My teaching philosophy can be summarized in the following three points.

“Tell me and I’ll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I’ll understand.” ~ Chinese Proverbs

1. Teaching is not simply reiterating the facts on the textbook. Rather, it is an interactive and active learning process.
Students in college and graduate schools can read the textbooks on their own. What they need to is to have vivid examples and experiences, facilitating them to really understand those knowledge. I have found the most effective learning methods are (1) giving concrete examples and demonstrations, (2) encouraging questions and discussions, (3) instructing the students to do the experiments and experience the phenomena, and (4) asking the students to write a paper regarding the topic that they are most interested in the class.

“If a doctor, lawyer, or dentist had 40 people in his office at one time, all of whom had different needs, and some of whom didn’t want to be there and were causing trouble, and the doctor, lawyer, or dentist, without assistance, had to treat them all with professional excellence for nine months, then he might have some conception of the classroom teacher’s job.” ~ Donald D. Quinn

2. Adaptive teaching strategies can optimize students’ learning experiences and satisfactions.
Every student has different motivations and expectations of the class when they first time enter the class. For example, some students take the class because the class is required by the program. It is important to understand their reasons for taking this class, expectations and needs in the first class, so I can adjust my teaching manners and materials to motivate them and make them interest in this class. There is also a difference between undergraduate and graduate students. Most of the undergraduate students are still probing their interests and what they are going to do after the college, so I would like to guide them to see how can this topic related to their experiences and what useful knowledge they can take home and ride on it after the class. On the other hand, graduate students already have their research interests, so I do not want them taking this class as a deviation from their research topic. Instead, I want them to learn new perspectives of their own research or find something useful (e.g., paradigms, theories) that they can introduce to their research projects. Therefore, along with the teaching methods I mentioned in the first point of my teaching philosophy, I will prepare more lecture type of classes for undergrad students whereas more seminar type of classes for grad students.

 “To be a teacher in the right sense is to be a learner. I am not a teacher, only a fellow student.” ~ Soren Kierkegaard

3. Teacher should keep learning as well.
Teacher should still keep learning not only the teaching methods but also the new knowledge, so I can polish my teaching skills, be up-to-date in the field, and make my students successful. In fact, students can teach the teacher, too.  I always respect their ideas, opinions, and even the challenges because I do not know everything and their perspectives may inspire me to look at the same thing differently.