Teaching & Design Philosophy
Interactive and participative classes, whether delivered online or face-to-face, should be engaging and
enjoyable for everyone. My teaching and instructional design styles are solely focused on aligning student
learning with current competencies in the field. A project-based approach provides ample opportunities
for students to practice application of what they have learned and effectively bridge the gap from theory
to applied. Well-written rubrics are indispensable and clarify performance expectations as well as feed all
levels of curriculum alignment and assessment processes. It is important to avoid being overly
proscriptive/prescriptive in project instructions (outside of the scope of demonstrated learning outcomes)
as students benefit from experience in dealing with ambiguities, similar to everyday work environments.
Risk-taking is encouraged and supported by iterative, formative/summative feedback and assessment
from student peers as well as from their professor. To encourage a culture of transparency, trust, and
fairness, peer review is included in all project work. Similar to performance reviews in the workplace,
student peer review provides an opportunity to hone coaching skills and practice professional
communication in both oral and written forms. Learning how to express a dissenting point of view in a
simulated work setting provides students with enhanced confidence in their careers. Peer feedback
sometimes takes place in discussions (less formal) or in evaluations (formal).
Students decide how to present project work as this provides them with the opportunity to take ownership
of their education, and therefore, their career paths. Relatedly, it is critical to create opportunities to
showcase student work to a diverse group of stakeholders whenever possible. In this way, students gain
experience in different types of presentation and typically feel a great deal of pride in their
accomplishments. I have successfully incorporated showcase events into courses such as
Entrepreneurship, International Business, Training & Development, Employer Branding, & Human
Resource Management.
Course/degree and program activities are designed to support the creation and maintenance of electronic
student portfolios to assist in career planning/development efforts. For each course, artifacts from project
work are placed in student ePortfolios that ultimately provide a substantial demonstration of student
learning. As an HR practitioner who hired many employees, it is my professional opinion that ePortfolios
can differentiate candidates such that they stand out as knowing how to do vs. just knowing about.
Student feedback is critical to continuous improvement in both teaching and instructional design. There is
no substitute for being able to see things from the student’s point of view. Feedback is collected in formal/
informal forms at the beginning, middle, and end of courses. Course content is refreshed after each
instructional cycle to ensure the latest information is included in the next round of delivery. During course
refresh, course descriptions and objectives are reviewed to ensure clarity, measurability and usefulness in
conjunction with institutional assessment requirements. Performance metrics are also rechecked for
alignment from course to program to degree.
Module learning objectives are displayed in a revised Bloom’s Taxonomy diagram* to provide a roadmap
for students and other instructors. Students know what material will be covered and instructors have a
guide to ensure continuity and integrity of objectives and outcomes. Course designs are vetted among
colleagues and are iterative. Solid instructional design directs focus to the course material, rather than
structure, and leaves room for stylistic adaptations in the way in which the material is delivered. The
roadmap in the form of Bloom’s also ensures that handoffs from instructor to instructor can be more
easily accomplished.
Every effort is made to avoid potential obstacles to learning (e.g., costly textbooks). Students appreciate
the fact that they are met with the same design across courses and report less anxiety when beginning a
new course. Visuals (vs.text) are leveraged whenever possible so the material is delivered in a more
effective and engaging manner. Each week, students listen to my videos and/or podcasts along with other
media-rich resources (e.g., videos “From the Field”).