Teaching philosophy

I believe that there are many ways by which the traditional teaching system could be improved. It has been shown that lecturing itself is not an effective teaching method since the learning and retention levels of students are low.

New studies have shown that using delivery styles such as Student-Based Learning, Active Learning, and Problem-Base Learning are more beneficial for students. Envisioning myself as a faculty member in the near future, my goal will be to use new teaching and learning methodologies to develop new educational material and delivery strategies that will ease the learning process of students.

To prepare for my teaching career, I took a College Teaching course at Michigan Tech. This course allowed me to learn and be critical about novel teaching methods that has been used at universities around the U.S. My plan is to use this learning to foster productive faculty-student relationships.

My teaching philosophy promotes an environment in which the professor and the students interact in a positive, respectful, and ethical manner. The role of the professor should be to present the material and to promote critical thinking in students with the goal of persuading students to use ¨life cycle thinking¨ as the basis of their education. To accomplish this the professor should persuade students to ask questions, to discuss, and debate about the material of the class not just take it by granted.

An important role of the professor it to remind students of the ethical and responsible behavior that they should embrace in their careers and life.

Classes

My teaching philosophy is motivated by my interest in education, the environment, and society. Sustainability plays a key role on the way I look at education, therefore, I consider myself a contemporary educator. I strongly believe that engineering courses should go beyond ''applied topics'' and include discussion and applications of the broader impacts of engineering and technology.

Courses that I would offer in the future are:

1. Responsible engineering practices
2. Human factors
3. Engineering for the environment
4. Mathematical modeling for sustainability
5. Life cycle analysis
6. Sustainability design and manufacturing
7. Industrial ecology
8. Mechanics of nanoparticle adhesion/removal