Personal Essays on the Scholarship of Teaching

Robert G. Kelly, Department of Materials Science and Engineering
H. H. Uhlig Award (NACE International Young Corrosion Educator Award), 1999
University Teaching Fellowship, 1996-1997
Rodman Scholars Award for Excellence in Teaching, 1996

Everything I do involves teaching. Whether in front of a class of engineering students, at a laboratory bench with an undergraduate or graduate researcher, presenting a paper at a conference, or in my office alone with a book, or journal article, I am teaching students, colleagues, and myself. In each case, I am striving to create an atmosphere where an irreversible assimilation of understanding will occur. Sometimes, the lesson involves the passing on of a tradition of paradigms that scientists and engineers use to describe the world. I present them with the hope that students will be inspired to join the search for new and better models. During laboratory research with students, the lesson often requires the creation of new knowledge, a singularly exciting experience. The lesson continues, however, as that knowledge must then be communicated through oral presentations and journal articles in a manner that allows others to learn it as well. Sometimes the lesson requires facing my own lack of knowledge and developing a better understanding of a subject. Each of these disparate lessons adds to my ability to teach.

Analogies are powerful tools. It has been said that learning is simply remembering what we already know. One of my favorite teaching techniques is the use of analogies. Too often, the essence of a technical subject is cluttered by semantics. In many cases, by stripping away jargon, the key elements of a new concept can be related to daily experience or topics previously learned. Searching for accurate analogies and determining their limitations can be a challenge, but the search process itself improves the quality of the education I can offer by letting me think outside the box.

Students learn best by doing. While in-class demonstrations take time, I have found that actively involving the class helps students more effectively internalize the concepts. Outside of class, the most powerful learning experience a student can have is his/her own research project. Undergraduate researchers are an integral part of my experimental team. Given careful training and a focused project, they can be enthusiastic and effective researchers. Watching them develop their scientific skills and seeing them discover new career options always delights me.

Learning is a two-way street. Academic experimental research is a joint pursuit of new understanding. The research assistant and the faculty member each bring strengths and weaknesses to the journey. During this quest, the roles of teacher and student repeatedly shift. Such exchanges can also occur in courses when students are encouraged to ask questions which are used to mold the direction of the class. Students sometimes can see an aspect of the subject at hand that has eluded the teacher. To foster such exchanges, I approach each course as part of a team: the students and me against the subject.

Good preparation gives me freedom during class. Naturally gifted lecturers can review their notes briefly just before class and then give a spellbinding discourse on the topic of the day. I cannot. Instead, I find that intensive preparation liberates me during the class. I have confidence knowing exactly which topics are fundamental to the understanding, which can be considered derivative, and which are covered sufficiently in the assigned reading. This confidence allows me to incorporate group work and other nonlecture activities that are traditionally excluded from engineering education due to the drive to cram as many facts and analysis tools as possible into each class.

Teachers can rely on each other for guidance. I have had the good fortune not only to have been taught by good teachers, but also to work with dedicated educators who willingly give their time and advice. Applying their advice has been critical to the improvement of my teaching. I rely on my colleagues as sounding boards for ideas and for moral support when those ideas do not work as planned. By incorporating their suggestions, I continually try to become a better teacher.