My Teaching Philosophy
Overview
By teaching undergraduate and graduate level courses over the past three years, I have realized my great passion for teaching and discovered several common characteristics among construction management students: diverse learning styles, distinct backgrounds, and different expectations. To effectively serve students, it is critical to accommodate students’ diverse characteristics and motivate everyone so that they can achieve their best results. I also realized that a good self-learning skill is crucial for everyone to survive and thrive in today’s world because knowledge is increasing explosively. I always endeavor to introduce students to new technologies used in the construction industry because mastering some of the high-technology tools can potentially place them in an advantageous position in the job market and future career path. In implementation, I am willing to utilize any innovative teaching approaches and new technologies if they can facilitate students’ learning processes. I would love to teach and develop graduate and undergraduate courses such as estimating, scheduling, project management, building information modeling, research methods, and construction drawings.
Accommodation of Diverse Learning Styles
Many students learn by listening to lecturers and taking notes. This type of students tend to pay close attention. To be beneficial to them, I encourage active participation by fostering a discussion environment to inspire them and encourage them to think “outside the box.” I ask them questions occasionally because asking questions helps facilitate discussion and retain attention. I also urge students to ask critical and deep questions because being able to ask the right questions requires thinking and thorough understanding.
In contrast, some students prefer learning on their own and need teachers only when they have doubts. For those students, I tend to give as much freedom as possible, but I ensure that they know I am approachable and always willing to help. In addition, I check their understanding and progress intermittently, ensuring that they are on the same page as the rest of the class.
Other students find hands-on practice more effective than listening to lectures when gaining new knowledge. To facilitate learning among this group of students, I prepare in-class exercises and homework so that they can have enough practice in and outside class.
In practice, it is unreasonable to rely on only one teaching technique (lecturing or discussion) to fit different learning styles. Hence, I combine a variety of toolkits to accommodate diverse learning styles. To motivate students, I always impress them by showing spectacular deliverables they can achieve at the beginning of the semester.
Accommodating the Differences in Student Backgrounds and Expectations
In construction management, there are some nontraditional students who are experienced and highly motivated but are weak in academic background. They can positively influence the traditional students. While nontraditional students initially require more attention and help from instructors, their success can greatly motivate traditional students. Traditional students also can learn a great deal from nontraditional students in terms of working experience. On the other hand, traditional students can share learning skills with nontraditional students to help them catch up quickly and succeed.
There is a distinct difference in students’ expectations. Some students desire to learn as much as possible and are willing to dedicate a great deal of time and effort. A few students, in contrast, desire only to fulfill the minimum requirements to attain the course credits. As an instructor, it is essential to satisfy the aspirational students to learn more and to motivate the less motivated ones. There were a couple of dedicated students in my class for whom I had to prepare extra materials. On the other hand, there were several students who needed the credits to get a minor. It was a challenge to motivate those students. Instead of merely relying on a midterm and a final exam, I distributed the grades among several deliverables including in-class exercises, assignments, a project, and exams. This forced them to learn more than they planned. Those students were thrilled after they finished an artistic 3D model in SketchUp.
Attitude toward New Technologies and Self-Learning Skills
Leading construction companies are embracing new technologies to improve productivity and efficiency; therefore, it is crucial for students to master those technologies. Because Revit, Navisworks, and Synchro are widely used, I would like to incorporate those tools into my classes. In fact, I taught a 3D modeling program, SketchUp, in a construction drawing class. It turned out that students were very interested in it and developed some fantastic models.
Self-learning skill is crucial to success in a career. For instance, to improve and fix defects in programs, software developers continue updating their products. Hence, self-learning skill becomes extremely important to keep up with the updates. However, this is applicable to not only updating knowledge about software but also learning new knowledge or skills needed for career advancement. To foster self-learning skills, I created opportunities in my classes through group assignments and projects requiring students to learn an online program.
Summary
Because of the different learning styles among students, my goal is to best accommodate the difference by using different pedagogical techniques to help every student achieve their best results. My philosophy is to always ensure that every student can succeed regardless of his or her background. I always make myself available whenever students need help. I consider using and teaching new technologies as an important pedagogical task. To help students be well prepared and stand out in future careers, I will do my utmost to equip them with good self-learning skills.
