My Teaching Philosophy

I believe that teaching and learning are synonymous. To be effective, a teacher should encourage students to freely discuss problems amongst themselves and with their professor. In this way students become teachers to other students and professors become students when they listen and understand the problems and/or difficulties of the student. After listening to a student I review the subject material and reflect on how I taught it, how the student attempted to understand the concept and how I can improve or alter my teaching so as to more effectively explain it. If successful with the new explanation I can then revise my style to reflect the more effective explanation and thus better guide the student. I recognize that students learn in different ways and teachers should be able to vary teaching styles and should expect student to participate in a mixture of lecture, discussion and group activities. For professors to be able to adapt teaching styles they must have a great understanding of the subject material being taught. Thus staying current by engaging in research, participating in classes, conferences and workshops is imperative. A teacher must know what to teach as well as effective methods of teaching. Technology is important in the classroom since it is a vehicle for instruction and can be an invaluable tool for addressing different learning styles. I believe in promoting the understanding of fundamental concepts of graphic design and typography rather than teaching pure software. Since I've mostly been involved with computer lab instructing I have been accomplishing this by demonstrations. I will ask students to explain to me what they observed. I encourage students to ask questions but rather than give answers I direct them to discover the answers for themselves.Students should take away new insights, experiences and skills. I have a great respect for students and my door is always open. I encourage students to come by and talk about problems.