teaching portfolio

philosophy

Enthusiasm is paramount in my approach to teaching. I strive to convey my own passion for a subject and thereby imbue my students with an eagerness to learn. The contagiousness of excitement opens doors for collaboration and communication, motivating students to learn from each other as well as from me.

Class discussion is a breeding ground for enthusiasm. I recently implemented an online forum for a class on the interaction of music and politics. Discussion was slow to start, but after several encouraging posts of my own and enthusiastic responses to student posts, the forum flourished. References to contemporary culture were particularly useful here. Linking to current music and ideas--material with immediate relevance to the students’ own experiences--gave new vitality to the historical subject matter. Students were eager to participate and debate one another. Though occasionally straying from the syllabus, the forum made the personal relevance of the course material more acute for many of the students.

I find the idea of a lofty, omniscient, and therefore unapproachable teacher to be outdated. Students are much more receptive to an approachable educator. As a teacher, I recognize that there are no limits to the depths of knowledge, so I allow myself to learn alongside my students. Encouraging interaction with my students both in and out of the classroom, I try to make myself as available as possible. Doing so acknowledges those students who may not be comfortable in certain settings and fosters a safe and productive environment. Towards these ends, I establish a casual rapport with students and repeatedly stress my willingness to meet with them outside of class or scheduled office hours.

Because of its many pedagogical applications--and its ubiquity in contemporary culture--technology is an important part of my teaching. In another recent class, I created a course webspace to supplement my lectures. Musical examples, practice quizzes, and lecture outlines, were made readily available. E-learning platforms like this one provide a wealth of new resources and I hope to continue using them in the future.

Various in-class technologies have also been very useful in my teaching: digital audio and video recordings and PowerPoint presentations foremost among them. Of course, I recognize the limits of technology as well--and the pitfalls of overusing it--and am constantly evaluating how these resources may be used to best advantage.

I recognize that a teaching philosophy should be adaptable in its specifics. Different subjects and different students often require vastly different teaching approaches. In my most recent class, I varied the structure of each lesson to include group activities, one-on-one interaction, straightforward lecturing, and class discussion in order to address different learning styles. My educational ideologies are custom tailored to the material and subject, while maintaining certain fundamental principles that stress the importance of communication and encourage students to engage with the material critically, intellectually, and creatively.

courses taught

click dates for ESCI evaluations

Lecturer:

MUS 11: Fundamentals of Music - Fall 2008 ( syllabus )

Large lecture course introducing non-majors of varying backgrounds to rudimentary concepts of music theory.

Teaching assistant:

MUS 160C: Advanced Tonal Analysis - Spring 2008

Upper Division; critical study of analytical methodology for Late Romantic song; guest lectured and led review sessions.

MUS 160B: Twentieth Century Analysis - Winter 2008

Upper Division; survey of post-tonal techniques and theoretical models; guest lectured and met with students one-on-one.

MUS 160A: Tonal Analysis - Fall 2007 (not evaluated)

Upper Division; formal/structural analysis of Western music; guest lectured, graded coursework ,and led review sessions.

MUS 5A/5B/5C: Music Theory - Fall 2006, Winter 2007, Spring 2007

Intensive introduction to classical theory for music majors; led weekly discussion sections.

MUS 11: Fundamentals of Music - Summer 2007, Summer 2008

Single-term introduction to the principles of music notation and theory for lower-level undergraduates.

MUS 15: Music Appreciation - Fall 2005, Winter 2006, Spring 2006

Survey course satisfying required divisional requirements for all underclassmen; led three thirty-student discussion sections weekly and graded assignments and exams.

Reader:

MUS119A: Music & Politics - Summer 2007, Winter 2008, Summer 2008 (not evaluated)

Upper Division; multidisciplinary approach to the intersection of artistic and socio-political spheres; guest lectured, graded papers and kept records of lecture materials.

student feedback

In addition to filling out ESCI forms, students at UCSB are encouraged to write additional comments on the back of their questionnaire when evaluating a course. Students’ identities are kept confidential, so writing comments gives them excellent opportunity to reflect on the quality of the course and voice any concerns or suggestions. These comments are then made available to the instructor after the course has ended. Such commentary, of course, will not always reflect the quality of the course as taught, but it does provide instructors a chance to gauge their rapport with students.

The following images are a complete set of student feedback comments from a representative quarter. They were scanned from the backs of ESCI questionnaire forms from the Winter 2006 quarter when I TAed a music appreciation course. (Click the images to view them at full resolution.)