TEACHING PHILOSOPHY
I believe the purpose of teaching is to expedite
the learning process and develop a comprehensive knowledge base for more
effective learning. Nowadays, knowledge is widely accessible from different
channels such as books, television, and, most recently, the web. However, the
profession of teaching is not obsolete. When students come into a classroom,
what they expect is to learn something that will take much more time if they are
learning by themselves. Therefore, teaching should not be a simple repetition of
what is already in the book. It is an intelligent process that requires the
active involvement of both the instructor and the students.
From my own experience as a student, I found that
learning is most efficient when I understand the underlying principles rather
than trying to memorize all the details. However, the principles are not always
clearly written. Through teaching, I want to help students organize the
information and discover the relationships among the knowledge that they have
learned. More importantly, I want my students to eventually develop their own
methodology for knowledge discovery and organization. One effective way to
achieve this goal is to let the student practice through course designing and/or
projects. My role in such a process will be to collaborate and to guide rather
than to teach.
Overall, I believe that, to be a good instructor, I
must first gain a good understanding of the course materials from the
perspective of teaching. Through preparation, the key points and the difficult
parts could be coherently identified and focused. Moreover, Computer Science is
a young and active area that is changing constantly. New principles and
technologies emerge everyday. I must keep learning to incorporate new knowledge
into my teaching materials.
Secondly, I will try to understand the nature of
each course I teach, theoretically and practically. Some people find that it is
usually more difficult to teach a theoretical course than a practical one
because of the abstract nature of the former. A common question from students is
why is it necessary to learn something. In such a case, a clear explanation on
the motivations is needed. It is also helpful to engage students in group
discussions and let them realize the importance of the course by themselves. In
the meantime, I would like to serve more as a participant of the discussion and
to guide my students to the right conclusion.
Thirdly, I will try to understand my students. I
found that the motivations for learning are often different for different
student groups. For example, strict discipline is usually needed for freshmen.
It is my responsibility to help them in a smooth transition from a high school
mindset into a college one. On the other hand, senior level students are often
well motivated and more disciplined. In such a case, I will spend more time in
preparing them for their future career.
Last but not the least, I will help my students to
learn what it means to be responsible and ethical as a future professional in
the area of Computer Science. I want them to respect and value the opinions and
ideas of others. Through learning, I also expect my students to understand the
bigger picture about the role that Computer Science plays in other academic
disciplines and in the daily lives of people.
As a freshman in an academic career, my views on
teaching and learning will certainly evolve with time. The practice of teaching
itself is a learning process for me. However, I will always strive to do my best
to teach based on what I have learned so far.
TEACHING INTERESTS
I have been interested in
teaching for many years. I graduated with a Bachelor degree from the East China
Normal University, which is dedicated to fostering future teachers.
I learned a lot of things about teaching there. For example, I took
courses like Pedagogics, Aesthetics and Psychology that taught us how to
instruct and understand students, and also how to interact and communicate with
people. My career goal is to become a faculty member who excels at both research
and teaching. Therefore, I took some seminars like "Instructional
Technology" and "Preparing Future Faculty" at the University of Kentucky,
to improve my teaching skills and to prepare myself for a successful career as a
faculty member. With Ph.D., M.S. and B.S. degrees from computer science and
applied mathematics, I believe I am well prepared, for teaching most of the
undergraduate-level and related graduate-level courses of computer
science/engineering and mathematics. Even
though I can teach all the CS/CSE courses, to utilize my expertise to the best,
I would prefer to teach courses in the areas of Computer Graphics, Image
Processing, Human-Computer Interface, Multimedia Systems and Distributed/Parallel Systems,
like database or computer operating systems.