Statement of Teaching Philosophy 2024

My teaching philosophy has significantly evolved over my nearly 25 years in education. Initially, it revolved around using varying teaching methods and styles to connect with students. While this is still true, my understanding of what my students need to become thriving humans and successful contributors to our communities now plays a much bigger role in my classroom.

While I teach balancing equations, stoichiometry, and chemical nomenclature, I also meet my students where they are in their development as humans and support their growth on a personal and academic level. I am constantly looking for ways to support my students beyond what the Master Course Outline (MCO) covers. I am not just teaching chemistry, I am mirroring what my students need back to them and helping them find the resources and information for their growth beyond the classroom. I want my students to feel uplifted, supported, and empowered. I strive to equip and empower my students to be life-long learners. While science literacy is essential, empowerment will take students much further. Empowerment is sticky and long-lasting. Students can repeatedly draw energy and experience from it, like a bottomless well. Empowerment equips students to succeed because it will drive their ability to learn, chase and realize their dreams, and persevere when life gets challenging.

In 2020, I developed my professional website and began using it to create and deliver content for my classes. The content I built on this website and in Brightspace provides students with information on essential services support, mental health resources, study skills, tutoring services, how to succeed in chemistry and online classes, and how to communicate professionally and respectfully. After a student asked me for help developing time management skills, I created a webpage outlining strategies, skills, and tools available to them for free to manage their time and track class assignments and other tasks. Helping my students build these essential life skills is a solid foundation that will serve them throughout their lives.

I use well-defined language and consistent organization in my classes as well as a course tour video linked on the first page of the class so students are equipped and empowered to navigate the course and access content easily. I also developed a Frequently Asked Questions section that I reference often in assignments and announcements to anticipate student questions. Today’s students have very full lives that do not revolve around their post-secondary education. I want them to be able to access information quickly and asynchronously to make the best use of their study time. I receive common feedback on end-of-semester surveys that my classes are some of the best-organized students have taken and are very easy to navigate. 

During the pandemic, I noticed a need for improved science literacy and critical thinking skills to navigate the deluge of misinformation and disinformation. I wanted to empower my students to do their own research, assess their sources, and separate fact from fiction. I developed a lesson on reliable sources for all of my classes that provides students with tools, resources, and information on assessing a source and determining if it is reliable. Students repeatedly apply the skills developed in this lesson to assignments throughout the class. In end-of-semester surveys, 83.3% of students said they feel better equipped to conduct their research and determine if a source is reliable.

My General Chemistry I class conducts research on drinking water quality. This project empowers students to access their own information, assess it, and draw conclusions. Students learn about the Flint Water Crisis, assess the water infrastructure of their homes, access and review their water quality reports, conduct demographic research on their community, participate in Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) using water samples from their homes, and research other instances of drinking water quality issues in the United States since 2000. Students learn how to find information, assess its reliability and validity, report on their findings, and draw conclusions that are relevant to their lives. Many students have communicated that this project empowers them to conduct research, analyze data, and advocate for themselves. Most students had yet to learn that most of this information was available and indicated that this research project equipped them to be better citizens. In the end-of-semester surveys, 93.3% of students stated that they better understood how chemistry applies to water quality because of this project.

My General Chemistry II students continue their study of water quality by researching ocean acidification. This project involves an interdisciplinary study (i.e., chemistry, biology, economics, culture, etc.) of the impact of climate change on our oceans. Students apply chemical concepts we learn in the lecture, conduct literature research on the causes and effects of ocean acidification, develop and complete CURE experiments on the impact of ocean acidification, and communicate their findings in written form. Students use the skills they developed during the water quality project in general chemistry I to complete this work. In the end-of-semester surveys, 85.7% of students stated they better understood how chemistry applies to ocean acidification because of this project.

I regularly look for resources and tools to empower my students to succeed in my classes and college careers. When a visually impaired student registered for my class, I discovered the limitations of Read Speak in Brightspace. I researched other text-to-speech options for my students and posted a tutorial on how to use Speechify for free. I also use Open Access Textbooks that provide multiple tools for accommodating student learning and accessibility needs. Now that Riverland is an Emerging Hispanic Institution, I am looking for bilingual textbooks for my students. Students who enroll in my General Chemistry 1 and 2 classes can access the textbook in English and Spanish for free using Open Stax.

After observing how Gen Z students prefer to interact with content, I wrote an online lab manual for my Introduction to Chemistry courses and my General Chemistry II class. These lab manuals provide students with everything they need to complete the labs, including the introduction to the concept they are learning, experimental procedures, and assignment instructions. A survey conducted of these classes showed 88% of Introduction to Chemistry students and 94% of general chemistry students prefer the online lab manual to a printed version. Ninety-one percent of the students surveyed stated they appreciated the links and videos embedded in the online lab manual. One student commented, “I like how everything in one lab is in one place. I don’t have to search for my data table, videos, book reading, etc. Everything is in one place for me to review, look at, watch, and have everything I need to know for the lab in one webpage.”

Most students in my classes are in their first or second semester of undergrad. While some of my students are very ready for the technological expectations of my class, I find that most are not. I provide support materials and resources to empower them to transition from high school to post-secondary expectations. Many students must learn to use MS Office, Zoom, Brightspace, etc., at the proficiency level required for college success. I provide clear directions and guidance to empower students to learn independently and build the technology skills they need for life in the modern workforce. I am also open to helping students one-on-one with technology as they require.

Being responsive to student needs and working with students to support and equip them to build skills beyond the MCO will empower them for success far beyond their time at Riverland. This is what I strive to do as a teacher.