Teaching Experience

York University:

California Institute of Technology:

University of Waterloo:

 

Teaching Statement

It is my belief that every student is capable of learning. As instructors, we bear a greater responsibility than providing clear exposition of the contents of our courses. Our role includes motivating students and helping them mature as learners. Ideally, my students will have the desire, the ability and the confidence to pursue knowledge beyond the scope of my courses.

Motivation
Motivating students is an essential element of teaching. Motivated students tend to work harder and better appreciate the subject. To inspire our students to learn, we need to know who they are. For instance, students in engineering generally like to see industrial applications, while students in pure mathematics are happy to see elegant proofs. Learning about our students' background, academic curriculums, possible career choices and their interests directs us to better motivations in our courses.

Confidence and Skills
Students need reassurance that their hard work will be fruitful. We need to build confidence in them as well as strengthen their skills. I often see junior students feeling very discouraged because they have difficulties in reading and writing mathematics. Improving their literacy in mathematics accelerates their learning process. Furthermore, a sense of achievement induces confidence in our students. One method is to guide our students through a series of accessible problems to reach significant results in a course. It is also useful to emphasize the new type of problems they can solve with the theory or techniques they just learned.

Learning Environment
I believe in creating a friendly and positive learning environment for my students. I always make it clear to my students that their questions are welcomed both in class and on an individual basis. Students are more ready to share ideas and ask questions when they feel comfortable. Therefore, it is important to treat their ideas and questions with respect. To create a lively atmosphere in class, I try to inject a suitable dosage of humour and use examples to which they can relate. Lastly, if we are enthusiastic about the subject we are teaching, then our students may get infected with the enthusiasm.

Goals

My goal is to teach university courses at various levels and to supervise students on research projects. My long term goal is to become an effective teacher. I plan to achieve this goal by constantly evaluating my teaching; looking for room for improvement in my teaching; acquiring new teaching and presentation techniques such as the use of technology. I would like to teach a wide range of courses, including introductory courses in general mathematics and higher level courses in combinatorics. Most importantly, I want to be a teacher who understands her students and is empathetic to their needs and difficulties.