Excerpts from the self-reflection paper, Teaching as a Graduate Student
I learned a lot from this class. I learned how to communicate with students and realized that teaching is not just conveying information to students. In particular, when I observed how one troubled student changed his attitude throughout the semester after I tried to communicate with him outside of the class, I felt this was what I wanted to do for life. I also met various types of students and learned how to handle those students. Most importantly, I learned that I liked teaching, or communicating with students. Even though I made many mistakes and had a hard time to prepare for all lectures, this was the most valuable experience I had in my academic career.
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Excerpts from the self-reflection paper, First semester at UWSP
My first semester at UWSP was full of trials and errors. One valuable lesson I got from my first semester was that I needed to know the characteristics of the class and students better. I also realized that students need more practical examples than fundamentals and basic skills and that they need to learn by themselves rather than being forced to get information by an instructor. In my first semester as an Assistant Professor, I forgot my teaching philosophy, “love of learning,” and pushed my students too hard without clear directions. Because of my misconceptions about the classes, even though I put much effort into difficult things, such as inviting five guest speakers (two for Intro PR and three for Sports PR) and creating connections with clients, I do not think that the students’ learning process was very effective. These mistakes and misconceptions should be corrected and I have to reaffirm my teaching philosophy of “love of learning.”
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Excerpts from the self-reflection paper, Second semester at UWSP
In the end, I learned a lot from my experience in my second semester at UWSP. Furthermore, after I had a chance to attend the Faculty College hosted by the UW system and participate in the Summer Curriculum Redesign workshop hosted by the Provost’s Office this summer, I have had a chance to think about my class very seriously. I could carefully revamp learning outcomes and the assessment. And, I have finally figured out the characteristics of my students. I realize that they need much clearer directions for every class activity and assignment.
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Click Here to see a Prezi Presentation (Experience of Developing an International PR course: Trials and Errors) at the 2010 National Communication Association annual conference (San Francisco, CA).
Chang Wan "Isaac" Woo, Ph. D. 