Teaching and Education Philosophy
I enjoy teaching and challenge myself to maintain a high level of teaching rigor. I am a graduate from a teacher-training university (National Taiwan Normal University). It is exciting to watch students mature, and unlike research activities, where results may take years to achieve, teaching offers more timely gratification.
To motivate undergraduate and graduate students to develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills that will benefit them throughout their lives, I use a sequential problem-based approach in my teaching. First, I present simple, down-to-earth examples to introduce biological principles and provide a solid knowledge base. Second, I present problems as case studies, encouraging students to analyze the cases as smaller components, and then apply the learned principles to seek possible solutions. If necessary, I provide a series of hints to guide them towards possible solutions. Finally, students synthesize the smaller components to create comprehensive solutions to more complex problems.
I always encourage undergraduate students to seek individual counsel with me when they experience academic difficulties. I ask them to talk to me as soon as signs of learning difficulties appear. At other times, I take proactive measures to approach students in order to help them realize that they are having problems, and then sit down with them to resolve the issues immediately. The sooner problems are recognized, the more options are available for remediation.
In guiding graduate students, I emphasize individual mentoring of synthesis skills and writing techniques. Notably, I spend significant amounts of time working with them on writing manuscripts. Not only do these efforts produce many manuscripts, it also helps students improve their writing and synthesis skills. As evidence of the success of this approach, virtually all the graduate students I have mentored have published at least one peer-reviewed paper and been a co-author on a second paper. The effectiveness of this training is further manifested by the fact that my graduate students have continued their advanced studies at Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, University of Florida-Gainesville, Texas A&M University, Texas Tech University, and University of Missouri-Kansas, or obtained jobs at FDA, Monsanto, Pfizer, Bristol-Meyers Squibb, Patheon Biologics, Eurofins Bioanalytics, and Massachusetts General Hospital, and Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
I encourage students to set challenging goals. Even if the results are not as desired, they will have no regrets if they have tried their hardest. I encourage students to focus on what lies ahead, not looking left or right (peer pressure) or behind (self-condemnation), as these distractions will hinder their progress. I challenge them to be better today than yesterday. Importantly, they will have to quarterback their own lives, which entails developing the leadership skills needed to inspire team members. Inevitably, their successes will accelerate along their career trajectory.
The learning experience in a four-year college is like the growth of a unique Asian Bamboo species. This plant only grows one inch a year in the first four years. Wall Street bankers would never invest in this business. However, starting the fifth year, the bamboo grows a few inches a day. Scientists have analyzed the anatomy of this bamboo. They found that in the first four years the roots of the bamboo stretch for miles to absorb nutrients and water. That is why the bamboo can sustain explosive growth starting in the fifth year. As long as students stay the course and are persistent and consistent in learning enthusiastically over a period of four years, they will create a very solid foundation, and their careers will take off quickly once they graduate. We faculty members are the bamboo farmers. We nurture students with the best learning environment. We relish the moments of their success.
Our society is rapidly changing, and the needs of our students evolve. I look forward to meeting future challenges in education and assisting the growth and career development of undergraduates and graduates through vigorous interactive and dynamic training and mentoring.