Teaching Philosophy

Hyun-Woo "Anthony" Kim

I have been given the opportunity to work as a teaching assistant for two courses offered by Penn State's College of Information Sciences and Technology including IST210 Organization of Data and IST446 An Introduction to Building PC/Video Games. Over the past four years, I have had the chance to explore pedagogical strategies involving active and cooperative learning as well as related classroom assessment techniques while working closely with course instructors. Most importantly, I have been able to refine my beliefs in how I should better educate students who are going to be our future leaders and professionals. Fortunately I now feel that I have helped my students make a difference in their lives. Based on my teaching-related experiences I have developed a teaching philosophy that comprises four objectives: customizing instruction to fit students' diverse backgrounds, needs and expectations, helping students become independent lifelong learners by being a facilitator, adopting instructional technology to enhance the learning environment, and utilizing evaluation methods to allow course evolution. Reflecting on my experience in the IST210 course which covered modern database management systems, it was crucial to train students to be good problem solvers so that they can appropriately assess their potential customers' needs, and justify a key to solution once they graduate. It requires collaborative working and effective communication with others for the achievement of a common goal. However the diverse backgrounds, needs and expectations that my students had were a barrier to overcome. I worked with the course instructor to implement problem-based learning activities requiring an extensive amount of research in both team-based and individualbased environment to deal with real-world problems. Course activities requiring students to take more of an active role in learning as independent decision-makers and creative thinkers are important as well in order to promote the transformation learning. I believe that such activities can convert students from being instructor-dependent, passive receivers of knowledge to independent, lifelong learners who actively seek information. I find utilizing a course management system in which the students submit weekly lab reports and discuss with course faculty and other students also important to effectively share grading rubrics, course syllabi, and a week-by-week breakdown of all course activities. Last but not least, continually conducting a personal evaluation of the course is important to allow my courses to make modifications and evolve though the analyses of quantitative and qualitative feedback. To conclude, it is my teaching philosophy that teaching is a continual process that needs to be monitored and reconstructed to fit the needs of each individual course. One of the most rewarding parts of my teaching is the gratification I receive while watching my students learn, apply their knowledge, and mature in the information sciences and technology field as they work through a course. I look forward to being able to collaborate with you and other faculty members in your institution, discuss new teaching approaches, and continually stay abreast of latest pedagogical approaches.