rather than standing at the front of the room lecturing, I prefer to center my attention toward groups of students who are working together to solve problems, create solutions, or list ideas.  Stepping in is always necessary to give some direction, to eradicate false perceptions, or to encourage opinions.  Without an overwhelming amount of input, students at times surprise themselves at their levels of understanding and receive the highest compensation for their effort- actual learning.  Rather than have my students just “do” in the classroom, I would prefer them to question “why”?

Assessment of Goals:

            I feel that the most honest and thoughtful way of assessing student learning is by formulating questions involving transfer.  If a student can take an idea, practice, or method, and transfer it to a new situation (far transfer) or a similar situation to the one they were taught (near transfer), it is easy to see that the student has gone beyond surface-level thinking, and moved to a higher level of applying what they know to new or novel situations.  I would also make it a goal to assess whether or not students were still hanging onto false perceptions about science or the process of how science works.

Creating an Inclusive Learning Environment:

            Teaching at a primarily white university in a Midwestern state, I have not been exposed to the opportunity to welcome and embrace that many different cultures or ethnicities within my classroom.  The small amount of experience I have had has fostered within me an idea that the opinions and viewpoints these students bring to the table are so very important and different that they should be treasured always, but especially so in a group-like model for a classroom.  As an educator, I always try to accommodate and be very cognizant of different races or ethnicities within the classroom, and try to go out of my way to find new ways to enrich all of my student’s experiences.  Providing a safe and welcoming environment for all students is a goal of mine.  I feel that students should feel comfortable to share their unique viewpoints at all times within the classroom.  They should never second-guess themselves and special attention should be paid to the rich and novel examples that come from thinking about life from diverse backgrounds.