Teaching Philosophy
During my time as an undergraduate student I was only exposed to the standard methods of teaching including lectures, seminars, laboratory classes and student presentations. I have come to realize that there are a number of different ways that a teacher can facilitate undergraduate student learning. Although I still believe that classical lectures and seminars, as well as web-based courses, are essential for the fast delivery of information and various ideas, I am eager, and in fact have become involved in implementing other modes of teaching, including problem-based learning (PBL), ‘flipped classroom’, collaborative learning, repetitive quizzes, independent studies and dividing the class into small discussion groups. I also strive to make my classes as interactive as possible. My experience with the problem-based learning methodologies confirms that these techniques promote critical thinking, conceptual understanding, and long-term retention of material, and also of great importance, high levels of student satisfaction. My current pedagogical research is focused on implementing the methodology of problem-based learning into a large classroom setting and assessing its effects on student satisfaction, their problem-solving skills and also retention of the course materials.
I believe that our research thus far shows that students perceive problem-based learning in a large classroom very favourably. We have obtained and published data showing that problem-based learning in a large classroom setting improves student problem solving skills. We have also observed that by implementing various teaching strategies it is possible to develop diverse skills of students. Even though more studies are needed (and are under way) to confirm our observations, I believe that the problem-based learning technique we have developed for use in classes with up to 100 students is effective.
Recently we completed a large-scale, University of British Columbia Okanagan campus-wide study of the dynamics of undergraduate student problem-solving skills by using the assessment tool that we have developed. We are in the process of completing the second phase of this study to confirm the general trends observed as well as to identify individual courses and instructional techniques that could be used to facilitate development of this critical skill set. We are also looking for collaborators from other universities in Canada and abroad who would be interested in using this tool to study changes in problem-solving skills of their students.
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Andis Klegeris