David Moss

University of Scranton

Field Experience II

Spring 2017

Assignment 1: Personal Theory of Teaching, Learning, and Assessment I

Ive been a student for as long as I can remember and a teacher for as long as I have been

able to help it. My most recent experiences are coursework to complete a masters in secondary
education and working as a physics I and II laboratory instructor to pay for said postgraduate

education. I have observed many styles and methods of teaching during my years as a student,

and I have experienced strategies that have succeeded, failed, and succeeded or failed based on

the context of the instruction. As a teacher, I try to implement the most useful techniques I

experience as a pupil to better facilitate the education of my students. At one point, I was

ignorant, arrogant, and lazy enough to think that teaching is only a matter of applying common

sense. This notion likely came about due to my seemingly natural talent for instructing others.

What I have learned in recent years is that teaching is only a matter of applying common sense,

but to such a great degree that the scientific process must be implemented. Through a

combination of education and reflection, I have found that an educational strategy is only as

effective as the statistical data backing it up. The only possible exception to this is when an

educational strategy is new and thus lacks any previous research. This can be remedied by

participating in statistical studies to determine the effectiveness of the strategy on a large scale.

That all said; the field of education is both widespread and long-lived, and any strategy a new

teacher creates is likely a reproduction of an already established and researched educational

strategy.

Ive observed that one of the most important factors in education is student interest. It

almost seems that some young students consciously try to ignore the lesson and refuse to learn

from the instructor. To teach is not just to lecture or impart knowledge directly. A teacher must

be clever and manipulative. To put it simply: a teacher must sometimes trick a student into

learning. Gaining and maintaining student interest can be one of the most challenging parts of

the teaching profession. Some techniques I have acquired are strategies such as: displays of

discrepant events, relating the course material to students personal interests, and even forming

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an emotional bond with a student so even if they have no other motivation to learn, they still do

so to please and impress their teacher.

Another factor I enjoy discussing and theorizing about is the idea of discovery-based

learning. As someone who has been a student and an instructor in a physics laboratory setting, I

both appreciate and am entirely frustrated by discovery-based learning. When its done properly,

discovery-based learning has the ability to inspire students to learn and discover by showing

them that the power to do so is truly in their own hands. Unfortunately, not all teachers

implement discovery-based learning properly. During my undergraduate physics studies, most of

my professors implemented discover-based learning to an extreme. I was often put in a position

in which my professors would answer my questions with more questions when all I needed was

that little extra hint or answer to help me put the rest of the puzzle pieces into place. I would

become stuck and unable to advance. This of course is frustrating and demoralizing, which only

hinders the learning process.

The third and perhaps most important factor I will write about for this assignment is

lesson flow. I recently observed a classroom in which the instructor mastered the lesson flow

and was in complete control of it at all times. This was absolutely not because he had a class full

of attentive and well behaved students. Many of his students behaved rather poorly, but instead

of allowing poor behavior to interrupt him, he manipulated his students into doing what he

needed them to do by being kind, compassionate, and understanding. Ultimately, he was

excellent at picking his battles when it came to student behavior. He ignored the occasional

curse or outburst so he could keep teaching. When he did have to get involved, he always did so

quickly, calmly, and with consideration towards his students. This earned him the adoration and

respect of his students, who appreciated the respect he gave to them. He always avoided

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escalating any situation so he could spend the class period working on his highest priority:

teaching.

These three concepts are just a few of the many factors that influence effective teaching.

Becoming a competent educator involves a tricky balance of statistical understanding,

charismatic speaking, emotional flexibility, and content mastery. Teaching is both a science and

an art (and sometimes a sport). I have only touched on the tip of the iceberg with this

assignment, and I look forward to experiencing and learning more so that I may become the most

effective teacher I can be.