Teaching Philosophy

Teaching Influences

Although I have many fond memories and excellent experiences by lecturers I had during my B.Sc. at Rhodes University, there are a few who I can point to as influencing my teaching style.

Prof. Ray Haggard took us for first year physics and I recall a set of problems he gave us that were unlike anything we had encountered before. I now recognise them as, to some degree, examples of problem-based learning where a relatively vague question was asked (such as “would this SUV tip over?” or “was this person pushed off a building or did they fall by accident”) and we would have to find the answer by doing research, making assumptions, applying our physics knowledge and writing a report. By pushing us to pursue our own research to fill in gaps in our knowledge, Prof. Haggard consolidated our learning in a way that few standard tutorials could. 

My Teaching Philosophy

I currently teach two courses: Computational Physics at an Honours level and a component of the third-year physics practicals, which also focuses on computational physics. I draw heavily from my own expertise in programming and data analysis to train students to develop these skills on their own. Teaching these classes can be challenging, as students have a very wide range of computer literacy and programming experience (see Student Context) but is a very rewarding experience.

My fundamental teaching philosophy is to meet students wherever they are and accompany them on their own learning journey. I do not view myself as a holder of knowledge that I must impart to students by way of osmosis, I rather see myself as a guide, trying to help students take charge of their own learning journey. My teaching philosophy is driven by pragmatism and a desire to see students succeed in the modern world, whatever their career path of choice. 

I am keenly aware of my own privilege and that not all students have had the opportunities I have, especially with regards to education. I also have a powerful love for my country, choosing to come back home rather than take a job overseas when offered. I want to see my students, the future of South Africa, thrive and grow as they take their place in the modern world.

UWC's Institutional Operating Plan (2016-2020) includes a goal which is "To provide opportunities for an excellent learning and teaching experience that is contextually responsive to the challenges of globalization and of a society in transition and that enhances the students’ capacities to be change agents in the 21st century." We know that the fourth industrial revolution is rapidly reshaping the landscape of the world. Students without critical computational skills run the risk of being left behind. So even though my primary job as a lecturer in the Department of Physics and Astronomy is to teach physics, in practice I remain aware of the fact that many students may choose not to pursue academic careers. I focus on equipping students with skills that are relevant in both academia and industry, in the most practical way possible.

Constructivism

I find myself drawn to a constructivist approach to teaching and learning. Constructivism has its beginnings in cognitive psychology, when Piaget developed a theory of learning whereby children (and adults) construct knowledge and understanding through experiences and building on their existing knowledge (see for example Piaget, 1971 and Flavell, 1963). Vygotsky expanded on this theory by making the important observation that humans are fundamentally social beings and knowledge construction is a shared process (see Wertsch, 1985, for a review). 

Dennick (2016) blends a review of constructivism with the author's own experiences teaching in the medical field. To quote the paper, "Model building in the individual,  based on interactivity with the world, is the result of a cognitive process which involves the experience of the world being assimilated and filtered through prior knowledge as previously described." In a perfect example of constructivist learning, I found myself connecting this concept to a theoretical framework I use regularly in my research called Bayesian statistics (Bayes, 1763). Bayes' theorem, the equation underpinning Bayesian statistics, describes how the degree of belief about a particular model changes in the face of new data collected. The equation describes a prior, which quantifies the degree of belief one starts with and a posterior, which is the term that reflects how the prior has been updated after taking some observations about the world. I started to wonder if the human brain learns in a fundamentally Bayesian way. It turns out I have not been the first person to have this idea and the theory that the human brain is Bayesian is hotly debated in cognitive science (Bain, 2016). Regardless of how the human brain actually works (which is obviously extremely complicated), constructivism is a useful learning framework, especially for the practical courses I teach.

The teaching practices page shows in more detail how I apply a constructivist approach in my courses. I have developed materials that attempt to link the basic structure of programming to something students encounter in their every day lives (language). Wherever possible, I ground the problems given to the students in either their real world experiences (such as simulating the roll of a dice or a tired student wandering home) or in physics problems they will have encountered (such as a study of a pendulum or basic kinematics). I also construct knowledge by building on what they learn in each practical. I often combine concepts from previous practicals so that they become familiar with how different tools and methods in computational physics can be used to solve problems.

Constructive Alignment

I am heavily influenced by constructive alignment (Biggs, 1996, 1999) in the way I design my courses, especially the assessments. Learning about this teaching philosophy in the Teaching and Learning Induction Course of 2021 was illuminating. Students enrol in their degrees for a wide variety of reasons and thus are all motivated by different things. While most students love learning, particularly those who enrol in physics at a senior level, that can easily be overshadowed by the very real pressure of needing to pass and ensuring they secure a job after university. Many students at UWC come from less advantaged backgrounds (see Student Context for further discussion of student needs), often with family members relying on them for future income. My view is that constructive alignment is a framework that can elegantly align the student's focus on achieving a passing grade with very real skill and knowledge transfer (see Assessment Practices for examples).

