Teaching Philosophies

1. Teaching Philosophy

There are various useful and efficient teaching philosophies, which are important to both teachers and students. My major is Chemical Engineering and college students are trained in both classes and laboratories. I have been a student for more than ten years but never thought about what the most appropriate way to pass knowledge was until I did a teaching assistant job last year. I was a teaching assistant for a Chemical Engineering review course and a laboratory course. It turns out the teaching philosophy had some similarities in these kinds of courses and I learned a lot from these experiences.

To the best of my knowledge, the most important thing in teaching is to arise students’ interest in the subject and keep them curious about the knowledge. Learning on one’s own initiative is the most effective way to learn. Or conversely, if they lose their interest in the subject, the students may have antipathy to the course and may not want to really understand it. This becomes more critical when it comes to theoretical knowledge. Trying to keep students curious and interested, I always make the class relaxing and interactive.

Some technologies can also be used to raise students’ interest. For example, playing videos is a good way to express what happens in chemical reactions and can help students have a better understanding of the reaction. Asking students questions is another way I usually use. By getting their response, I can know if they have mastered the knowledge or not and what’s their expectation of me.

Asking students to learn in groups is also an effective way in teaching. On one hand, students can discuss with each other and learn from their classmates. The discussion may also bring up new questions and can help them learn more comprehensively. On the other hand, if some students are mind wandering in class, studying in a group can help them to concentrate their attention on the class again. What’s more, students can also learn how to cooperate with others from group learning, which is a significant skill for everyone.

In conclusion, keeping students curious and interested in the subject, using technologies and making students learn in groups are the most effective teaching philosophies for me. (Songjing)

2. Teaching philosophy

                  Being a good teacher is my primary motivation for enrolling in the PhD program in Interior and Environmental Design at Texas Tech University. After four years working as an Interior design lecturer for undergraduate students in Vietnam, I realized that effective learning environments should be combinations of interacting, practicing and synthesizing activities. To accomplish these requirements, teachers should be perfectly capable of organizing and navigating their classes. I believe studying in Texas Tech, a professional academic environment, would give me valuable experiences for my teaching career in the near future.

                  Interior design is an intricate process, which involves the works of many people from different fields. Therefore, students in this major should develop the abilities to convince, negotiate and compromise. Students can achieve these skills through the process of interacting with teachers and their peers. However, design assignments are usually individual tasks, which eventually prevent the interactions between students. My approach to this issue is that I always divide the assignments into two parts, one in groups (3 or 4 students) and one in individuals. Thus, I can encourage students to share and discuss various points of view on the same problems. Through that, students can build the abilities of critical thinking to evaluate the pros and cons of their solutions. Then in the later part, they have to develop the solutions on their own, so the grading still remains objective.

                  Another common challenge of design classes is to keep the balance between theories and practices. Although students have done a lot of research related to their assignments, the final results are still hypothesis proposals. Therefore, they cannot know how their solutions will actually work in real life. Fortunately, I can invite some specialists in different branches of the design industry to join my classes. They are willing to give presentations and showroom tours to inform students about their products and services, which are directly involved in the construction stage of all design proposals. Based on this practical information, students can have their own references to figure out whether their works are feasible or not. These activities are also effective ways to build requisite connections between future designers and potential suppliers which can result in positive career opportunities for students.

                  Last but not least, students will be more committed to study if they can apply the knowledge in classes into a wide range of fields. Thus, I always encourage students to attend workshops and competitions in architecture and industrial design. These realistic experiences will show students how basic concepts can turn into abundance of different innovations. Numerous promising scenarios of employing knowledge into reality would become the best learning motivation for students. In addition, the creative process of turning invisible understanding into rewardable outcomes can bring students a lot of joys and excitements. Then, in their ways of thinking, learning is no longer a burden but a powerful tool to obtain further achievements.

