Emerging Teaching Philosophy

During my freshman year of high school a teacher came into class after some important political decision had been made and asked us our opinion. We all sort of looked at each other and looked blankly back at her.  She wanted to know what we thought of what had happened.  Later she told me that she didn’t really care what our opinion was, but she wanted us to have thought about it—to have an opinion.  Later, during my time at Virginia Tech, this ability to critically think through a problem was thoroughly developed. I talk of my time at Virginia Tech not only as an education but also as a training time. I was trained to be a problem solver. I was trained to think.

I have had the good fortune to be a teaching assistant for almost three years. Most of the trouble I see with these young students stems from two problems: an almost unbelievable inability to do math and the inability to understand a problem and how to break it down into manageable steps—how to think through a problem.

 

I spend much of my time helping the students understand what the problem is asking and what they need to do to correctly solve the problem.  When they appear stumped, I always start with the same line, “You know more than you think you do.” It is almost like some students need permission to think outside of the box a bit. They often reflexively grab for the first equation they can think of and head off, full steam, in the wrong direction in a frenzy.  I have had students who cannot seem to start a five step problem because they didn’t know the fourth step even though they know the first three. One time a student with whom I had a great rapport was too nervous to start a problem because she wasn’t a hundred percent sure she was doing it correctly. I took her pencil, flipped it upside down and said, “You have an eraser, it’ll be fine.” She laughed, got the point and started on the problem.  Many of my students don’t realize that being wrong is part of the process of learning, perhaps the greatest part.  Eleanor Duckworth describes this approach in her article, “The Virtue of Not Knowing.” Here she stresses the importance of the process of coming to the answer as opposed to the significance of the final answer.

 

Many times in office hours I have told my students to close their books, turn off their phones, close their notes and just listen. Just listen and think.  It seems many students come from an educational background where success was measured by the ability to memorize as much material as possible. This method of teaching seems to be prevalent in the climate of AP classes and exams. Unfortunately, in my experience, it doesn’t work on a long term scale. Whether a student is working towards acceptance into a four year college of his or her choosing or has opted into a technical program of training or is heading straight into the work force or armed forces, straight memorization is only successful in a high school classroom. Professors, mentors and supervisors are looking for students who can think through a complex problem and develop a working solution. I have attended a technical college, worked in the industrial sector, been a graduate student in a liberal arts college and have worked as both a research assistant and teaching assistant and I can say with complete certainty that the future is looking for individuals who have the talent to think.

 

Part of my training at Virginia Tech involved thinking through problems that were well outside of the scope of chemical engineering. Our professors trained us to logically think through a complex problem and break it down into manageable steps.  I think this kind of thinking needs to be cultivated in high school. The economy now and for the foreseeable future promises a surplus of applicants and a dwindling pool of positions.  One way for an applicant to stand out from the crowd is to have developed an ability to become a true problem solver for this vital skill can be applied to any situation.

 

I love chemistry and very much want to teach it at the high school level. But, I also want to teach students skills that can be taken from chemistry and applied throughout their entire lives. I deeply believe helping students learn how to tackle problems, think critically and determine a solution will help them in many aspects of their lives including in the school environment and outside of it. I have come down on the losing end of a discussion here at Bryn Mawr concerning the periodic table. My professor at the time insisted on memorizing it.  I insisted that it was not the best use of my time. And I feel the same for the students I teach. I would rather test their knowledge of how to use the table rather than their ability to stay up late the night before and memorize it and then promptly dump the information from their brains five minutes after the exam. That is not learning. That is not using the students, the teachers or the material to the best of its ability. That is not teaching. Roger Lewin once stated, "Too often we give children answers to remember rather than problems to solve.” I want to teach students to think.