Teaching Philosophy
My general orientation to teaching centers communication and critical thinking as essential to personal and public life. In all my courses I emphasize the ability to ask meaningful questions, analyze and reflect on messages, find complete answers, and make connections across traditional course boundaries. Specifically, I situate discourse and rhetoric as central influences on social life, organizational communication as the study and practice of coordinating human behavior, and public relations as the synthesis and application of rhetoric and organizing. I find framing communication courses in this way helps students identify the relevance of each concept and make connections across concepts.
To teach critical thinking skills, I prioritize learning to ask and answer meaningful questions. In fact, each of my courses is designed around a central question that frames the content. The central question in my organizational communication courses is, “how can organizations effectively negotiate tension between individual needs and organizational needs through communication.” My public relations courses ask, "how can messages align competing public interests and organizational practices." In public speaking, the central question is “how can speakers make it easier for audiences to listen.” We then use course concepts to explore various answers to these questions.
Part of being an engaged citizen means making and supporting quality arguments, so I use informal debate centered on relevant controversies and current events to teach these skills. During election seasons, my public relations students debate campaigns. My public speaking students debate any form of public address surrounding current controversies. My organizational students debate provocative questions such as “do workplaces need managers” or discuss provocative workplace issues, such as sexual harassment. I often ask students to make a better argument, explain why, or identify possible unintended consequences. One student described my approach as "lobbing a grenade” then guiding the fallout. He believed the process taught him to defend his positions and revealed the complexities of social problems. My discussions are often lively and engaging.
My teaching also prioritizes making connections across content and context. The central questions described above help, but I also rely heavily on visual representations of relationships. I design a concept map of the discipline and of each course. The first map situates each course within the bigger picture. Course concept maps situate new ideas, which is especially useful when students introduce seemingly tangential questions or comments. The concept maps are essential to helping students see and articulate relationships between content and across courses.
Lectures that duplicate readings discourage reading, so I design class time to be value-added. Students are responsible for reading and taking online quizzes before class. My lectures are kept brief and incorporate novel research. Consequently, most of class time focuses on application, analysis, and synthesis. I guide discussions by asking pointed questions students can answer with a combination of the reading and their own experiences. For example, I introduce systems theory by asking students to identify and describe systems they own or use. Gaming systems are a common response. I then ask probing questions about their examples, such as “what makes it a system,” or “what do you do when it doesn’t work.” These questions are designed to help students to define and articulate systems principles. By asking leading questions, students define a system and systems principles in their own words. Their examples then become an analogy for understanding organizational systems. I conclude by having students diagram an organization according to systems theory and then according to traditional hierarchy to visually illustrate the differences between the two approaches.
To evaluate progress, I create a variety of opportunities for students to demonstrate mastery. For example, my organizational communication “poster project” is an assignment where I ask students to respond to two traditional essay questions by creating a poster that visually depicts their answers. Each student then presents his/her poster to the class. Grades are based on explanations of what they created. I ask questions as they explain to ensure their complete understanding of concepts. The act of creating and explaining the poster helps students process information deeply. The project also allows students to demonstrate the depth of their knowledge and understanding traditional exams miss. At the same time, I maintain rigor by requiring students to ingrate material from readings and discussion. A sample exam question from my organizational communication class illustrates. I ask students to describe the fundamental paradox of organizing (from lecture) and explain how traditional, relational, and cultural management strategies (from readings) attempt to manage the tension (from a class activity).
Technology plays a vital role in my classes. I use PowerPoint to provide visual structure and videos to provide examples of concepts. I maintain course pages that manage and provide students access to grades, documents, assignments, and online quizzes. I use movies and documentaries to explore concepts in depth. We integrate Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. We analyze organizational and/or political websites. I stream videos to demonstrate techniques and skills. Technology in the classroom enables students to explore concepts in greater depth and prepares them for practical work experience.
Finally, my teaching reflects andragogy literature, my desire to be challenged, and two profound life experiences. The first is my own experience as a first-generation college student. First generation college students face unique financial, social, and cultural challenges in navigating higher education. Thus, part of my job is to help students join a conversation they might not feel prepared to join. I do this by respecting all questions, rewarding risk taking, and minimizing impacts of mistakes. Often this simply means providing positive reinforcement when students take risks and creating safe opportunities to make and correct mistakes. The second experience is my involvement in prison education. Many inmates have backgrounds and experiences not routinely reflected in communication research. Consequently, they ask surprising but sincere questions and consistently challenge ideas that do not seem to fit their worldviews. Working with these students teaches me to seek their input often, listen carefully, and work harder to connect ideas to their lived experiences. It also reminds me to keep it simple without dumbing it down, support my claims with evidence, and continuously check my assumptions. I learn much from these students. They are patient with me and show me how to teach diverse students and non-traditional learners. As a result, I listen to students, try new things, learn new skills, and admit when I do not know. Each helps me discover more creative and effective teaching strategies.
