statement of teaching philosophy and goals
as one can easily see from the “teaching” section above, i have taught a wide range of courses over the years. the most frequent courses as of late being the sophomore-level “communication inquiry” [formerly “applied comm theory”] and junior/senior-level “social innovation inquiry” [formerly “visual advocacy”]. generally speaking, I view my teaching about design as an inseparable extension of my ideas about it as a practice and body of knowledge. in terms of a philosophy, i value and believe a lot of things, most of which are hopefully evident in my actions and behavior in the classroom [aka “the proof is in the pudding”].
visual form has meaning.
that meaning is derived from the larger cultural context.
design is for living, breathing people – not anonymous market demographics.
design shapes behavior and our understanding of the world.
design is a powerful way to demonstrate “what could be”, and in so doing, move us from the existing to the preferred.
it is as much a process and relationship as a final product.
as a design educator, I strive to:
elevate students’ fundamental knowledge of design;
elevate students’ critical thinking about design and its uses;
impart an understanding of the theories and principles underpinning design;
engage students with the topic on multiple levels through their thinking and making;
instill a nuanced understanding of the given problem through students’ project work;
help students critically contextualize what they are making;
develop students’ sense of internal motivation for their work;
help students learn how to learn
How I organize my course materials and activities to help students achieve specific course goals
visual communication is rooted in, and evolves through, making and application of ideas. design is thinking made visual, so it follows that making should be balanced with thinking. sufficient theory and principles now undergird design practice and the best education provides a healthy dose of ideas that influence making. in support of this, my course materials typically include a basic design brief containing the problem and subsequent activities and literature to support a thoughtful and innovative solution to that problem. a typical week in my studio classroom evidences a wide variety of progressive educational approaches – group discussion over readings, small group process critiques centered around given criteria to focus the conversation, a lecture or video covering the operating principles behind the project, and open work time with accompanying one-on-one discussions of the student’s work. the end of a project cycle is often framed as a “learning summary” where the primary question is “what did you learn?”. i discourage students from simply explaining their work. a self-assessment process follows, explained below. all course resources such as syllabi, project briefs and updates, lectures, readings, and additional resources are delivered electronically via google classroom. these strategies establish an active think-make-reflect cycle where the three heavily inform one another and sometimes occur simultaneously. further, deeper learning is achieved through the wide range of engagement in learning, from physical prototyping of projects to critical peer or visiting designer dialogue, from software demos to formal student presentations of their work.
assessing student achievement further reflects my priorities for high quality student work. all of my courses now utilize a scoring rubric in the form of a google spreadsheet shared individually with each student. they contain the full set of learning objectives from the syllabus and are scored on a 4-point grading scale [A=4, F=0], with space for both instructor and student comments. this requires students to be critically reflective of what they’ve just learned and made. 40–50% of the course grade is determined by the student, with the other half determined by me. projects are subject to revision up until the final day of class and students are encouraged to incorporate peer and instructor feedback from final project critiques.
How my teaching experiences [including feedback from student evaluations] have shaped my ongoing goals and practices as a teacher
[view recent course evaluations on google drive]
my teaching experiences constantly influence my goals and practices as an educator. this is most obvious in my constant updating and revising of projects, processes, and resources over the years based on personal and student assessment. for example, some seniors in 2018’s visual advocacy course were dissatisfied with the volume of reading assigned, so in 2019 i trimmed out a few low-priority readings and parceled out the readings on heavier days to small groups, asking each group to report to the class the details of what they read and learned from their particular reading. i am also practicing flexibility in the classroom, asking students directly what they most need in certain moments, and responding to that need. in the midst of a project, it may be a work day instead of full-class critique, or a similar decision for the group to make. this gives designers more agency over their learning experience.
studio culture and its impact on learning
over recent years, the faculty and i have been sub-consciously implementing for our students the maxim, “surround yourself with people smarter than you” with strong results. we have moved to mixed-grade-level studios to encourage a broader sense of community within the department. i bring in alumni and other professional guest critics for every class i teach, to broaden student designers’ professional networks. designers from multiple grade levels can now be seen frequently discussing project work and spending outside time together, which will benefit new graduates when they are seeking help and advice from alumni they spent time with as student designers.