A Teaching Philosophy

A Teaching Philosophy

Brian Whitworth

My teaching philosophy is a general philosophy and a teaching practice.

General Philosophy

Three principles

Three things seem to me important in teaching, and I like their Latin names:

1. Veritas.Truthfulness, course quality and integrity. Knowing the subject well.

Supported by: Course exam/assignment peer review.

2.Benignitas. Kindness, consideration, goodwill and respect to students.

Supported by: Student instructor evaluations.

3. Aequitas. Fairness and equality to students, within and between classes.

Supported by: Grade frequency review by teaching team peers.

The philosophy is that to be a good teacher you need all three qualities. Student learning obviously decreases if instructors do not know their subject (Veritas failure), are unduly harsh and inconsiderate to students (Benignitas failure), or if students are not graded fairly (Aequitas failure). Some examples are:

1Veritas failures

a)A teacher who gives a student who does not understand the subject an A may be kind, but lacks integrity, and disrespects the subject taught.

b)A teacher who gives a 15 multi-choice question final exam is grading everyone equally, but it is a poor quality assessment of a semester course.

2Benignitas failures

a)A teacher who teaches correct material that is too difficult for the students has integrity, but is being inconsiderate to their students.

b)A teacher who grades so any error in an exam answer gets a zero grade is being fair, but is being too harsh on their students.

3Aequitas failures

a)Giving one student who begs (but has no other reason) a special chance to redo an assignment or exam to raise their grade, may be kindness, but it is not fair if the others in the class didn’t get that chance to raise their grade.

b)A professor who grades their section very hard, while another section taken by an adjunct is graded much easier, has integrity, but the students are not being fairly treated.

Quality teaching requires all three factors. One factor alone is not enough, as failure in any of the above three areas can significantly reduce learning.

Without Veritas, courses lack substance and/or relevance. When students see the course has little value, they wonder, “Why am I paying for this?” They feel they know as much as, if not more, than their instructor. This is not a good learning attitude. They may feel the course is a “cake-walk”, or out of date, or irrelevant. In contrast, after a course with veritas students feel pride that they have learned something of value. They genuinely respect the course and subject, no matter how they did. Students disrespect courses without veritas by not reading (or buying) the textbook, by not studying, by not attending classes, and by just making up answers from their imagination in exams and assignments. They expect points based on the quantity they write, not the quality. Without veritas, courses produce incompetent and unprofessional graduates.

Without Benignitas, courses are a war between the instructor and the instructed. Neither likes the other, and the course is the battleground. Professors routinely downgrade their “useless” students, who “don’t know anything”. Students dislike their arrogant Professors, and try to outwit them. It is well known in Psychology that complex learning is reduced under stress. Also few students can dislike the teacher but like the subject, so come to hate the subject because of the teacher. When setting exams, such instructors without benignitas like teaching one thing then testing another, to “catch them out”. They feel the student “enemy” deserve to fail. Students know they are being set up to fail. They dislike the teacher because the teacher dislikes them. Education becomes a negative chore, instead of a natural evolution we all want. Whether courses are online or off, it is still the human teacher whose spark ignites the flame of learning. It is people who inspire people. Without benignitas, education is a sad business that produces uninspired technical experts with no vision.

Without Aequitas, students find their grades vary according to the professor they get. It pays to shop around for easy classes, rather than to study. Web sites like rateyourprofessor.com tell who gives high grades. Student effort goes from learning to looking for easy credits. The attitude that develops in institutions without aequitas is the desire to get something for nothing. Getting grades without doing work is a form of cheating. Conversely, some professors will give high grades for low work just to get good student ratings. This is a form of faculty “cheating”. Cheating always degrades morale. It reduces trust in one’s colleagues, the system, and ultimately, oneself. When good students work hard for grades, and see lazy students getting good grades by cheating, their morale goes down. When good professors work hard see other faculty succeeding by teaching poorly and giving A’s, their morale also goes down. Cheating raises the incompetent and reduces the competent, and grade inflation is symptomatic of this educational decline. When all students get As for all courses, the academic system will have failed entirely. Without aequitas, education produces many fakers and cheaters instead of professionals.

Developing education

How can these three teaching factors be developed? Each needs a different approach.

Developing Veritas, usually involves peer assessment. Students are not really in a position to assess either the validity or even the relevance of most course content. Accreditation is a common veritas method, where an expert team visits to review academic integrity. Yet this external peer review usually only occurs every few years. It makes sense to prepare for it by carrying out internal peer reviews each semester. This makes accreditation easy. It means forming teaching groups under Course Coordinators, who manage peer assessment. Teaching team instructors exchange course and assessment material for moderation (checking). The result is that peers almost always find errors, often major ones. Moderation of course material gives better exams and assignments. When it is group sanctioned, people will carry it out as part of their normal duties. Because each person both assesses and is assessed, it is not a hierarchical thing. After having done it once or twice, and seen the manifest benefits, most people continue with internal peer review even though it is more work.

Developing Benignitas, usually involves students rating their instructors. These ratings are linked to promotions. If a Professor is mean to their students, they will get poor ratings, which may affect their career. The bottom line of teaching is that if you don’t like students you shouldn’t teach. All teachers find students frustrating, but tolerate them like a good parent because they love them (generically not individually). Benignitas is a belief in the goodness of students. Sure they make mistakes, but nearly always they are trying, and who can ask more? I would rather have a “dumb” student who is trying to learn than clever one who isn’t, any day. Trying to get to know your students is an act of kindness. To understand them is the greatest thing. Every student wears a big sign that says “Look at me!”. This is not bad. Attention is a natural need we all have, so it is kind to give attention to students. Learn their names, find out about them, recognize their state of happy or sad. Forget yourself and “externally consider” your students. Another way to benignitas is to have class representatives who discuss course improvements with you. The class is your ally in this “thing of ours”, that we call learning.

