New Teaching Academy Members

 

Ayrton Bernussi

Teaching has been one of the most rewarding experiences in my personal and academic life. I really enjoy sharing my enthusiasm for engineering and science with the students attending my classes or working with me in the lab. What truly inspires me to teach is the opportunity to help students to understand a difficult subject, to witness their academic progress, and to motivate them to further advance their knowledge in a particular topic.

Keith Brigham

I view teaching as a team activity where student engagement and input is critical for an effective learning experience. As an interactive experience, it is developing connections between the material being delivered and the students that makes for a great class. Connections occur when I can make the material relevant by tying it to students' interests, experiences, or to real word events.

Fanni Liu Coward

I remember my very first day of school when I was 7 years old. Before I entered the first grade class, my dad said to me, “You are on your own. I never had this public school experience, so I won't know what happens there. I cannot help you. You have to listen to your teacher and ask questions if you don't know something.” And I did! I am still that little kid who is so eager to learn, but asks so many questions! I am fortunate because I have met several great teachers in my life. They nurtured my excitement for learning and saw potentials in me that I did not see. When I am teaching, I remember those teachers who inspired me when I was young.

Howard Curzer

What inspires me to teach? Nothing!

I don't teach graduate students! They are quicker thinkers and more knowledgeable than I … collectively, if not individually. They are junior colleagues, not students. We inquire together.

I don't teach undergraduates! Some see undergrads as demanding, coddled, and feeling entitled, but I see them as desperate, barely adult, and facing difficult life problems (e.g. crushing debt, long working hours, single parenting, depression). Flinging knowledge at them from a lectern is useless; I help them learn.

Raegan Higgins

I value teaching for the connections I make with students. Once my students know that I had challenges “getting” math, they are more receptive to learning the material. With open minds, I help students become critical thinkers. It is this change in mindset that inspires me to teach; students are asking “why?” and not just “how?”. As the students grow as critical thinkers, their growth effects how I teach and influences my future teaching.

Russell James

I am inspired to teach because I love my subject matter and want my students to love it just as much. I am inspired to teach because it is in my DNA as a third generation teacher; I can't help myself. I am inspired to teach because after teaching college courses for over twenty years I now get to see generations of change and growth in former students through many stages of their lives.

Courtney Meyers

My love of teaching stems from an innate desire to help students excel. I believe teaching is most meaningful when it encourages and enables students to reach their full potential. This may be realized by improving their writing ability, grasping a new technique, or earning a coveted internship position. My success as a teacher is measured by the success of those I teach. Wanting to help them reach their goals inspires me to teach.

Catherine Morelock

I teach in order to inspire wonder about the complexity and fragility of human relationships and communication. A step beyond critical thinking, I define wonder as the ability to recognize and revere the knowledge that comes from critical analysis. Wonder is an antidote for apathy, motivation for action, and is a skill that I hope students will take beyond the classroom to enrich other areas of life.

Stephen Morse

My inspiration to teach stems from the excitement I get from helping others discover something new. I enjoy serving as a guide to curious students on their journey to learn. Students often will ask insightful questions, indicating they are beginning to grasp the concept, allowing the conversation to advance in sometimes new and creative ways. So rather than guiding them, I am walking the path of discovery with them, discovering new things myself.

Alyson Outenreath

I teach tax law courses at the Law School. My inspiration to teach comes from my love of the subject matter (yes, tax law!) and the desire to show students that tax law is actually fun and something they can absolutely master. Oftentimes students seem intimated by tax law courses because they mistakenly assume the subject matter will be too difficult or the material will be dull. My goal is to show students that neither of those assumptions is correct. My heart fills with such joy when I see students get excited about solving a tax problem in class and even more so when I see the confidence that it leads to in themselves.

Dimitri Pappas

In my classroom and labs I aspire to create global thinkers, students who apply what they have learned and make a difference in the world. My job as a professor is to teach critical thinking, engaging students to reach beyond their own experiences and to make a difference in their communities and in their careers.

Anne Prouty

As a trainer of family therapists, I strive to inspire students' curiosity, creativity, and enthusiasm. I believe that two important goals of my teaching are to promote critical thinking and emotional growth. I believe that people develop by being able to ask questions of themselves and others, by examining complicated issues, and by being able to develop a variety of possibilities. I believe it essential to infuse issues related to human diversity into every clinical class meeting, self-of-the-therapist meeting, and every case review so that the complexity of human experiences is consciously attended to within the clinical work. Hence, teaching is a lifetime of learning and growing.

Debra Reed

I want to lead so that others will want to lead, not just follow. With the world obesity crisis, we need our TTU students to become leaders in Nutritional Sciences who have a fundamental foundation of nutrition knowledge, but who also can think critically, continue to learn new scientific information independently after graduation, and can communicate and advocate effectively on this complex issue.

Kamau Oginga Siwatu

As an educational psychologist my goal is to assist educational practitioners in developing a comprehensive knowledge of the cognitive, motivational, social, and cultural processes that are related to human development and learning. The desire to assist educational practitioners in developing an understanding of how students learn and the ability to apply principles of psychology to enhance the teaching and learning process for all learners, regardless of age, gender, or race, is what inspires me to teach. Additionally, I am inspired that my teaching can potentially influence the day-to-day practice of educational practitioners such as educators, counselors, school psychologists, instructional designers, and coaches.