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Teaching Philosophy

“I always learned something new and something to think about after this class. It made me challenge a lot of my beliefs.” This quote from my teaching reviews best illustrates not only the way I want all of my students to feel as they leave my class, but also the way that I want to feel after teaching. When I first started teaching at the University Of Oregon, I did not think I was a good teacher; it took learning and developing my pedagogy, and strategies as an instructor and scholar to be successful. I have struggled to find ways to teach things coherently, and use my time in the classroom to observe and learn what methods seem to be the most effective for my students. Through this I have developed my goal for teaching: ‘To simultaneously refine my skills as an instructor, at the same time as teaching my students new information that will inspire curiosity, and inquisition of the world.’ To do this I follow a three step approach: first, providing a conceptual and historical foundation for the class; second, provide a framework for how they can analyze politics; and, third, all the students to put that analytic framework into action through critical thinking exercises.

As a teacher, I bring the most recent research into the classroom, focusing on student participation, engagement, and critical thinking, and how they are used to redefine and develop the field of political science. This encourages the students to develop their own ideas about topics, and to see how political science research is still alive with puzzles and new questions. I welcome independent projects from my students, and know that my students’ unique inquiries inform my own work, allowing my growth to correspond to theirs.

I teach classes that focus on international relations and foreign countries, in which many students may have very little exposure or understanding of how these foreign countries or international institutions operate. As a result, I start by classes by building a foundation of conceptual and historical knowledge that will carry them through the latter part of the class. Staring with this foundation allows me to build their knowledge faster as they are more equipped to make connections between contemporary political policies or events and the theory that will help them analyze it. For example, in ‘Introduction to International Relations’ (IR), I relate the readings back to local headlines, and discuss with the students how different IR theories and concepts are applicable to a particular event. This increases the salience of the concept or theory to the students. My classes focus on building these foundations and understandings first before we begin to analyze and compare these concepts.

Once the foundations are laid, I am better able to evaluate my students’ success as maturing social scientists. I like to incorporate short examinations, presentations, group and individual activities, and the use of memos to actively engage with the material. No matter the career paths my students take they will need the ability to write a clear and concise memo that conveys new information, and is written to connect the purpose of the writer with the needs of the reader. It requires students to be aware of who they are writing too, and what research evidence is relevant to convince that reader of key issues and points. This activity develops skills that the student can take with them into the job market, while using what they have learned in the course.

In all of my activities, I strive for teaching methods that increase inclusivity and approachability, of the subject and myself. In order to best meet the goals for my students I realized I needed to incorporate different approaches to my teaching. In my Chinese politics course, I start with a more heavy reliance on lectures to introduce concepts, but as the course develops I change to more discussion based classes on different policies and incorporate group presentations. Integrating these more actively learning scenarios increases student engagement, and allows more inclusive learning. I like to use small groups and group presentations that do not require all students to speak, as I feel for some students this creates a more safe and stimulating environment where they can participate without feeling too much pressure. Furthermore, I am also able to assess my students’ mastery of a subject as well as self-assess that I have taught it correctly if the students can successfully reinterpret it during these activities.

The variation in activities allows for a well-rounded assessment process. In my Chinese politics course, the foundation for my assessment style is short reading quizzes throughout the term that make sure the students are keeping up in class, and their basic understanding of the material. The framework and critical analysis are assessed through two memos: For the first memo, I provide the audience and the topic so that they can get used to this writing style and the framework for analysis. The second memo gives them the option to choose any Chinese policy and provide their own analysis of its effectiveness; in this activity they are able to more critically engage and analyze a policy. Finally, in order to encourage engagement with contemporary politics, I have students find news articles that relate back to class, and write a paragraph about the article, any media biases and how it relates to the course. The combination of these assessment mechanisms encourages participation, engagement, and critical analysis.

However, I am still actively seeking to broaden my repertoire of teaching techniques. Over the last few years, I have taken classes in pedagogy, participated in the Graduate Teaching Initiative, as well as attended classes from the Teaching Engagement Program. These classes have played a part in shaping my dynamic teaching methods, and encouraged me to try to incorporate new strategies.

My current research focuses on the effect of Chinese global economic ties on environmental policy in developing countries. This research inspires me to bring more notice to globalization into the classroom, as well as helping students to understand how the international can impact the national. I hope in the future to use my teaching techniques to bring my interest in international political economy and the environment into the classroom in new and interesting ways for the students.

 

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