Teaching Philosophy of Manda Adams

I believe that education, whether formal or informal, is intended to help a student grow in two ways; 1) by developing a mastery of specific knowledge and facts and 2) developing the skills necessary to use, process, and share that knowledge. The ability to apply knowledge to a new problem is an essential skill in any endeavor, but particularly in atmospheric sciences. Atmospheric scientists and meteorologists are constantly applying their knowledge to answer new questions, in both operational and research arenas. The only way to solve a research question or make a weather forecast is to apply the knowledge that you already have. Therefore I strive to create and maintain a classroom environment where students feel comfortable asking questions and stating their opinions. After all, asking questions is at the center of both science and education. I expect students to be vocal in my classroom, and not afraid of being wrong, for being wrong is part of the learning process. I often tell my students that I care more about the thought process that got them to their answer, than I care about the actual answer.

I strive to stimulate my students through my enthusiasm for the material. If I am not excited about what I am teaching it is unfair to expect enthusiasm from them. I want my classroom to be a place where ideas are exchanged and that everyone in the classroom is treated with respect. Learning is an active process that both the instructor and the students must be committed to; if either one is not fully committed to the process, the learning will be compromised. I work to challenge my students to gain both knowledge and skills. I feel that all of the knowledge in the world means very little if you do not know how to process and communicate that knowledge. In the academic world of research institutions we are challenged with two goals: creating knowledge through our research and communicating knowledge through our teaching. I feel that those two goals are coupled and thus I work to bring research into my classroom, even in introductory level courses. As a researcher I am still learning myself, and thus I can relate to students quest for knowledge and I can possibly learn from them if I remain open to their ideas and opinions.

It is important that my students feel challenged without feeling intimidated or overwhelmed. I acknowledge that different people learn in different ways, and thus my teaching style varies to give kinesthetic, auditory, and visual learners an equal opportunity for success in my classroom. Student academic achievement is the result of both the students’ effort and the effort of the teacher. As an educator, I am not afraid to try new and different techniques, if that is what is needed to connect with my students and aid their success in mastering the material. The biggest struggle for students is not learning new material, but learning material that contradicts what they already thought they knew. For that reason, I always try to build their knowledge on the truth they already have. When I must cover a topic that will contradict their previous knowledge, I open up the class to discussing why they had a misconception on the topic. If students can discover for themselves why their previous idea is not possible, rather than just being told they are wrong, it builds their confidence in their ability to reason and allows them to take ownership of their knowledge. In my experience, students are more likely to retain knowledge that they discovered themselves than knowledge they were told.

The applied nature of atmospheric science presents a different environment for most students. I find that many students enter my classroom without ever having been challenged to apply their knowledge. My ultimate goal in every class I teach is to have my students be able to look at the world around them and apply the knowledge gained in the classroom to explain what they are seeing. The greatest satisfaction I get as an educator is when a student comes into my class very excited about something they saw, especially when their enthusiasm stems from their knowledge of what they saw, whether it is a introductory level student excited about seeing a sundog on a day with lots of cirrus clouds, or if it is a senior meteorology major who watched on satellite imagery, intersecting gust fronts produce a new supercell thunderstorm.