Professional Development

One thing I've learnt from my experience as a teacher is that there's always room to improve. From discussions with faculty, most people think they are good teachers, even though they've never had any training. In most cases, people teach in the way that they were taught, and that cycle can be difficult to break. I hope to move from the lectures at the blackboard that I've experienced so much of and truly engage my students, and I can appreciate that others can help me to do so better.

When I have a job that involves teaching, I hope to take the time every now and again to reflect upon my teaching, and to discuss my teaching with others. Most universities have a center for teaching excellence or similar, and I hope to take advantage of the services that such offers me.

I also understand that a lot of responsibility for student learning will fall onto the shoulders of my teaching assistants. I know that TAs are overworked and typically do their job because they have to rather than from any love of the job, but I hope that I can work with them to minimize their loads, while maximiizing their enjoyment of their job, as well as the effectiveness of their teaching.

Part of the aim of this website is to document my experience and progress in teaching. The documents currently describing my ideas on teaching philosophy, course design and assessment design represent my first attempts at constructing such. As I progress and create new versions of these documents, I plan to detail the evolution of my thoughts and beliefs with regards to teaching in higher education, and so describe my professional development.

Training and Experience