Creating a significant learning experience.

Effective teaching is an acquired skill that needs to be honed through continuous development of effective teaching methods. If we are in agreement that we can teach more effectively, how are we going to approach this? It is very helpful for instructors to have the learning goals clearly specified when designing the course they will be teaching. I do this by thinking of what experience would be the best for students that will benefit them in 10 years. What is the one thing they will need when they enter graduate school and become postdocs, scientists, medical doctors, etc.? By doing so, I can better plan what would be important for students in the long term that I can incorporate into my teaching. This includes teaching goals beyond acquiring fundamental knowledge, such as integration of knowledge and learning how to learn. Learning experiences that help students to achieve such long term goals are what we define as significant learning experiences.

I find the definition from the book by L. Dee Fink, Creating Significant Learning Experiences, Jossey-Bass, 2003, very helpful in designing my courses. (Figure below adapted from the book.) When I am aware of those higher educational goals, I tend to include teaching material that I would not include in a class teaching only fundamental knowledge; for example, group discussions, presentations, computer-guided inquiry, and discussions on the most recent topics in science. Also, it is very helpful for instructors to evaluate teaching effectiveness based on those specific goals. Teaching is an interesting experience of helping the younger generation to develop their intelligence in the field. It is the human learning process of developing new neural patterns! (I am sorry for this grandiose sentence. I recently enjoyed reading the book How to Create a Mind by Ray Kurzweil.) I will en joy and continue my research to create a better learning environment for students.

Making Science Fun

Science not communicated is nonexistent. This does not only apply to communication between scientists but also to communication between scientists and general society. I enjoy writing and making fun, educational materials to help science to be enjoyable for everybody. See my cartoons: "HOW TO USE A PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY TEXTBOOK"