                  Briefly, students only thrive when they can exchange ideas, reflect learnt knowledge into reality and have clear future orientations. Good mentors should constantly search for creative and innovative teaching methods to give their students all the mentioned opportunities.   (Hoa)

3. Teaching Philosophy

I have been a college English teacher in China for nearly ten years. Most of my students are majoring in traditional Chinese medicine, and all the students in my university are required to learn fundamentals of Chinese medicine and diagnostics in Chinese medicine. My teaching objective is to help them to improve their reading, writing, translating, speaking and listening ability in English so that they can pass the band 4 and band 6 college English tests in China.

                  As a teacher, I need to think about how to teach effectively. In the process of teaching and learning, technologies should be used by both the teachers and the students. In order to improve students’ speaking and listening ability, I show them a lot of video clips about certain topics such as self-introduction, exchanging greetings, describing people, talking about weather, etc. in the computers. They try to imitate at first and then make their own conversations with their partners. The use of computers and multimedia classrooms can make learning easier and more interesting. I also recommend a lot of software such as the VOA Special English app so that students can make the most of their smartphones after class. Group work is also effective in teaching. My students are often divided into groups and fulfill certain tasks, such as making a presentation about how to keep healthy according to Chinese medicine. They need to collect useful materials and create a PPT file. In this process they can learn how to cooperate with each other and understand the importance of teamwork. Interest is the best teacher. In order to arouse students’ interest in learning English, I also try to combine what they learn in my class with their majors or future jobs. I teach them a lot of affixes about medical words so they can enlarge their vocabulary and prepare themselves for their future medical research. Critical thinking should be emphasized in teaching and learning process. Students are encouraged to think critically, especially students in a medical school. If students can apply what they learn in class to solve certain problems in the real world, I believe they can obtain that knowledge better. For example, on one occasion, I asked my students to find out some mistakes about English public signs in the city and correct them. After doing that, they knew the translating methods of public signs.

                  I hope I can make my students happy and successfully learn some knowledge at the same time. I am still on the way to teaching effectively.  (Lynn)

4. Teaching Philosophy

Teaching is one of the professions that have a major impact on the building of a nation. It starts with the transferring of knowledge from teachers to their students. The teachers may have enormous knowledge but to deliver that in the most effective and efficient way is an art that not every teacher knows.  It is true that through experience, it is possible to know the shortcomings; however there are some qualities that make teachers popular among their students. It is not about being lenient in grading and paper-setting. Actually it is the comprehending the knowledge of their students, enabling them to more open up and reaching to students’ information level where they can boost and sustain their motivation to learn throughout the semester.

As a teacher I would love to teach the courses related to computer programming and facility layout planning. During my studies I found some of my class fellows a little bit intimated by the programming courses. The problem was the unclear concept of the computer compiler. So being a teacher I will show my students that the computer is a simple machine that cannot execute a single instruction without their help. They are as error free as their code. For strengthening their concepts I will ask my students to write short codes in their notebooks and execute the code line by line as if they are compilers themselves.  I will demonstrate how loops go through the variables and change their values. In homework assignments I will include the programming of daily life applications such as digital watches to enhance their keen to learn.

In facility planning courses I will solve the problems on the board and also engage my students by giving them bonus questions to answer during the lecture. I will show them the scenarios of some already designed facility layouts without proper planning. They will be asked to highlight the weak points of the design and address the anticipated problems in real life. My students will not only turn in the written assignments but also present them in front of the class to prove their solutions correct and applicable. To create the 3D models of their layouts I will give them liberty to use any tool they like.

In the above-mentioned courses I will assign individual projects and a group project to my students in the start and end of the semester respectively.  In this way students will apply their skills by their own and then solve the group project problems together. I believe in making the foundation of students strong so that they can derivate the mathematical models instead of cramming them. I will appreciate if they bring the results with their own creativity and persuade them to inspire their classmates.

Along with learning the aspects of the course students also care about their grades. I will have my students to appear in multiple quizzes, take-home exams, bonus questions, midterm and final exams. It will create a chance for lagging students to make up for the part they miss. I will always keep my doors open for them to answer any question after the class. I will justify the deduction of marks in their tests and prevent them making the mistakes again. I will prefer to maintain the friendly environment in my class but shun any rule-breaking element.

