My career in engineering education began with having the right opportunities, more than anything else. When I went back to graduate school I was pretty sure that I wanted to teach when I finished my Ph.D. I had a very positive experience as an undergraduate and have always felt that I would enjoy the opportunity to be on the other side of the lectern.
Passion for the content
I think my students appreciate my enthusiasm and passion for the material in my courses and my willingness to try new approaches to teaching and learning such as new classroom assessment techniques, flipped classrooms, and collaborative learning. I try to help them develop confidence about their own abilities with the material in the courses I teach (I teach primarily calculus based engineering analysis or engineering mathematics). I also try to get them to appreciate that becoming a deep learner in my class will help them be successful in more challenging discipline specific classes that they will face in the near future.
I tell them to check your work and admit when you made a mistake. Since I teach primarily freshman and sophomore students one of the things I try to get students to do is move from relying on me (or the answer in the back of the book) to determine if they have the right answer. I encourage students to start thinking in terms of convincing themselves that their answer is correct or is a good answer, rather than wanting me to tell them if what they have done is correct or incorrect. In addition, I try to teach students to become self-regulated learners, regularly reminding them that in the workplace it won’t be the case that they will already know everything they need to know, their job will be to figure out solutions and convince others why their solution is the best solution.
Establish boundaries for research time
Time and focus are the two biggest challenges for me in balancing teaching and research. Any class, with any number of students can easily take all of your available time and energy if you let it. You have to establish boundaries that allow you to have time for your research. I usually try to set aside specific times that are for research, regardless of my teaching obligations. You can balance both teaching and research, but one of them will always be “more important” than the other, and for me teaching takes precedent. However, I do leave time in my schedule for research and I always remind myself how nice it is to share my research experiences with students in my classes.
ASEE membership
The First Bell newsletter is something I really enjoy and I think helps me be aware of trends and happenings in engineering education.
I strongly believe that there are tremendous benefits to be had from new approaches to teaching and learning engineering. To see more wide spread adoption of research based approaches to teaching and learning there is a real need to provide engineering educators with 1) professional development opportunities that lead to deep understanding of research based approaches to teaching and learning and 2) adequate time to implement those strategies. I know ASEE already has some related services, but I would like to see ASEE play a greater role in both coordinating currently available resources from a variety of institutions, and advocating for the establishment of additional relevant resources.
Outside of work
I live on 10 acres in Shelbyville, Kentucky and I enjoy spending time outside maintaining and enjoying my property.
My career in engineering education began with having the right opportunities, more than anything else. When I went back to graduate school I was pretty sure that I wanted to teach when I finished my Ph.D. I had a very positive experience as an undergraduate and have always felt that I would enjoy the opportunity to be on the other side of the lectern.
Passion for the content
I think my students appreciate my enthusiasm and passion for the material in my courses and my willingness to try new approaches to teaching and learning such as new classroom assessment techniques, flipped classrooms, and collaborative learning. I try to help them develop confidence about their own abilities with the material in the courses I teach (I teach primarily calculus based engineering analysis or engineering mathematics). I also try to get them to appreciate that becoming a deep learner in my class will help them be successful in more challenging discipline specific classes that they will face in the near future.
I tell them to check your work and admit when you made a mistake. Since I teach primarily freshman and sophomore students one of the things I try to get students to do is move from relying on me (or the answer in the back of the book) to determine if they have the right answer. I encourage students to start thinking in terms of convincing themselves that their answer is correct or is a good answer, rather than wanting me to tell them if what they have done is correct or incorrect. In addition, I try to teach students to become self-regulated learners, regularly reminding them that in the workplace it won’t be the case that they will already know everything they need to know, their job will be to figure out solutions and convince others why their solution is the best solution.
Establish boundaries for research time
Time and focus are the two biggest challenges for me in balancing teaching and research. Any class, with any number of students can easily take all of your available time and energy if you let it. You have to establish boundaries that allow you to have time for your research. I usually try to set aside specific times that are for research, regardless of my teaching obligations. You can balance both teaching and research, but one of them will always be “more important” than the other, and for me teaching takes precedent. However, I do leave time in my schedule for research and I always remind myself how nice it is to share my research experiences with students in my classes.
ASEE membership
The First Bell newsletter is something I really enjoy and I think helps me be aware of trends and happenings in engineering education.
I strongly believe that there are tremendous benefits to be had from new approaches to teaching and learning engineering. To see more wide spread adoption of research based approaches to teaching and learning there is a real need to provide engineering educators with 1) professional development opportunities that lead to deep understanding of research based approaches to teaching and learning and 2) adequate time to implement those strategies. I know ASEE already has some related services, but I would like to see ASEE play a greater role in both coordinating currently available resources from a variety of institutions, and advocating for the establishment of additional relevant resources.
Outside of work
I live on 10 acres in Shelbyville, Kentucky and I enjoy spending time outside maintaining and enjoying my property.
