Statement of Teaching Philosophy and Goals
My mission as a teacher is to provide students with solid education in geosciences. A large amount of my teaching efforts are focused on exploration seismology, which includes acquisition, processing, modeling, imaging, inversion and interpretation of seismic data for understanding the nature and compositon of the sedimentary section of the Earth's crust. My commitment to this goal begins with providing an educational environment that is stimulating, challenging, and rewarding for undergraduate and graduate students who seek a professional career in oil and gas or environmental companies. In order to be a responsible and effective teacher I strive for my students to achieve the following goals as a result of participating in any of my courses:
- Students master and retain the critical concepts and techniques necessary for success in their future classes at OSU, and for success in their professional careers.
- Students develop confidence in their abilities to independently analyze data, formulate complex problems, and achieve meaningful solutions in that subject material.
- Students continue to mature as young professionals and scientists with a strong appreciation and commitment to their chosen profession in fields related to exploration of the earth using seismic methods.
I take my teaching very seriously. It is not only a part of my duties, I also consider excellence in teaching as a moral obligation. If it were not for all those instructors who went beyond their assigned responsibilities to inspire students to learn, I would not be a teacher today. I take student-teacher relationship very seriously. At OSU, students come from a variety of educational background. I consider it my responsibility to know them individually and strive to package the teaching material in such a manner that each one of them make the most out of their classroom experience.
My seismic courses require the use of commercial software and I continuously strive to achieve a balance between stressing the fundamentals of the science and the technology and the use of the software. Additionally, I continuously evaluate course contents to incorporate new technological findings and new effective teaching methods. Central to the later is the modification of my course contents to make the transition from teaching-centered activities to learning-centered activities. I regularly discuss teaching methods with colleagues who are recognized as outstanding teachers at OSU and get their opinion.
To benefit from the research and experience of the educational community I participated in the NSF-funded program entitled “On the Cutting Edge – Professional Development for Geoscience Faculty – Early Career Geoscience Faculty: Teaching, Research and Managing Your Career” which was held in June 15 – 19, 2008 at the College of Williams and Mary, Williamsburg, VA. During the program, active learning strategies, integration of research into geoscience courses, grading and assessment techniques, strategies for teaching entry level courses, and successful strategies for supervising students were discussed. Additionally, examples of syllabi, assignments and course activities were provided. I also actively participate in the Institute of Teaching and Learning (ITLE) workshops regularly provided on campus. This program has provided multiple opportunities to discuss teaching techniques with colleagues throughout the OSU system. It has also introduced me to several new teaching techniques designed to create a more active learning environment in the classroom.