Developing Aequitas means being fair. For example, one’s grade should not vary if the Professor knows or likes you, or is in a good mood. It should depend on your work, not on getting an “easy” instructor. If pass rates differ significantly between same course sections, this is not fair. If the student’s grade depend on their performance, this is fair. If a tenured full professor and a contract salaried instructor teach different sections of the same course, they need some way to ensure consistency. Instructors must get together to ensure common standards, so the same student effort gives the same grade regardless of who grades the course. One way is to exchange grade frequencies (% number of As, Bs etc) within the teaching group, via course coordinators. This is a check on fairness between course sections, and the teaching group must resolve any conflicts. If one instructor is giving all As and another is giving none, they need to get together and talk. Ideally the Department reviews course results before they are submitted to the Registrar, with the power to reject. At the very least, grade frequencies should be reviewed the semester after, and the Department’s comments recorded.

Summary

Few institutions formally recognize in educational assessment, training and support all the above concepts. Yet all are important in teaching. If they are important, educational support systems should recognize them. When institutions support subject integrity, kindness to students and course consistency, students realize three things:

1. The faculty support their learning.
2. What they are learning is valid.
3. Their learning depends on their effort.

These impressions improve the learning experience. Kindness means students are set up to succeed, not to fail. Subject integrity means that what they are being taught has intrinsic value. Fairness means that individuals are responsible for their own outcomes. A balanced three level teaching system, of kindness, truthfulness and fairness, increases the educational goal - learning. Educational institutes, student associations and teaching faculty should support the guiding principles of veritas,benignitas and aequitas.

Teaching Practice

All of the above principles support the main practical goal of education, to prepare students for life in society. It is not kind to students to not prepare them for their future career, nor is it good for the subject discipline taught, nor is it fair to society to fail to properly educate. At a University students should learn not only content, but also sociability and effectualness. Some good practices for teaching are:

• Issue syllabus and assignments in the first class: Then the students know what happens when, and what they have to do. The syllabus contains a lesson timetable, assessment percentages, and due dates. I give students printed copies of the syllabus in the first class, and ask them to bring it every time. Each class we check the syllabus and see what’s on and what’s due when. Before each assignment we go over the requirements carefully. I issue all assignments for the whole course on the first day, with the syllabus, so those who plan can do so. Those who leave things to the last minute are free to do so too!
• Discuss the syllabus: The syllabus is a contract between the professor and the students. It explains what the course is about, how it is assessed, what classes are when, when assignments are due and so on. Students should see and agree to this joint arrangement at the first class. Any changes, we write on their copy in class.
• Start and finish classes on time. It is a good thing for a class to start on time and finish on time. Being late is often ineffectualness, and in a job regular lateness can result in dismissal. Hence it is a good practice to turn up to class on time, both for the professor and the students. Students should also aim to get work in one time, and likewise it should be graded within a reasonable time frame, such as two weeks.
• Fix errors but don’t “negotiate” grades. I suggest to students that their grade depends on them, not my attitude to them, so “I do not grade you – you grade yourselves by your efforts”. Your grade is your grade. We grade in a professional and unbiased way, but sometimes mistakes happen, so for every exam, go over the answers and points allocated. On multi-choice questions, students can check each right answer and add up their total. If there is an error, we fix it right away.
• Negotiate the classroom. For example the concept of “start on time and finish on time” is a class decision rather than my decision imposed. If a lot of people come in ten minutes late, I ask if the class if they would prefer to start and finish ten minutes later. When they realize rules are by mutual arrangement, students are very good. Some will come and tell me why they are late. We talk and get an understanding.
• Start with motivation. Students need motivational support. The teaching role is as much a motivator as an information provider. In the first class, try to establish why the course is relevant, how they will benefit personally, e.g. in user centred computing, spend time convincing students that human factors are important in system design. One may also have to convince them that they can do well.
• Like and respect your students. To teach students well you have to like them, and want them to do well. Part of liking them is remembering their names. I don’t have a particularly good memory, so begin by asking them to put their names up on folded paper signs. After a few weeks, I can ask questions in class by name. Respecting your students means to honestly accept that while now you may know more than them in this topic, many of them are, or will be, much better than you. It is a privilege to teach many of them.
• Humour and interest. Students are people too, and we all get bored. It helps them to make classes interesting not boring. Humour creates interest by making unusual connections. Part of this is not following too rigid a format, such as just reading your notes. This also makes classes interesting for you, as you never know what will come up. If you are teaching the same topic for the umpteenth time in a boring way your students will be bored. A good teacher should also be learning, so you never know when some student may give you a revelation.
• Encourage active learning. Active learning has many aspects, from student projects to asking questions in class. Students learn more by what they do, than by what you say. Encourage questions in class, and trying out what they learn in projects and real life. Give time in class to work on group projects, and walk around to give direct feedback. Actions engages students, and a student is not learning if they are not engaged. Many people don’t like active learning because they worry they will lose control. However a noisy classroom can be a productive one.
• Encourage students to get to know others in the class and work cooperatively. In my classes group work is encouraged, but still an option. Students are not forced to work in groups, or assigned to groups. A good student who dislikes “free riders” may choose to work alone, though naturally this means more work. Those that work in groups always choose their group. It is voluntary, and if necessary, a group can “divorce”, and I give procedures for that. Finally, I let groups assess each other’s contribution, and take it into account in grading.

The main “philosophy” then I have about teaching is that it is important to know and enjoy your subject, like the students as people, and treat them fairly within your teaching peer group. Students can pick up that you enjoy a subject, they know if you basically like them, and the good ones prefer fairness. These things strongly affect student’s attitude and effort, and what they learn from a course.