I think the reason I am so drawn to authentic and problem-based learning is because it is how I learn myself but also how many of my colleagues in both academia and industry learn. In any job, especially a very technical one such as a scientist, programmer or data analyst, there is always an enormous amount of topics one could learn about, but usually the needs of the job dictate focus. For instance, I may be presented with the need to analyse an astronomical image in a way I have never been taught. I will have to learn the required techniques on my own, using resources online or in textbooks. In most modern technical positions, no one will start knowing everything they need to know and will have to learn as they go. I combine a constructivist approach with authentic and problem-based learning to design courses which are problem driven: students will first receive a practical, with some resources to help them get started, the problems of which guide their learning. I am aware, however, that I am quite comfortable thinking abstractly so I am working on creating questions that more tightly relate to the students' everyday lives. Below is an example question that connects to the real world, rather than an abstract problem. Since we encounter physics every day of our lives, I think there's a lot of opportunity to forge stronger connections in my courses. 

Evaluation and Reflection

Evaluation of teaching practices is critical for developing an effective learning environment at a higher institution. Simonson, Earl and Frary (2022) review existing teaching evaluation practices and propose a framework, with a detailed rubric, for evaluating teachers. While student evaluations are extremely useful in giving students a voice regarding their own learning journey, the authors highlight the many flaws in evaluating teaching based on student evaluations alone. They mention that while students can reflect on their own experience, they do not have access to all necessary information and skills to accurately evaluate teachers. The authors instead stress the importance of evidence-based self-evaluation, of which this portfolio is one example. Qualitative reflection on one's own teaching practices is an important component of this evaluation but it must also be coupled with evidence for a true reflection on the effectiveness of teaching.

As a scientist, I cannot help but be evidence-based in how I teach. I will try something new and then evaluate how effective it was. I evaluate using the following tools:

• Feedback from the students, generally using google forms

• Performance in in-class quizzes and on the assignments

• Self-reflection

I had the interesting experience of running my first real course, the Honours Computational Physics Course, in 2021 in the height of the pandemic. I met my class twice before we went into another lockdown and had to rapidly switch to remote teaching. As well as all of the usual challenges faced by all lecturers during the pandemic, I was also faced with a split class. A handful of students were from UWC and had some experience with programming, while the majority of the class had never programmed before and in some cases struggled with basic computer literacy. I also had very little prior course material I could use, as the course had previously been taught with extensive hands-on guidance which suited neither my teaching philosophy of developing independence nor the circumstances of the pandemic. 

Faced with these challenges, I had to adapt rapidly, adjusting how I ran the course as I went along. A colleague and friend of mine referred to it as "building the plane while in mid-air".  I was lucky enough to learn from a very experienced lecturer, who was visiting the department at the time, who commended my ability to adjust the course as needed to adapt to the reality of the situation. I was strongly driven by my philosophy of meeting the students where they are, rather than where I assume they should be. I introduced significantly more scaffolding in the practicals, ran sessions on developing problem-solving skills and reduced unnecessary workload to ensure all students had an opportunity to complete each practical. 

On reflection, I think my experience with this course embodies UWC's policy on curriculum renewal, beautifully discussed in Section 4.1 of the Framework for Curriculum Transformation and Renewal at the University of the Western Cape. This section highlights the importance of continuous curriculum renewal in response to the rapidly changing world. It includes the following quote:

"Eric Hoffer (cited in Desha & Hargroves, 2014) states that, ‘In times of change learners inherit the earth; while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists’. This disturbing quote reflects the challenges we currently face in our society and globally, and the significant role that higher education institutions play in their surrounding communities."

I'm keenly aware of the importance of preparing our students for the world as it exists right now, rapidly changing as it is, as well as continuously changing parts of the course in response to the students' own experiences. See Evaluation and Reflection for example course evaluations and further discussion.

References

• Piaget, J. "Psychology and Epistemology: Towards a Theory of Knowledge", New York: Grossman, (1971).

• Flavell JH. "The developmental psychology of Jean Piaget". New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company; (1963)

• Wertsch JV. "Vygotsky and the social formation of mind". Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press (1985).

• Dennick R. "Constructivism: reflections on twenty five years teaching the constructivist approach in medical education". Int J Med Educ. (2016); 7:200-5. doi: 10.5116/ijme.5763.de11. PMID: 27344115; PMCID: PMC4939219.

• Bayes, Mr; Price, Mr (1763). "An Essay towards Solving a Problem in the Doctrine of Chances. By the Late Rev. Mr. Bayes, F. R. S. Communicated by Mr. Price, in a Letter to John Canton, A. M. F. R. S" (PDF). Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. 53: 370–418. doi:10.1098/rstl.1763.0053

• Bain, R. "Are our brains Bayesian?", Significance: Royal Statistical Society, (2016), 13:4, 14-19 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1740-9713.2016.00935.x

• Biggs, J. “Enhancing Teaching through Constructive Alignment.” Higher education 32.3 (1996): 347–364. 

• Biggs, J. “What the Student Does: Teaching for Enhanced Learning.” Higher education research and development 18.1 (1999): 57–75. 

• Herrington, J., & Oliver, R. (2000). An instructional design framework for authentic learning environments. Educational Technology Research and Development, 48(3), 23-48.

• Herrington, A., & Herrington, J. (Eds.) (2006). Authentic learning environments in higher education. Hershey, PA: Infosci.

• Shawn R. Simonson, Brittnee Earl & Megan Frary (2022) Establishing a Framework for Assessing Teaching Effectiveness, College Teaching, 70:2, 164-180, DOI: 10.1080/87567555.2021.1909528