To teach critical thinking skills, I prioritize learning to ask and answer meaningful questions. In fact, each of my courses is designed around a central question that frames the content. The central question in my organizational communication courses is, “how can organizations effectively negotiate tension between individual needs and organizational needs through communication.” My public relations courses ask, "how can messages align competing public interests and organizational practices." In public speaking, the central question is “how can speakers make it easier for audiences to listen.” We then use course concepts to explore various answers to these questions.
Part of being an engaged citizen means making and supporting quality arguments, so I use informal debate centered on relevant controversies and current events to teach these skills. During election seasons, my public relations students debate campaigns. My public speaking students debate any form of public address surrounding current controversies. My organizational students debate provocative questions such as “do workplaces need managers” or discuss provocative workplace issues, such as sexual harassment. I often ask students to make a better argument, explain why, or identify possible unintended consequences. One student described my approach as "lobbing a grenade” then guiding the fallout. He believed the process taught him to defend his positions and revealed the complexities of social problems. My discussions are often lively and engaging.
My teaching also prioritizes making connections across content and context. The central questions described above help, but I also rely heavily on visual representations of relationships. I design a concept map of the discipline and of each course. The first map situates each course within the bigger picture. Course concept maps situate new ideas, which is especially useful when students introduce seemingly tangential questions or comments. The concept maps are essential to helping students see and articulate relationships between content and across courses.
Lectures that duplicate readings discourage reading, so I design class time to be value-added. Students are responsible for reading and taking online quizzes before class. My lectures are kept brief and incorporate novel research. Consequently, most of class time focuses on application, analysis, and synthesis. I guide discussions by asking pointed questions students can answer with a combination of the reading and their own experiences. For example, I introduce systems theory by asking students to identify and describe systems they own or use. Gaming systems are a common response. I then ask probing questions about their examples, such as “what makes it a system,” or “what do you do when it doesn’t work.” These questions are designed to help students to define and articulate systems principles. By asking leading questions, students define a system and systems principles in their own words. Their examples then become an analogy for understanding organizational systems. I conclude by having students diagram an organization according to systems theory and then according to traditional hierarchy to visually illustrate the differences between the two approaches.
To evaluate progress, I create a variety of opportunities for students to demonstrate mastery. For example, my organizational communication “poster project” is an assignment where I ask students to respond to two traditional essay questions by creating a poster that visually depicts their answers. Each student then presents his/her poster to the class. Grades are based on explanations of what they created. I ask questions as they explain to ensure their complete understanding of concepts. The act of creating and explaining the poster helps students process information deeply. The project also allows students to demonstrate the depth of their knowledge and understanding traditional exams miss. At the same time, I maintain rigor by requiring students to ingrate material from readings and discussion. A sample exam question from my organizational communication class illustrates. I ask students to describe the fundamental paradox of organizing (from lecture) and explain how traditional, relational, and cultural management strategies (from readings) attempt to manage the tension (from a class activity).
Technology plays a vital role in my classes. I use PowerPoint to provide visual structure and videos to provide examples of concepts. I maintain course pages that manage and provide students access to grades, documents, assignments, and online quizzes. I use movies and documentaries to explore concepts in depth. We integrate Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. We analyze organizational and/or political websites. I stream videos to demonstrate techniques and skills. Technology in the classroom enables students to explore concepts in greater depth and prepares them for practical work experience.
Finally, my teaching reflects andragogy literature, my desire to be challenged, and two profound life experiences. The first is my own experience as a first-generation college student. First generation college students face unique financial, social, and cultural challenges in navigating higher education. Thus, part of my job is to help students join a conversation they might not feel prepared to join. I do this by respecting all questions, rewarding risk taking, and minimizing impacts of mistakes. Often this simply means providing positive reinforcement when students take risks and creating safe opportunities to make and correct mistakes. The second experience is my involvement in prison education. Many inmates have backgrounds and experiences not routinely reflected in communication research. Consequently, they ask surprising but sincere questions and consistently challenge ideas that do not seem to fit their worldviews. Working with these students teaches me to seek their input often, listen carefully, and work harder to connect ideas to their lived experiences. It also reminds me to keep it simple without dumbing it down, support my claims with evidence, and continuously check my assumptions. I learn much from these students. They are patient with me and show me how to teach diverse students and non-traditional learners. As a result, I listen to students, try new things, learn new skills, and admit when I do not know. Each helps me discover more creative and effective teaching strategies.