My Philosophy of Teaching
(Drafted in Fall 1996, revised in May
1997 by James T. P. Yao. Please send your comments and suggestions
on "teaching" to jty0735@acs.tamu.edu at your convenience. I will
try to start a "Forum" on the philosophy of teaching on this Homepage.)
The most important duty of a college teacher is to provide
the best possible education to students. To become as good a teacher
as possible, it is necessary for each faculty member to attain scholarship,
to keep learning, and to serve as a role model to students.
Having participated in the 1985, 1990, and 1995 Civil Engineering
Education Conferences, the 1994 ASCE/NSF Workshop on Civil Engineering
Education, the 1994 NSF Workshop on Restructuring Engineering Education,
the 1995 NSF Workshop on Systemic Engineering Education Reform,
and the 1997 NSF Engineering Education Innovators’ Conference,
I believe that it is important and timely to start (1) changing
the university culture, (2) organizing programs for continued faculty
development; (3) an orderly integration of technical subjects, communication,
leadership, management, and teamwork into undergraduate engineering
curricula; (4) obtaining more practitioner involvement in education;
and (5) the eventual requirement of post-baccalaureate professional
degrees for practice. Many good things are being attempted in various
NSF Engineering Education Coalitions, the results of which need
to be publicized widely and used selectively by individual universities,
colleges, departments, and faculty members.
I try to help students learning something that I know.
The challenge is that every student is different and unique. The
same method of teaching does not fit everyone equally well. It is
especially challenging for me to teach large classes where it is
not easy to know and to motivate all students. Frequently I am afraid
to have inadvertently overlooked or even discouraged some students
from learning as much as they can. Therefore, I constantly try to
improve myself as a teacher by participating in workshops on teaching
on campus. I also try to exchange ideas with other colleagues whenever
it is possible to do so. Meanwhile, I try to improve my scholarship
to become a role model for students so that they will continue to
improve themselves by learning new things after graduation.
I believe that it is important to teach basic principles
and to show their practical applications. Especially, students need
to know all the assumptions and limitations involved with each principle.
This way, they will not apply it under wrong circumstances. It is
also important to show practical applications so that students will
be motivated to learn more about engineering practice. The engineering
profession has been doing well to date. We must continue to improve
ourselves so that our students can become even better engineers
in the future than we are now.
It is important and timely to change the university culture
including faculty reward systems. In many universities, the perception
is that only those faculty members who excel in research get rewarded
first. Frequently teaching, the most important function of the faculty,
is relegated to the second or even lower place because of this perception.
Somehow, we need to change the university culture so that the faculty
reward system can eventually be changed.
lohman
Return to
the Lohman homepage |
