"Only knowledge that is used sticks in your mind."
Dale Carnegie

I believe in motivational-based teaching and desire- not fear-based learning. My teaching philosophy is based on leading students to a correct answer while allowing them to figure out the solution independently. I apply continuous quality improvement (CQI) to every aspect of my teaching, strive to improve, and approach my interactions with students with energy and enthusiasm. In this document, I describe both my teaching philosophy and current teaching practice. The document consists of three sections: pedagogy, assessment, and establishing and maintaining credibility.

Pedagogy

My guiding pedagogical principle is based on the notion that students learn and retain concepts when they actively participate in the learning process and engage with the subject material. I encourage my students to construct as much knowledge as they can on their own, then help them progress when they have reached their limits. I rely on a process that requires a great deal of interaction with students, which takes place in settings such as classroom discussions, presentations, and drills, threaded discussions, and email. In doing so, I adhere to the following standards outlined by International Board of Standards for Training, Performance and Instruction (ibstpi):

1.      Communicate effectively

2.      Update and improve one's professional knowledge and skills

3.      Comply with established ethical and legal standards.

4.      Establish and maintain professional credibility

5.      Plan instructional methods and materials

6.      Prepare for instruction

7.      Stimulate and sustain learner motivation and engagement

8.      Demonstrate effective presentation skills

9.      Demonstrate effective facilitation skills

10.  Demonstrate effective questioning skills

11.  Provide clarification and feedback

12.  Promote retention of knowledge and skills

13.  Promote transfer of knowledge and skills

14.  Use media and technology to enhance learning and performance

15.  Assess learning and performance

16.  Evaluate instructional effectiveness

17.  Manage an environment that fosters learning and performance

18.  Manage the instructional process through the appropriate use of technology

I expect my students to read the assigned material. They quickly learn that this is a real expectation: I do not lecture over the assigned material, so in order to keep up with class, they must read the text. To make this a realistic expectation, I am very careful to choose the most readable of texts.

I change the instructional methods and material often to keep students interested. I begin each section with an interactive lecture on an illustrative problem. I do not spend the majority of class time at the board with my back towards students writing disjoint material. Instead, I provide the lecture material online so that my students have access to them at their leisure. In programming courses, I rarely use the board or presentation slides. Instead, I use the programming language's Integrated Development Environment (IDE) to illustrate topics and familiarize students with relevant concepts, tools, and tricks. I often have the students work in small groups which frequently report to me and to the whole class. I ask the students to solve interesting problems and hands-on projects available in the text. While the students work, I walk-around observing each group�s progress. I check to see that each group is on-task, coax them to explain their current reasoning, and ask them leading questions.

I encourage off-campus collaborative learning as well. I require my students to participate in online threaded discussions and, sometimes, coordinated online sessions. I provide my students with a CD that contains AVI clips for important and complex lecture material. AVI clips are helpful in both on- and off-campus instruction. As presented at 2006 EDUCAUSE Southeast Conference, AVI clips have proven helpful in accelerated technical courses I have taught in the past five years.

My courses are supported with technology, either in the form of IDE or simulation software. All of my courses are supported by three particular forms of technology: online course site, CD, and electronic mail. I develop an online shell for each course where I provide lecture notes, threaded discussion questions, assignments, and provide relevant resources. I use email lists to send my students deadline reminders. Furthermore, I use mass announcements to inform students about career workshops, conferences, and seminars related to the course.

Assessment

      Because my classroom is not dominated by traditional lecture, the assessment techniques I use are appropriately modified. My courses focus on concepts, and my homework sets and exams concentrate on applying concepts and explaining how they are used. I use a hybrid approach towards exams and exam questions. I use take-home exams in lieu of in-class exams. Take-home exams help the students learn more while being assessed, and help to lower the level of anxiety associated with assessment. Exam questions include a combination of true/false, multiple-choice, and essay questions. The essay questions help me assess my students' ability to synthesize what they have learned. Although harder to grade, I regard essay questions an integral part of assessment that measures students� understanding of concepts rather than their ability to memorize a cheat sheet.

Establishing and Maintaining Credibility

I am strongly committed to establishing and maintaining credibility with my students. I believe that one can be the most knowledgeable expert on the subject matter, but if one is not respected or trusted by students, one will not be an effective instructor. From the start, I establish the following types of credibility with my students.

1.      Technical - Technical credibility means that students recognize I am knowledgeable in a particular area and that I gained my knowledge through study of the theories and their applications in the real-world. Credentials, course preparation, and use of state-of-the-art tools help establish my technical credibility from the start. Teaching a wide variety of information technology courses appeals to me, and I have tried to teach as many different courses as possible in the past decade. For instance, I have taught information security, database management, computer architecture, networks, switching/routing, application programming, game and simulation programming, and project management courses. I am an active researcher in information security and educational leadership. I have found that working on my research areas interest improves the quality of teaching I bring to the classroom.

2.      Professional - Professional credibility deals with never treating students as if they are one's best friends, to ask them how they would like to be addressed, to distribute eye contact evenly, and to never purposely give an incorrect answer to a question.

3.      Personal - Personal hygiene and appearance send a powerful message to students about one's attitude towards them and the educational establishment where one works for. One should not have any personal hygiene issues that will distract or negatively affect the students including breath, teeth, hair, fingernails, eyes, and odor. And there is no right way to dress that will accommodate all audiences. The general rule is that appearance should always be clean and neat, but audience and establishment will determine one's specific attire.

I like to get to know my students and support them in other areas of their curriculum of study. For example, I actively advise and participate in my students' senior project analysis, development, and presentations. Other courses, campus life, and personal life affect not only overall student development, but also performance in my courses. I have enjoyed my role as academic advisor, associate dean, curriculum coordinator, and course designer, formal or otherwise, for individual students, for student groups, and colleagues.