Professor Carr's Teaching Philosophy
By their very nature, people are inquisitive. The goal of education should be to encourage seeking answers, as it is in this way that we advance. I seek to facilitate this advancement of knowledge, and the main theme of my teaching philosophy is reasoned thought.
Whether in the classroom or in meeting groups of the general public, my goal is to encourage thinking in rational ways, so that this can be applied in other, unfamiliar situations. I particularly emphasize learning to think about trends and directions (e.g. increasing this will decrease that), rather than rote memorization of facts. I find that when it comes to technology I find people that understand and people that don't understand. A hurdle that I encounter is in the people that don't understand tend to think that they will never get it. In delivering reasoned thought people come out of their broken mindset. In order to further encourage seeking answers to the questions around us, I try to encourage the questions themselves. All teachers should do so, but it is difficult to "allow the time" for this to take place, especially in a classroom setting. Another important element of my teaching philosophy is encouraging reasoned written and oral work, especially in developing logical arguments. A major factor of this is spending my time making suggestions, as students can only learn to present their ideas more effectively if someone shows them how and why modifications could be made to their natural style to make it clearer. I follow this path in 100 and 200 level classes and migrate towards expectancy in 300 and 400 level courses. Finally, I aim to encourage a sense of wonderment in the world around us. Although I am a technology instructor and teach mostly technology students, this is not, in my mind, an exclusive club. We are all scientists. We all wonder about the world around us. We must continue to ask the "how?" and "why?" questions in order to advance. Only if answers to these questions continue to come (either from the teacher, or, better yet, through reasoned thought on the part of the one asking), will the questions continue to flow. ~ Professor Carr ~ |