Kevin G. Harrison, Ph.D. excerpt from Teaching Philosophy (For full version, please contact kevinharrison44(at)gmail.com) “Who dares to teach must never cease to learn.”
–John Cotton Dana
I teach to inspire students to develop the qualities of effective scientists. To do this, I share my passion for learning, teaching, and research with students. This passion takes root in students and inspires them to understand the world around them and how it is changing. Since effective scientists are avid learners and effective problem solvers, my teaching goals include inspiring students to develop the motivation and skills for lifelong learning, and training students to become exceptional problem solvers. Because people are born with an innate passion for learning and solving problems, I need only to re-awaken these latent drives in my students, who I treat as intellectual equals. Researchers have found that people can be motivated to solve a problem and to learn by making them aware that there is a gap in their knowledge (Loewenstein, 1994; Heath and Heath, 2007). To engage students, I use this approach by asking questions that make them aware of their knowledge gaps and challenging them to derive solutions. On the first day of class, I give students a pre-test to identify gaps and to illustrate what they will learn during the semester. I use the gap learning approach extensively when teaching and advising by asking provocative questions. For example, I ask students to explain why moist air is lighter than dry air. My favorite questions have counterintuitive solutions and often challenge conventional wisdom. Once students become motivated to improve their cognition, they start working on problem sets that require creative insights and call for them to solve problems without complete information or 100% certainty. Students learn to develop situational awareness and understand the big picture before solving any problem. Students synthesize, integrate, and apply the course material. My students learn geology and environmental concepts, become lifelong learners, and adroit problems solvers. In their feedback, students let me know that my courses and advising have transformed their lives. Diana Abellera, one of my former students, says: “As graduation loomed, I felt utterly helpless and at a loss as a single individual in a world full of overwhelming issues. I probably would have taken years to discover what I wanted to do with my life had it not been for Professor Harrison. He changed me and empowered me by making my idealist notions a reality. Since graduation I have pursued a career in environmental and social justice education. Currently I work for a think tank working predominantly on sustainable climate policy as its first and only education staff person. I have developed curriculum and trained over 200 young climate justice activists, using some of the same curriculum that Professor Harrison used with my class. He continues to provide support and resources for me as I am developing my career, readily responding to my questions with enthusiasm.”
I get letters like Diana’s every year from former students. My classes are very difficult. One student said, “Dr. Harrison was the toughest professor of my undergraduate career. As a result, I learned the most from his classes.” My classes are popular even thought they are difficult, which is a rare combination. One colleague said, “Although Kevin’s offerings are rigorous and frequently considered the most difficult courses on campus, students love his classes and consider them among their favorites.” After taking a class from me, many students enroll in more of my classes. All of the students who have started projects with me have completed their theses with me. My teaching goals include having students become life-long learners and skilled problemsolvers. I believe that teaching and education are crucial parts to solving any problem. Given the pace at which society, academy, and science are changing, it is important that students become life-long learners. Also, I believe that people skilled at solving problems will be happier and more successful and will actually be able to solve some of the world’s pressing problems. For example, I expect my students to develop the technology that will make renewable energy less expensive than coal, invent the policies to implement these technologies, and create a strategy for getting the policies into play (rather than just gathering dust in a book somewhere). I think that effective teaching leads to increased enrollments in all classes, more majors, better majors, more productive and successful graduate students, and decreased attrition. These graduates will contribute more to the department’s endowment, which will give the department more resources to use to further its mission.
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References Heath, C. & D. Heath. 2007. Made to stick: why some ideas survive and others die. NY: Random House. Loewenstein, W. 1994. The psychology of curiosity: a review and reinterpretation. Psychological Bulletin, 116, 75-98.
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