Online Teaching Philosophy

#EDU643 #Week3

I firmly believe that an engaging, inquiry-based educational experience provides students with the greatest opportunity through which to learn. Oftentimes we, as instructors, forget that one of the easiest ways to reach students is by drawing upon their innate abilities and talents. Humans are naturally curious beings, interested in exploration and the world around them. By promoting the inherent process of inquiry within the classroom, I have helped students make the transition - from basic understanding and questioning - to the construction of knowledge. This has primarily been done by establishing sound scientific practices and facilitating discourse that requires students to draw upon their everyday life experiences and past knowledge, thus promoting high levels of social presence within the course.

In a similar manner, I believe it is in the best interest of learners to be part of a student-centered class with multi-faceted lessons. When students are actively participating in their education, they take ownership for their work and are increasingly motivated. This in turn leads to students being able to better retain the content being covered. What's more, by implementing a student-centered approach in the classroom, I am able to appeal to a wide variety of learners and differentiate instruction more easily. To elaborate, almost all student-centered activities that I have incorporated in past classrooms – online or otherwise – have had several different components, each of which tends to appeal to a different style of learner. Whether an individual student learns best by examining visual representations, listening to their peers, or creating models of their own, there is something in each lesson to better aid in their understanding of the material.

While some may feel creating this type of course when teaching online is a daunting task, I see it as a chance to engage students on a platform that they inherently feel comfortable with. As a physics instructor, I primarily teach children that are 15 or 16 years old. At this specific age, many students not only feel comfortable navigating social media and various tools within the tech industry, but they also have an uncanny ability to produce meaningful and creative educational content when given the opportunity. I’ve seen many non-academic students flourish upon making the transition to online learning, which I believe is due in part to the increased autonomy that students have when participating in online coursework. Such positive transitions can also be attributed to quality educators fostering genuine relationships with, and amongst, their students by promoting community cohesion, as well as robust interaction intensity, through a high level of instructor involvement.

My primary goal when making the transition to online education is to design and deliver a course that is accessible for all learners and furthers their content knowledge by implementing universal design practices. Not only will such a course be highly customizable for students, but it will also allow them to showcase their strengths and address areas of weakness in an environment that embraces a growth mindset. Students will feel comfortable discussing their progress within the virtual course and rely heavily upon various forms of instructor feedback, whether on assignments or formative assessments, in order to achieve and demonstrate mastery of the content. Together, we will strive to advance their scientific reasoning skills, promote researched decisions, and become one step closer in facilitating the creation of well-informed, well-intentioned global citizens.