TEACHING PHILOSOPHY

Bryan Enderle, Ph.D.

If one combines my love of teaching with that of the subject of chemistry, then a good match is made. Relating to students and allowing them to become more interested in the subject matter by passing on my excitement is what I love.

Students learn by personally connecting to the material whether it is visually, auditory, through hands-on experience, internalizing the material, externally processing the material with others, solving problems, expressing the concepts verbally, teaching the material to others, or by other means. To connect with students, one must relate to them, gain trust, and show an understanding of what the student feels.

In order to teach so that students learn, I strive to make myself approachable and trustworthy. To implement this methodology, I share about myself on the first day of class so students can get to know me. I also use examples and analogies from my own life. Thus, the students can connect with the stories causing them to associate that with the material. Knowing that students have a 2 to 3 minute attention span, lectures are given in the module format (i.e., broken up into short segments with a central point) to keep the students' interest. To enhance learning, relevant chemical demonstrations are used to allow students to see the concept and to pique interest, class problems are given for students to solve, and questions are asked and discussed with a partner, which fosters critical thinking and the problem solving via the scientific method.

The initial goal is for the students to feel comfortable and to feel like the material is enjoyable. After this is accomplished, critical thinking can be fostered among students to solve problems using known concepts. Every student will be on a continuum regarding their interest and understanding of chemistry, but by the end of the class I hope that every student would move up on that continuum.

Personally, my goal is to integrate more critical thinking into class discussions and problem solving questions. Furthermore, I recognize that teaching is a continual skill to learn and refine by seminars, trial & error, and research.