Statement and Philosophy

My teaching philosophy has included a strong dedication to helping the student open his/her mind to the wonders of the science and the earth. While I believe that learning facts is paramount to the study of science, as vocabulary is to the understanding of any language, I place my strongest emphasis upon the student's ability to think and associate. Albert Einstein once said, "Imagination is more important that knowledge." I believe this is an important aspect of my teaching. Understanding science involves a far more reaching involvement than merely memorizing and regurgitating facts. Although it is often difficult to inspire students, a teacher can "force" students to memorize facts through the student's fear of failure. However, getting students to be enthusiastic about the subject matter can be a very different matter.

I have used a variety of teaching techniques in my courses. I find that by incorporating a number of different approaches into the course work, I am better able to reach a larger portion of the student population. All students do not learn in the same manner. Therefore, it is not prudent to believe that only a single teaching approach will reach all students. Some students function best in a traditional professorial-student arrangement; whereby, the professor lectures and the student listens and takes notes. Although this is a "tried and true" college teaching methodology, and probably all university faculty use this technique at one time or another, I believe that it must be only one of many different approaches to teaching. My teaching approach is to utilize a wide variety of teaching techniques. If standard lectures work, I use them. But, if a more hands on approach is required, then this too can be utilized. Courses in earth and environmental science are ideally suited for the hands on approach. I attempt to utilize the student's own learning style to help them learn. In recognition for my teaching philosophy and approaches to education.

I am personally dedicated to student success. Availability to students is an important aspect of my teaching. Students recognize the willingness to help them and respect the genuine interest in them. Each and every student is strongly encouraged to ask questions and communicate personally with me. I believe that by developing a open student-professor rapport, a more relaxed and successful learning environment can be achieved. I believe this personal dedication to students has been instrumental in helping students to succeed.

Another important aspect to my teaching has been my availability to students and the students perception of willingness and interest in them. Each and every student is strongly encouraged to ask questions and communicate personally with me. I believe that by developing a open student-professor rapport, a more relaxed and successful learning environment can be achieved. Of course, I realize that the individual attention approach would not have been as feasible in very large classes. However, it is ideally suited to the smaller more intimate classes at IUS. I believe this personal dedication to students has been instrumental in helping students to succeed and has inspired the desire to for them to continue an education in the Geosciences.

One of the most important aspects of my teaching has involved the application of laboratory and academic skills to real-life conditions. I am very active in research. In maintaining an active research program, I am able to keep on top of the current developments in my field. Additionally, because of my industry and government background, I believe that I have been very successful in bringing forth my personal experiences and relating them to the classroom. In my classes, I strongly emphasize the importance of the subject material to the real world. Not merely the world as a stuffy ivory-tower academician might perceive it to be, but rather the world that each of us, student and teacher alike live in and are a part of. An additional benefit of having a real-life background has been, what I believe to be, the ability to separate the wheat from the chaff, i.e. being able to focus on the truly important and relevant aspects of the subject matter. In our busy, fast-paced society, I firmly believe students appreciate being able to "cut to the chase scene" and not have to spend their time and energy sifting through piles of material to finally get to what is relevant.