In addition, I will ask my students to express freely how they feel about the certain method of teaching. I believe that their feedback is the most important thing for me to evaluate myself and work on my teaching strategies for becoming an impressive teacher. (Fahad)

5. Teaching Philosophy

I have never had the experience of standing in front of a class and playing the role of being a teacher. Hopefully in the future I will, but before that I think I need a strong and effective teaching philosophy that would make me happy seeing its result by the end of a course. However, I want to be an English Language teacher for non-English speakers at a university. Therefore, for such a job I believe that a good teacher should have a lot of patience. In fact, I would say a teacher needs much more patience, because it is a significant matter in this profession. Other important issues are treating all the students equally, being close and supportive to them and preparing a comfortable learning environment. As a teacher, I would adopt the most effective teaching methods and demonstrate them the best to fit my students’ needs, which would make their learning experience more meaningful. I would use modern technology such as projector and PowerPoint in the classroom instead of just using the textbooks, so that students won’t get bored.

In some universities in Saudi Arabia students do not regularly participate or ask professors questions, which is wrong, but it is more like a cultural norm. Actually this is considered as being respectful and polite with your teacher, but for me I aspire to make an appropriate class environment, which I believe would help the students to be able to interact with me as a teacher, be creative, make mistakes, and ask questions.

I also believe that as a teacher, I have to be aware of my students’ learning styles, get to know their strengths, weaknesses, and interests, and prepare the right activities, group work, projects, and materials that would help to improve their learning skills. Thus, my goal is to inspire and help my students to reach a high level of knowledge, have optimal potential in their learning journey, and be successful in the future. (Eve)

6. Teaching Philosophy

A good teacher can build a powerful nation by spreading knowledge to the people. It is difficult to be a good student, and it is even more difficult to be a good teacher. It not only involves efforts and hard work of a teacher, but also involves communication and disseminating knowledge among the students. To me, a good teacher is an expert in his field, knows different approaches to solve a problem, can always make a class interactive, has good presentation skill, and has a nice, audible voice for the students. A good teacher knows exactly what his students expect from the class and is always ready to deliver that. 

As a science student, my favorite subject has always been mathematics. I love math and love to teach math. From my childhood, I took math classes during each academic year and thus built up my math knowledge.  I like to read math books with interesting problems and try to get the concepts and solve problems using multiple mathematical perspectives. As a math teacher, my ideal students will be those who want to understand concepts of math rather than trying to memorize them.

I like to prepare well before my class, take notes and be well aware of the time frame for my lecture.  In a class, I deliver concepts of a topic first, try to give some practical examples whenever possible, and then ask for feedback on whether the entire class has a clear idea of the topic or not. Besides delivering my lecture, interaction with students is also important to me. Students like a teacher who asks questions from students, gives frequent individual and group assignments, distributes the class load equally for the entire semester, and has a good sense of humor. At the end of a semester, I prefer to get feedback from students about the class and my teaching skills. That helps me to improve my skills as a teacher. (Sheik)

7. Teaching Philosophy

       

            Believe it or not, I have been a student for almost twenty years. During such a long time, I have learned knowledge from various teachers. Some of them were kind and patient, but unskillful in teaching; some of them were rigorous but encyclopedic. Everyone stands on stage shaping our future by utilizing their own teaching philosophy. Here, I will share my thoughts with you.

It is exciting to be a teacher in junior high school, with a lot of challenges to face and solve. Young people, energetic and creative, have potential to become chemists in the future, under a prominent guidance offered by teachers.

When I learnt chemistry, I liked the teachers who captured skills relating real life examples to what they taught, because it is easy for audiences to start based on how much they have already learnt, and then build upon it. Especially for the junior, they have no idea about what exactly the chemical compounds look like, and cannot imagine that the whole world is made up by various components, organic and inorganic. Therefore, they need a vivid description upon what they are going to learn. And I want to be the guide basing my own teaching philosophy.

