Teaching is at the heart of what we do at ACU and the heart of my role at the University. It is what brought me to Abilene. I saw a love for helping students learn and grow in both the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and the wider university. I love teaching. There are so many parts of this profession that I enjoy and am passionate about. I enjoy working with students and seeing their excitement when they learn something new. I like learning and\/ or developing new ways to help student learn. I also relish how much I learn as I explain material to students. It is amazing how much my depth of understanding of biochemistry has increased during the 11 years that I have taught at ACU.<\/p>\n
During my time at ACU, I have taught 12 courses<\/a><\/span>. I have taught from our lowest numbered course Chem 101 Consumer Chemistry, a non-majors general Education course, to some of our highest sequenced course Chem 453 and 454, Biochemistry I and II, the senior level Biochemistry sequence. I can honestly say that I have enjoyed every course I have taught. Sometimes, when I took on a new class, I would think, “I need to teach this class, but I’m not going to enjoy it.” Every time though, I find new things to learn and the students, which are my favorite part, are still students.<\/p>\n When I am feeling discouraged about teaching, I try to remind myself to go back and read notes from my former students<\/span><\/a>. These serve to remind me that I do have a role to play in their futures and that there is real meaning to this work. It is an encouragement to see how I have made an impact on their lives and have helped prepare them for the things they are doing next.<\/p>\n Over the next several pages I will write about and reflect on different aspects of my teaching experience including my Philosophy of Teaching<\/span><\/a>, my Reflection on Faith and Learning<\/span><\/a>, New Teaching Methods<\/span><\/a>, and Lessons from Student Evaluations<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n