Teaching is one of the most enjoyable parts of my profession in my opinion and I am passionate about seeking ways to enhance the educational experience for the students. Towards that end, I welcome all feedback from prior and current students, and also welcome potential collaborators for research on chemical education.
In the fall of 2021, I had the honor of being accepted into the Teaching Academy of the Public Universities in Iceland, as one of the academy's founding members. I am really thankful for this honor and as the Teaching Academy gets more active, I will add more information here. If you are curious about the Teaching Academy, feel free to contact me, especially if you are in Iceland and are curious about how to apply for the Teaching Academy.
Teaching principles
In my teaching approach, there are four principles that I try to prioritize (with varied success, but constantly working to improve):
- Intrinsic motivation - I believe that learning should be an enjoyable experience, so I try my best to show how it can be fun, both with demonstrations where possible, connections with pop cultures, fun puzzles, and sometimes artistic approaches (see more below).
- Critical thinking - In today's world, critical thinking is more important than ever, when we are bombarded with often conflicting information. We, therefore, need to foster our critical thinking skills, e.g. by asking questions including "how do we know this or that?" and being mindful of the limitations of experiments and our knowledge in general
- Clear communication - Understanding the subject is one thing, but clearly communicating the material is another thing that we need to practice, both through writing (e.g. in lab reports), and in presentations where the opportunities arise.
- Safe learning environment - I believe we are more open and successful in learning when we feel comfortable and safe. I try my best to foster a safe learning environment in the classroom, placing an emphasis on treating others with respect and kindness, and keeping in mind that when we are learning new material, it is quite understandable to make mistakes and not have all of the answers. It takes work and mistakes are learning opportunities, especially in the classroom. The main thing is to continue to grow in our understanding, and realize that it takes work, but we can get there, especially when we work on it together 🙂
Arts in teaching
The arts have always fascinated me and through the years, and where possible, I've often incorporated some art into the classroom, be it a chemistry cartoon (e.g. from the brilliant ACS Sketch chemistry series) or musical parodies or original songs. Here below I will be adding some of the artistic endeavors of mine, which may grow through the years (but some of it may stay unpublished, to be mainly used in the classroom):
- Can you see that aromat(ic compound) - a parody of Can you feel the love tonight from the Lion King, discussing aromatic compounds and electrophilic aromatic substitutions
- I'll be an OChem pro - a parody of "How far I'll go" from Moana, mostly for fun, but touching a bit on oxidations
- Kinetic run (sheet music) - a song I wrote for one of the pre-lab lectures for OChem at Pomona College
- more to come maybe...