I would like to assume that I am a chemistry teacher in a junior high school named “Future Star”. At the very beginning, I will start by trying to arouse their desire by using a brief introduction of chemistry and where it came from by adding some historical stories (note: chemistry comes from a very old technology “alchemy”). It will be acceptable for students, recalling interesting and magic bedtime stories. After that, I will have them work in groups in order to better understand knowledge. For example, figure out ten objects which are composed of chemical substances. And we will discuss their results together, explaining and analyzing the chemical constitution of these objects one by one. Based upon this, they will be impressed by this magic world built by various chemical substances. In addition, I will give them a pop quiz after one chapter finished to push them to do some review.

To help them grasp concepts in practice, I will assign a project, and students are required to learn two elements in Periodic Table of Elements. Referring to handbooks and articles is useful for them to learn chemical and physical properties, including relevant compounds, existing status in nature, how people purify them, when people found them, etc., and then, students will get a better understanding when making a comparison between them.

The midterm will have two parts. One is a presentation of the previous project. Students are expected to show what they learnt during reading and searching. The other one is an exam; fifty percent for each part. Besides, students will have another two projects so that they can apply theoretical knowledge into daily life. For example, they can “DIY” (Do It Yourself) a soap or a fruit cell. I believe students will learn real knowledge after they work on it.

To summarize, my class will include teamwork, quiz, homework, project and examination. For the purpose of cooperation, teamwork affords them idea sharing and problem solving. Quiz and homework drive them to memorize definitions and theories, paving the road for future usage. In order to inspire students’ enthusiasm, the project is more interesting for learning than memorizing symbols, equations and concepts.

All in all, the young are precious deposits; teachers need to dig them using good teaching philosophy.  (Yuan)

8. Teaching Philosophy

As a teaching assistant in the Chemical Engineering department, I had the opportunity to teach undergraduate level Chemical Engineering courses. These courses involve various chemical processes such as distillation column, extraction, absorption etc. The main purpose of these courses is to teach real life phenomena of the processes to the students.

In my opinion, one of the most important things in teaching is to have interaction between students and teacher. Although I have knowledge about the course, I used to prepare myself before giving lectures. To me, a successful teacher is he who is able to share his knowledge with his students. And in this regard, it is a teacher’s job to engage students with the course. To do so I always try to make the class lively. In this regard, I use several techniques such as telling jokes in the middle of the lecture, showing some interactive videos, asking pop questions to the students and so on.

 Now, from a student’s point of view, no one wants to do unreasonable work and he/she always wants to know the reason behind each topic. Basically, each chapter or topic of the book is written for some reasons. Even so, most of the students are eager to know the application first before learning the theories. So, in my class, before starting the principles and methods of a topic, first I teach them the real-life application and outcome of the chapter. Besides this, in engineering, when a person can see the mechanism of the machineries or processes he can easily comprehend the topic. That is why before starting the topics first I show them several related multimedia videos and 3D drawings of the processes. These techniques make the student more enthusiastic to learn the topic. And after completing each chapter, I used to give a group project to the student. These group projects were designed in such a way that they would not take more than a week. These group projects prepared and trained them to be a part of an organization or an industry. Moreover, since the group work did not depict individual capabilities of a student, it was also required to assess the students through several quizzes.

In essence, my teaching philosophy is to engage students in theoretical knowledge, real life applications, group work and critical thinking. (Hla)

9. Teaching Philosophy

If I have a chance to teach undergraduate students in the Atmospheric Science major, I will follow these strategies.

First of all, a teacher is a person who has more experience than the student. So, I should give them good guidance as well as knowledge. Undergraduate students don’t have special interest about atmospheric science. Some just a little want to know about the weather; others select this course by mistake. In my opinion, the teacher is a kind of leader, not a great person. Through my whole life, I’ve got a lot of experiences. Some of them have really helped my life; some of them have not. Based on my experiences, I can encourage them and have sympathy with what they really want to know.

Secondly, my class will be an open-minded class. I will not only focus on the knowledge. I would like to have my student enjoy the class. I will teach in a very easy way. I try to avoid using difficult words, because I want to make students feel more comfortable in my course.

