Courses Taught
Adrian College
- Sport Ethics (graduate level)
- Sport and Gender (graduate level)
- Sport Marketing (graduate level)
- Business and Professional Communications
- Sport Facility Planning and Management
- Socio-Cultural Dynamics of Kinesiology
- Meanings, Ethics, and Movement
- History of Sport, Physical Culture, and the Body in Nineteenth-Century America
- History of Sport, Physical Culture, and the Body in Twentieth-Century America
- College Sport
My Philosophy of Teaching
My aspiration to teach in kinesiology and sport management stems from my personal educational background. As a child and young adult, I desired to emulate my parents, who both inspired young minds in public schools for over three decades. This encouraged me to take seriously the chance to provide similar opportunities for future generations. Also, during my undergraduate studies, I encountered educators passionately dedicated to their craft. These professors enthusiastically showed me that aspects of kinesiology and sport management manifest in everyday life. These experiences have helped shape my philosophy of teaching.
I believe that a fundamental aspect of higher learning includes students’ abilities to engage with course concepts in and outside of class. Therefore, I focus on students’ retention of ideas. Whether in kinesiology or sport management or not, students should be able to transfer their learning to other aspects of their lives. As such, my teaching focuses on two main areas: 1) making content relevant to student learning; and 2) expanding students’ abilities to think critically and analyze material.
Relevance
First, I create meaningful classroom experiences by centering on student learning, rather than strictly content, which allows the students to integrate their experiences and perspectives. In teaching the socio-cultural dynamics of kinesiology and sport management, for example, I ask students to consider the popular representations of physical fitness. Students search social media platforms (Twitter, Instagram, etc.) for health and exercise advertisements and bring examples to class. In small groups, they consider ways these ads reveal social norms. Many of the ads, for instance, align with repressive gender and sex stereotypes. Therefore, students engage course material, but more importantly, they interact with their own social world.
I also help students extend their learning beyond the walls of our classroom, whether physical or online space. I pose questions about current topics related to course material in online discussion boards and I ask students to pay attention to current events and post relevant articles, videos, or images. Students analyze these topics online, thereby transferring ideas from class to discussions about relevant subjects, while again making specific connections between concept and reality.
Critical Thinking and Analysis
Second, I challenge students to think critically, to analyze current issues, and to improve their argumentation skills. Such competencies will help them both in their educational and professional careers. For example, I routinely ask students to engage with sides of issues with which they disagree, such as contemporary debates over performance-enhancing substances or sex testing in sport. Students often have biases and subjectivities in such controversial topics. Therefore, arguing for one or both sides forces students to think analytically while challenging them to better comprehend the current philosophical and pragmatic considerations over these controversial issues.
These examples demonstrate ways my teaching contributes to students’ abilities to make meaning out of their educational experience. My philosophy of teaching centers on students’ abilities to relate in-classroom experiences to their own world, and to critically analyze the environment in which they reside.
I believe that a fundamental aspect of higher learning includes students’ abilities to engage with course concepts in and outside of class. Therefore, I focus on students’ retention of ideas. Whether in kinesiology or sport management or not, students should be able to transfer their learning to other aspects of their lives. As such, my teaching focuses on two main areas: 1) making content relevant to student learning; and 2) expanding students’ abilities to think critically and analyze material.
Relevance
First, I create meaningful classroom experiences by centering on student learning, rather than strictly content, which allows the students to integrate their experiences and perspectives. In teaching the socio-cultural dynamics of kinesiology and sport management, for example, I ask students to consider the popular representations of physical fitness. Students search social media platforms (Twitter, Instagram, etc.) for health and exercise advertisements and bring examples to class. In small groups, they consider ways these ads reveal social norms. Many of the ads, for instance, align with repressive gender and sex stereotypes. Therefore, students engage course material, but more importantly, they interact with their own social world.
I also help students extend their learning beyond the walls of our classroom, whether physical or online space. I pose questions about current topics related to course material in online discussion boards and I ask students to pay attention to current events and post relevant articles, videos, or images. Students analyze these topics online, thereby transferring ideas from class to discussions about relevant subjects, while again making specific connections between concept and reality.
Critical Thinking and Analysis
Second, I challenge students to think critically, to analyze current issues, and to improve their argumentation skills. Such competencies will help them both in their educational and professional careers. For example, I routinely ask students to engage with sides of issues with which they disagree, such as contemporary debates over performance-enhancing substances or sex testing in sport. Students often have biases and subjectivities in such controversial topics. Therefore, arguing for one or both sides forces students to think analytically while challenging them to better comprehend the current philosophical and pragmatic considerations over these controversial issues.
These examples demonstrate ways my teaching contributes to students’ abilities to make meaning out of their educational experience. My philosophy of teaching centers on students’ abilities to relate in-classroom experiences to their own world, and to critically analyze the environment in which they reside.
