Teaching Statement

I combine a passion and joy in teaching with a philosophy that is firmly centered on a learner-centered approach.  In students I value both individual accomplishments and the ability to exercise these in a collaborative context. I see myself as a facilitator of learning environment — buliding bridges across realtive information, learning activities and contextual analysis — to enable students to develop their particular talents and strengths.

The experience of designing innovative curriculum aided by learning technology and assessing its effectiveness in the context of teaching has given me a real-world perspective on these issues and the ability to use the best of both traditional and new practices for course delivery. Convergence of electronic media and technology is transforming our society as well as our learning environments, thus the role of an educator is to support the responses and critical understandings of these changes. The use of educational technologies has shown considerable potential for supporting learning at the university levels but is not without its challenges.  These challenges emerge clearly in the context of practice where face-to-face contact and personal mentorship are essential.  I support a balanced approach to using web-based techniques for both providing expanded learning resources and tools in concert with a practical, embodied approach to developing individual competencies and collaboration skills.

The learning process is placed at the core of the design of learning environments. Supportive communication among students and faculty facilitates learning environment inclusive of differences and multiple perspectives. Learning process through hands-on projects provides an understanding of theoretical concepts through practical application. I try to remain aware that there is both a learner and a teacher in all of us. I believe that these reciprocal tasks comprise the intellectual process that enables our own continuing personal growth and development and our ability to nuture the same in others.

My goal as a teacher is to communicate an understanding of course content, enable the learning environment that supports acquisition of skills, and encourage each student’s personal growth and development. Technique and a facility with tools and materials serve the development and execution of conceptual ideas, which are further supported by theoretical and historical contextualization. The design of learning activities that are both challenging and relevant to students’ future aspirations is focused on an application of learning through studio practice and some form of project or problem-based learning.

When learning is internalized students see their knowledge and skills develop through meaningful assignments. This is supported by careful design of learning activities that are analogous to the iterative process of learning — allowing for failure and recognizing failure as well as success as valuable to learning — and the requirement to develop reflection on practice as well as reflection on theoretical concepts through practical application.

The integration of assessment and good instructional design forms the supporting structures for effective learning. Well-articulated learning objectives communicate the knowledge and skills students can expect as outcomes of the course. They give framework to instruction and provide the focus for the design of activities, experiences, materials, assessments, feedback techniques, and they are an inherent part of a consistent learning environment.

My personal objective in teaching is to enable in our students the development of knowledge and ability in the craft of composition and production across media with an emphasis on cultural awareness. I believe that one of the most critical issues facing the designer and composer of information based artifacts in the present milieu is a knowledge of, sensitivity to, and ability to act within the various cultural encodings that make up the rich endowment of world cultures.