Teaching Philosophy

Engineering provides the infrastructure necessary to sustain civilization and provide for quality of
life. The challenge for of engineering education is to invest students with the skills and competencies
necessary to design solutions for the challenges and opportunities humanity faces today and in coming
generations. I will contribute towards this endeavor by presenting the technical materials in such a way to
ensure that the students have the tools to become competent engineers who are driven by purpose, are
grounded in principle and have a passion for learning. From the earliest opportunities that I had to interact
with students, my goal wais and still is to make a positive difference in their lives;, thereby repaying those
faculty members who nurtured and encouraged me when I was pursuing my engineering education.
I have widespread teaching experiences in various courses and settingsa range of atmospheres. I
tutored a number of students in introductory physics, mathematics and engineering during my
undergraduate career. While at University of Michigan, I spent two summer teaching math and science at
Ford Summer Engineering Institute. This was an innovative program to prepare incoming freshman for
the rigors of engineering and research. Through the National Society of Black Engineers, I have
organized and led ACT/SAT and SAT prep courses for Michigan high school students. At the University
of Notre Dame, I have gained valuable experience as a graduate teaching assistant for both aerospace and
mechanical engineering courses in. In addition to classroom instruction. Also, I have advised students on
appropriate research topics and post-graduation endeavors. Furthermore, as a graduate research assistant
in the Notre Dame Turbomachinery Laboratory, I have gained knowledge and taught the fundamentals of
experimental design and laboratory procedures. Recently, I was thean iInstructor for the Engineering
System Course II at the University of Notre Dame. As an instructorIn this teaching role, I was committed
to an interdisciplinary style of learning and instruction, and structured my course as such. Rather than
simply lecturing to a class, I promoted an interactive atmosphere and encouraged critical thinking
encouraging students to consider societal and historical . Several times during this course I am it a
mission to make the student pause and consider engineering within its larger communal, historical, and
academic frameworks.
I look forward to teaching and mentoring at Chicago State. In addition to teaching traditional
courses in Engineering, and Physics, I would enjoy developing curriculum for new courses. I am
particularly interested in offering an upper-level undergraduate course on Fluid Mechanics or Gas
dynamics. I am also interested in teaching a course on Thermodynamics. These courses would explore
the unique and diverse properties of this broad class of materials and phenomena, while introducing
important concepts in statistical mechanics, fluids, and mathematics.
I am also interested in bringing new approaches to the teaching of existing courses.The need for a
diverse teaching style in engineering education has been well documented in the literature. Felder et al.
[1] stated that mismatching the engineering teaching and learning styles leads the mismatches lead to poor
student performance, professorial frustration, and a loss to society of many potentially excellent
engineers. Several ideas of thought have been posed to address this mismatch, from maximizing the in
lecture engagement of the student using cooperative and problem based learning [2], to hybrid
engineering instruction using blending courses[3], and E-learning[4]. In order to educate the modern
engineer, the material must be present in a way that is reflective of the times. I believe in a teaching style
that presents the material in both a concrete information and abstract concepts. Presenting the material in
this way would motivated learning by relate the material being presented to what has come before and
what is still to come in the same course.
I look forward to teaching and mentoring at Chicago State. In addition to teaching traditional
courses in Engineering, and Physics, I would enjoy developing curriculum for new courses. I am
particularly interested in offering an upper-level undergraduate course on Fluid Mechanics or Gas
dynamics. I am also interested in teaching a course on Thermodynamics. These courses would explore
the unique and diverse properties of this broad class of materials and phenomena, while introducing
important concepts in mechanics, fluids, and mathematics.
My goal in teaching will be to empower students to become well rounded and leaders within
their chosen field. To that end, I will try to emphasize critical thinking, creativity, collaboration and
communication skills in addition to the problem-solving skills that will make them experts in a subject.
Finally, because student/mentor relationships are extremely important to student development, I would
like to create opportunities for undergraduates to participate in research as early as the summer after their
freshman year. It was these early engineering experiences that gave me my first flavor opportunity of
experimental real research and strengthened my resolve to become an engineer.


Felder, Richard M., and Linda K. Silverman. "Learning and teaching styles in engineering
education." Journal of Engineering education 78.7 (1988): 674-681.
Smith, Karl A., et al. "Pedagogies of engagement: Classroombased practices."Journal of Engineering
Education 94.1 (2005): 87-101.
Lust, Griet, et al. "Tool-use in a blended undergraduate course: In Search of user profiles." Computers &
Education 57.3 (2011): 2135-2144.
Eugene, Wanda, and Kevin Clark. "E-Learning, Engineering, and Learners of African Descent: A Needs
Analysis." Journal of STEM Education: Innovations and Research 13.2 (2012): 45-57.