TEACHING PHILOSOPHY Benjoe Juliano http://www.ecst.csuchico.edu/~juliano/Teaching/Philosophy.html Professors are scholars. I profess my discipline through the integration of my teaching, research, and service responsibilities. I strive to integrate these three activities so that I can share and express them effectively in the classroom. For me, maintaining currency in my discipline is indicative of my commitment to my profession. As a scholar, maintaining currency involves active participation in the sharing and dissemination of knowledge and information. Additionally, one tends to spark more interest and excitement from students by sharing and discussing with them any new developments in a field of study, or any progress one has made on an ongoing research project. This is very important in all classes, whatever level the course may be. In fact, in an evolving field like computer science, professors are typically faced with the situation where there may be a student in the classroom who is more of an “expert” in the current topic being discussed! Situations like this make teaching exciting for me and my students because this gives them the opportunity to get more involved in the classroom dynamics. We get to reverse roles: I get to learn from the knowledge my students can share with me and the rest of the class. I love to teach and interact with students – there is so much joy in sharing knowledge and expanding the horizons of people eager to learn something new. There actually is no difference between my love for teaching and my passion for scholarly research. In both, one typically shares and disseminates knowledge. As Ernest Boyer put it (in Scholarship Reconsidered: Priorities of the Professoriate, The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching: Princeton University Press, 1990), “teaching is the heartbeat of the educational enterprise.” I believe my teaching is most effective through the successful integration of teaching and scholarship. Boyer points out that a teaching-scholarship synthesis requires that one be engaged in the scholarship of discovery, integration, engagement, and teaching. Boyer’s scholarship of discovery and integration is what we commonly refer to as “research,” scholarship of engagement (or application) is what we call “service,” and last, but not least, is the scholarship of teaching, which we typically refer to as “teaching.” Scholarly teaching, says Boyer, “both educates and entices future scholars.” The faculty member engaged in this scholarly enterprise must be thoroughly knowledgeable in his/her given field. I agree with Boyer’s concept of scholarship. He asserts that “teaching, at its best, means not only transmitting knowledge, but transforming and extending it as well.” He claims that these four categories of scholarship are inseparable and rest upon the “recognition that knowledge is acquired through research, synthesis, practice, and teaching.” My teaching philosphy is inspired by Boyer’s conclusion that, “we need scholars who not only skillfully explore the frontiers of knowledge, but also integrate ideas, connect thought to action, and inspire students.”

For additional information on my teaching activities, see
http://www.ecst.csuchico.edu/~juliano/Teaching