Justin B. Post

Director of Online Education
Associate Teaching Professor
Justin_Post@ncsu.edu (NC State)
919.515.0637

View the Project on GitHub


Philosophy

Courtesy: pixabay. Idea image.

As a teacher, my goals are to make students feel welcome and supported in the classroom, motivate them to learn the material, and engage them in a discussion of that material that leads to a deeper understanding of the concepts involved. By using active learning and involving them in a discussion of the material, students are forced to truly grapple with the ideas. This can foster the critical thinking and problem solving skills they need to succeed in and out of the classroom.

To me the most important aspect of teaching is to create a comfortable, inclusive, and interactive learning environment for our students. A welcoming classroom makes students feel confident enough to voice their questions and opinions and begin a dialogue with us. To create a positive environment it is important to treat students with respect. This starts with a positive tone on the syllabus, clear expectations for success, and language about using preferred names and pronouns. In class I am careful to use examples that are inclusive and highlight contributions from underrepresented groups.

Courtesy: Ok to make a mistake imag.

In a face-to-face class I question the class about how what we are learning fits into the bigger picture narrative of the course. This encourages discussions between the instructor and the students and helps to break down the usual passive learning, lecturer/listener paradigm and instead promotes active and engaged students. In online courses I emulate this practice by recording shorter videos and including questions throughout. This helps the students to engage with the material and reflect on their learning process. I use discussion board posts to allow for student questions and participation in the larger conversation. In all of my courses I am unwaveringly positive when a student participates, whether they are right or wrong in their answer. The contribution is useful even when it is wrong as it allows us to discuss how we may have gone off track.

I’m very careful to show the passion and enthusiasm for their learning on a daily basis. I make sure that they know I am there to support them and help them achieve at the highest level. These efforts make students feel comfortable and that we have a mutual vested interest in the course.

Motivation image.

It is vitally important to motivate our students to be successful and set clear expectations for success. For me, this starts by being prepared at the beginning of the semester with a narrative for the entire course and by giving students clearly defined expectations of how to be successful. Motivating students helps them to see the big picture concepts and make the important connections with other ideas in the course that lead to a deeper and more full understanding of the material.

I start each class with discussion of where we are in our narrative, what we are doing, and why we are doing it. This clearly places the material in their minds. Each topic in the course is introduced with a motivating example that allows them to see why it is useful and what they’ll be able to do once they’ve learned it. I’m careful to set clear goals for the level of understanding the students should have and how their learning will be assessed. The students are more motivated to achieve when they can easily see what they need to do to prosper in the course.

Purposeful assessments are another way in which we can engage students in a discussion of the material. Along with the usual low stakes assessments, I love to give my students class projects, concept map assignments, and capstone projects. I usually require group work in these assignments to force the students to explain and defend their thinking to their peers. These types of assessments require purposeful communication, problem solving, and high-level critical thinking that truly leads to a deeper, longer lasting, understanding.

Lastly, teaching requires that we do our best to never become passive. We should always be refining our craft and learning new pedagogy. Each class will be different and thus, we must adapt for the current batch of students. We should constantly ask for and incorporate student feedback. The students of ten years from now will surely be as different as students from ten years ago. We must continue to go to workshops, participate in faculty exchanges, and attend conferences.

I believe that if we can accomplish these goals, the sky’s the limit for the learning that will occur in our classrooms! When students are comfortable in their learning environment, motivated to learn the material, and are constantly engaging with the material, we can get them to develop their problem solving and high-level critical thinking skills required to be successful.

Courses Taught

Courtesy: NC State

I’ve taught a lot of courses while at NC State, including many courses for our online Master’s program. The courses I’ve taught are listed below. I really enjoy creating new courses and creating a coherent curriculum. The courses I’ve designed or revamped are in bold.

If you are currently enrolled in one of these courses, the material for the classes is available on wolfware.

I’ve also taught Calculus II and Differential Equations at the University of Mount Union.

Professional Development

I’ve taught professional development workshops many times over the years. These mostly are concerned with statistical programming. You can find information about these courses on my open education page.