Lastly, I will give them more chances to go on field trips. Atmospheric science is closely related to the environment. So, field trips make them think positively about their major. After the field trip, I will make small groups and make them do presentations. Working with a small group, they will share their feelings and knowledge together. During the course, they realize why this major is really important our life. Students will learn how science enriches our lives. As a result, students will have fun while studying atmospheric science.

Following these philosophies, I will make my students enjoy not only my class but also atmospheric science. (Jimin)

10. Teaching Philosophy

                  There is a famous verse in Indian culture in Sanskrit language, “Gurur Brahma gurur Vishnu gurur devo Maheshwara, gurur sakshat parabrahma tasmai shree guruvey namah”, meaning the teacher (guru) is the creator (Brahma), the preserver (Vishnu) and destroyer (Shiva) and to that very teacher I bow, for He is the Supreme Being, right before my eyes. Learning this right at childhood I always wanted to become a teacher and just like my teachers shape young minds. We as students respected and loved our teachers beyond words. I always wanted to make concepts that were difficult to understand easier to comprehend for students. What better start to achieving this goal is there, than a chance to teach Engineering Mechanics class 101 to fresh minds of ABC University?

                  I begin my class with a generic discussion about mechanics with my students. I try to understand, what students who haven’t yet immersed themselves in the laws and problems of mechanics, think of the subject as. Often the innocent and simple thoughts are provoking even to a teacher. I have observed that most of the students think engineering mechanics is about car repairs or the complex mechanical stuff. This is, in a way, true, so I do not discourage their answers, but give them the actual definition of engineering mechanics through daily life examples. These examples are so close to our life, like walking, riding a bike uphill or downhill, riding a bike on a circular road, see-saw play, firing a gun etc., that they cannot help but think of everything they see and wonder, now what is the hidden mechanics of this system? Mechanics is applied physics; all it requires is an inquisitive mind, just like those of our favorite scientists Newton and Einstein. I often use power point slides for my lectures but I often steer the conversation into real life examples. I also use videos clips, which is my students’ favorite, as per the feedback, since I pull them from famous sci-fi movies and cartoons.

                  Well, once their minds are curious I explain to them all the important engineering mechanics laws and proofs as their syllabus demands. To develop the interest I ask students to get problems around them concerning the new laws learnt. And in the class or during the lab time we discuss the application of laws to those specific problems. I have tried to assign lab work for all applied physics problems like collision of elastic bodies (law of conservation of momentum), simple/compound pendulum, inclined plane experiment (to determine coefficient of fiction), path of a projectile, etc. In the lab they get to solve quizzes individually or engineering mechanics problem solving tests in groups. I focus more on group-based problem solving since this makes them discuss formulae and their application among themselves rather than having a teacher bombard it on them. The groups are made in a way such that students with a lesser interest in the topic are paired with students with more interest, thus keeping all motivated enough. Projects are group based and very practical. I have observed that this really pushes students to start applying their engineering minds. I have had very successful projects which have won project competitions from the very same class. According to a survey, students like MCQ exams more than descriptive exams, thus I keep the exam questions multiple choice type.

                  As a student I tried to do my best from the motivation I received my teachers. I have tried to take the best practices of my professors and create an interesting course. The overall feedback of this class and system has been good and I intend to carry this teaching system ahead to my other classes too. -Snigdha Kshirsagar

11. Teaching Philosophy

                  As an instructor of shale mineralogy in college, I will focus on four aspects to achieve the expected outcomes. First of all, I will fasten on group work. Looking back to my undergraduate and graduate study, I think group work is one of the most efficient ways that can help students to obtain and improve their teamwork skill. There are various patterns of group work, including group project, group presentation, etc. I will divide the students in my class into several groups, let them read papers or theses related to shale mineralogy and do the group presentation. I think during this process, they will face many different kinds of problems, such as task assignment, time balancing, etc., but they will figure out how to overcome these and finally improve their teamwork skill.

Secondly, I will concentrate on critical thinking. To be a critical thinker is one of the requisites of being a qualified researcher. In order to arouse this potentiality of my students, I will guide them to think critically, and encourage them to point out any mistake I might make or they find while reading any articles.

