Teaching Philosophy

For a majority of my life, I have been involved as either a personal tutor or teaching assistant
whilst also involved in research. Guiding students as they take the step out of confusion into
understanding is a greatly rewarding journey. As a Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA) for
ENGR111 and 112 I have had the pleasure of assisting students at the beginning of their college
careers build strong foundations both technically and ethically that will keep them in good stead.
I have learned to incorporate many different techniques to motivate students to learn as well as
present the required information in a way that is accessible to the diversity that is characteristic
to a freshmen engineering class.
I believe that students will reach for goals that they believe are achievable and hence it is my
duty as a teacher to engender that belief in them that the expertise and excellence that is
synonymous with the engineering graduates of Texas A&M University are indeed achievable
with the right commitment, concentration, cooperation and character. As such my goals for my
students is to empower them by equipping them with the requisite skills and encourage them to
nurture the right habits that will enable them to succeed not only in freshman engineering, but in
any engineering discipline. Imperative to this is a clear understanding the fundamentals of
engineering including the design process, critical problem solving and teamwork whilst adhering
to the highest standards of ethical behavior.
In addition to refining my existing teaching skill set through practice I have also had the
opportunity to participate in the Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning
(CIRTL) online Teaching With Technology class to integrate advancements in modern
technology such as cell phones and online apps. In the process I have come to deepen my
understanding of pedagogy and what makes a lesson plan and indeed a teaching philosophy
effective. Additionally as part of the Graduate Teaching Fellows College program I have had the
opportunity to benefit from the experience and collaboration of my colleges and mentor to better
understand what it involves to be effect in the teaching arena as a faculty of the Dwight Look
College of Engineering.

For assessments, I like to monitor student progress using formative assessments on a very regular
(almost daily basis). This is primarily in the form of pop quizzes and where possible immediate
students response using online tools such as polleverywhere.com. This allows me to adjust my
teaching pace to clear up any fundamental misconceptions, redirect the conversation in case of
loss of focus or accelerate in case of the material not being adequately challenging. In order to
reinforce these assessments, various outside of class assessments are administered in the shape of
homework and reading both with an individual and group flavor to foster personal and collective
responsibility for learning. Summative assessments are administered in the form of two or more
classical exams but also in the form of team activities that require synthesis of covered concepts
to arrive a derived work which is in direct resolution of an engineering problem posed to the
team. Peer evaluations, office hours and remedial work is offered to underperforming students.
I believe in maintaining a student's attitude even as the instructor in the class and I love taking
opportunities to gain further insight on student learning processes, to help improve my own
process in the dissemination of knowledge. I have come to understand the value of reflecting on
my own performance and making the most of opportunities to incorporate various instructional
teaching methodologies to cater to the diverse needs of the students in my care who all have very
different ways of learning. To this end I am constantly seeking new avenues to enhance my
teaching skill set and improve my classroom to help my students grasp the content of the
syllabus, build the character fitting of an aggie and hence capture the future of their dreams