Teaching Statement
My students learn to think clearly and critically, to argue charitably, and to connect course content to their lives beyond the classroom. I balance student-centered and content-driven lessons, with opportunities for independent and collaborative learning. My assignments and evaluations draw on Bloom’s Taxonomy, with frequent self-assessment and low-stakes practice. Also, I love teaching!
My Philosophy for Teaching Philosophy
Philosophy coursework is both informative and transformative. A good philosophy course teaches students to think clearly and critically, but it also challenges cherished beliefs and raises questions without definitive answers. Students find this frustrating and exhilarating. In all my courses, I help students locate this tension in themselves and turn it into a spirit of inquiry and wonder that will inform their lives and vocations.
This is especially true of my introduction to philosophy, The Examined Life. Every student has both explicit and implicit worldview commitments. In this course, I walk with my students through the major branches of philosophy and challenge them to (1) identify and scrutinize their own worldviews; (2) engage others’ worldviews charitably; (3) judge the nature, scope, and impact of their disagreements accurately; and (4) develop a toolkit for structuring their worldviews critically and comprehensively. In our final unit—Ethics and the Good Life—students explore the implications of their worldview for private life, social life, and vocation.
A Look into My Classroom
My Examined Life course begins with a thought experiment; in fact, our path from beginning to end is littered with them.
You are hiking with friends when you spot a squirrel clinging to a tree. You try to see its back. As you walk around, the squirrel shuffles so you never glimpse it. Did you go around the squirrel—yes or no?
Students quickly and playfully divide into the Yeses and the Noes. The exercise sets the stage for the semester by inviting low-stakes disagreement before we wade into deeper waters. It also delivers their first lessons in logic and argumentation: agree on terms, use them consistently, and argue without bickering.
Most class days include a thought experiment, a think-pair-share, a short lecture or discussion, and a small-group exercise. A recurring activity is to isolate an argument from the reading and identify its form and premises; then we assess its validity (or cogency) and debate its premises. Each unit culminates in a two-page, in-class argument-evaluation paper.
I use a similar method in my Computer Ethics course, but focus on case studies rather than thought experiments. Across the term, we develop a method for evaluating the social and moral implications of “cyberpractices”—social practices transformed by digital technologies. The midterm applies this method to an instructor-selected case; the course concludes with group presentations on student-selected cases. Past presentations have examined AI art, parody deepfakes, self-driving vehicles, and video-game microtransactions.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
There are no homogeneous college classrooms, nor should there be. Students have diverse backgrounds, interests, goals, and aptitudes. Doubly so for general education courses. I promote diversity and inclusion in my classroom by first identifying elements of diversity among my students, initially through a student-interest survey, university profiles, and icebreakers; later by in-class perspective-taking and by observing group interactions. I then encourage charitable engagement across the various perspectives we encounter and introduce perspectives I do not see represented. For my introductory philosophy courses, this includes readings and reflections from less commonly taught philosophers (e.g., I include readings on Al-Ghazālī’s Skeptical Ruminations, Ibn Sīnā’s Flying Man, Mozi’s Impartial Caretaker, and Mengzi’s Child at the Well). This practice of perspective-taking is foundational to my ethics curriculum, which requires students to consider the interests and value orientations of those affected by their actions in our shared world. Fair, equitable, and beneficial actions and policies require that we understand and respect a broad range of perspectives. As we explore the diversity of both our classroom and the world, I strive to model a respectful demeanor that communicates a safe space and fosters open dialogue and engagement—and students often remark on the kindness and respect I’ve shown them and their peers in my student evaluations.
Assessments
I assess student progress frequently and in varied ways. Low-stakes, in-class quizzes motivate careful reading and launch discussion. Participation-focused activities (e.g., small-group exercises) receive “credit,” “partial credit,” or “no credit.” Retakable, instant-feedback online quizzes support content mastery. Major assignments (e.g., argument evaluations and midterms) are graded with rubrics and then discussed in class after grades are returned. Frequent and varied assessments enable me to support struggling students early and to challenge those who excel with amicable, yet critical, feedback. I encourage students to discuss feedback before and after class or during office hours. I also make it a point to advertise and extend my office hours the week before major assignments are due.
Reflecting on Student Feedback
Across my seven semesters of teaching to date, students have agreed that I am an enthusiastic, respectful, and supportive teacher. Students struggling with the course material often express appreciation for my support and several students have commented on my ability to simplify complex subject matter. Evaluations have also alerted me to blind spots and led me to adjust my lecture time and increase the number of in-class activities, and revise my assessment strategies. I have also learned that in-class reading quizzes significantly increase the (perceived) reading load without changing its word count. Future actions will include adjusting the reading load and/or level for introductory-level courses—for example, providing guides for more difficult readings.
Looking Forward
Teaching is an important part of who I am and teaching well requires being a lifelong student of your craft. I am currently working toward a Principles in University Teaching Skills Certificate from Saint Louis University’s Reinert Center for Transformative Teaching and Learning and will continue to seek out various instructor training seminars and workshops throughout my academic career. The AI revolution is also reshaping our classrooms. In my latest iteration of The Examined Life, I discouraged the use of AI by placing a greater emphasis on in-class assignments and evaluation, but encouraged it on select assignments—for example, a small-group exercise that required them to critique ChatGPT’s reasoning with a logic puzzle and an extra-credit project that involved illustrating a thought experiment with an AI image generator. These experiments reflect my desire for thoughtful, constructive engagement with AI in teaching and learning. Today’s students are entering a world in which AI literacy is not optional, but essential. I aim to promote critical engagement with AI, which requires opportunities to develop new skills without eroding old ones.