Thirdly, I will assign the first ten to fifteen minutes of each class to be used as the review session. I will have my students review and memorize the knowledge they have learned after class, and the review session will help them to recall this knowledge and deepen their memory.

Lastly, I will give attention to the field trip. Field trip skills, such as distinguishing different types of shale, mapping geological cross-sections of shale, measuring strikes and dips, etc., are indispensable for every geologist. Since I will teach the mineralogy of shale, field trips will let my students directly touch and feel different types of shale in nature, not only in the laboratory or just by imagining the image in their brain. I hope by this field trip experience in my class, students could identify different types of shale by using naked eyes and a hand lens, based on the knowledge they have learned in class, such as different types of color, grain size, mineral compositions, etc.  (Siyu)

12. Teaching Philosophy

                  I always think about how to teach someone what I have just learned. This attitude drives me to become a teacher. As a Chemical Engineering major, I want to be an instructor of a junior class in undergraduate. Since the way of teaching depends on students and their major, I want to design my course in such a way that it will help students to enjoy the class.

 It is very important for instructors to have a thorough knowledge on the subject that they want to teach. I have developed a good communication skill with the audience. I believe that I am well prepared for the class and I know how to teach students at their level of knowledge. I will use both power point presentation and conventional blackboard. I will show some interesting videos related to the class. I will demonstrate all equations on the blackboard which are needed to solve problems.  At the very beginning of class, I will give a detailed syllabus and tentative schedule to the students. I would encourage students to read about the topic before class begins. This prior knowledge helps them to understand more quickly. Students are encouraged to ask any questions during the class and also during office hours. I will encourage students to think about topics and whether these make practical sense or not. If they have a clear idea about a topic, they will be able to solve any related problems in quizzes and exams. I am also aware that students are busy with their other classes, so I want to ensure that everything will be simple and conceptual questions. Finally, the students will be asked to do projects both individual and group. For individual project, I will give them freedom to select any interesting topic that they like most. I will also give a group project so that they can work together on a problem and end up with a solution. Students should submit a report and an oral presentation on their projects so that they can improve their writing and public speaking skill. I will give extra credits for asking questions after the presentation.

In summary, I believe that my experiences, detailed demonstrations, easy and conceptual exams, and projects will make the class very enjoyable, and effective. I hope that students will be inspired to make Chemical Engineering their major after taking my class. (Nazir Hossain)

13. Teaching Philosophy

                  Teaching is one of the most beautiful jobs in the world. I have worked as a teacher for eight years and during these eight years, I have taught many students from different backgrounds and cultures. As I teach, I continue to grow and develop and gain experience every single day. I am currently a MA student in the Applied Linguistics department and my dream is to teach the Arabic language to nonnative speakers of Arabic. By studying Applied Linguistics, I have gained a better understanding of the best and most recent teaching methods present today. As I continue to research and work with these methods of teaching, I begin to realize my students’ needs and make adjustments based on their needs.

                  One of the most important methods that I truly believe in is communicative language teaching. One of the most important things that my students need to learn is how to actually communicate in the real world and not just inside the classroom. I believe in creating settings for my students in which they are pushed to negotiate meaning and elicit pragmatic rules used in the language. I also believe in the importance of providing my students with a large amount of comprehensible input. In addition, I truly believe in the importance of reading. I think that reading is a great tool for helping language learners develop and learn a language effectively.

                  Furthermore, I believe in the use of technology in the classroom. With today’s generation, the use of technology can be used as a way to make the material presented to the learners more interesting and more accessible. Moreover, technology allows for a large number of opportunities for learners to interact with native speakers of Arabic all over the world. Such opportunities place learners in interaction that is similar to that of the real world. I also think that technology helps teachers find an easier way to meet each of their learners’ needs.

                  I also believe in group work during class time because it allows learners to discuss and learn from each other. Also, during group work, students’ critical thinking is encouraged and their noticing of different aspects of the language increases. I also believe in assessing my students through engaging instruments, such as doing group projects and completing quizzes, tasks and assignments which push them and require them to actually use the Arabic language. I truly think that it is important to create a positive and stress-free environment for my students. I think that a positive environment will motivate them and help them learn the language better.

                  In addition, as a teacher, I think it is very important for me to try to find out how my students feel about a certain method used in the classroom. I really think that teachers should take their students’ evaluations seriously and the teacher should try to address any problems that the students find.

                  Teaching is a continuous learning process and every day new methods in the field emerge. Thus, I think it is very important for me as a teacher to search for new and advanced ways to help my students learn. I also believe that teachers need to be aware of the fact that their learners’ needs change from generation to generation and as a result these needs have to be addressed. For example, younger students would find the use of technology to learn more interesting, because they use technology all the time as opposed to older generations. Because they are used to technology, they want things faster and more accessible.  (Abdullah Hidan)

14. Teaching Philosophy

                  As a graduate student in the Chemistry Department, I have been thinking about how to become a great teacher and what is important to be a great teacher. For students, they will be very lucky to have a great teacher when they first encounter chemistry. It’s not only because good teachers can teach knowledge to the students, but also a great teacher can inspire them and spawn their interest in chemistry. Therefore, I think a great chemistry teacher should at least have two characteristics illustrated blow.

                  Being a great teacher, the most important characteristic is that he/she has a great passion for teaching. Only with such an active passion can the teacher pass knowledge to his/her students easily and smoothly in diverse ways. One example is explaining the concept of oxidation-reduction reaction to students. An oxidation-reduction reaction occurs at the molecular level, which means it’s hard for students to imagine and perceive what exactly happens between different reagents in this process. If the teacher has a strong motivation to explain this process to his/her students, he/she will try all means to help students to understand it. He/she may collect many vivid examples, use a molecular model, or show an animation video, all of which can provide different viewpoints for the process.

                  The second important characteristic that a chemistry teacher should have is ability to foster an active atmosphere in class. Chemistry has its own emphasis: it’s an experimental science. Based on this property, the teacher should carry out experiments and let his/her students carefully watch these experiments, or ask students to actively work on the experiments in groups or individually and let them observe experimental phenomena. That is, letting students get involved in the class is an effective method driving students to think and learn. A good teacher should have such ability to provide students an interactive environment for them to learn more effectively.

                  In sum, I think a great chemistry teacher should have a strong motivation to teach knowledge to his/her students. At the same time, a great chemistry teacher should create an environment where his/her students will enjoy the course.  (Yu Zhang)

15. Teaching Philosophy

                  I have been a teacher for 14 and a half years in China. I taught English to non-English major students. My teaching philosophy is to motivate them to learn voluntarily. My teaching philosophy is realized by creating bonds with my class, encouraging them and being a good role model in language learning.

                  I believe people can only be taught when they want to learn and take initiative. Motivating the students to learn voluntarily in my class starts with creating bonds with them. I smile a lot in my class. I prepare my lecture thoroughly. When I teach, I maintain a lot of interaction with my class. When I call their names to answer questions, I often call their given names. This is considered the symbol of intimacy in China. The students trust me and they feel that I love them and care about them.

                  The second step to motivate the students to learn voluntarily is to encourage them and encourage them a lot. When they voice their opinion or ask some questions, I always give them some positive comments. They feel that the compliment I give to them is genuine and sincere. When they feel valued, they will devote more to whatever they are doing.

                  The third step is to be a good role model in language learning. I often tell my students, “Even if you are not in an English-speaking country, you can still learn English well. All you can do is create an English surrounding on your own. So you can be exposed to English all the time. How do you realize that? You listen to English whenever and wherever you are. This is how I learn English well, even though I have never been abroad.” I believe there is no better way to learn than from a master. The students need to know the right method of learning a language. They need the teachers who can be their friends. They need the teachers who show them how. They need the teachers who can always be there, encourage them, support them and, most importantly, love them. I thrive to be a teacher like that.

                  In conclusion, my teaching philosophy is to motivate my students to learn voluntarily. This teaching philosophy results in active involvement of students in my class, good bonds with my students and students’ great interest in learning English. (Lucy)