My teaching philosophy has four basic, interrelated components - relevance, rigor, mentoring, and community service. Each of these components probably reflects experiences I've had with good and not so good instructors in the past. Trying to give equal importance and weight to each of the components has been a challenge. But, as a framework for organizing teaching innovations, it has been measurably useful.
Relevance: The issue of relevance is important in undergraduate and graduate education. In addition to learning theories and business philosophies, students must be exposed to current practices, timely materials and issues that dominate the "real world" environment. I believe an instructor should conduct a periodic "reality check" to ensure that he/she is teaching the skills and knowledge that students will actually use in practice and that are deemed to be of importance by potential future employers. Admittedly, it is easier to talk about this than it is to do it. But, some of the techniques I use are:
Rigor: I teach at a regional university in Kansas. Historically we have had, as a matter of state regulation, an open admissions policy. This meant that any resident of Kansas with a high school diploma or G.E.D. can enroll. As a result we probably have some students who are not equipped for college-level work. Some would argue that we should respond to that lack of preparation by "watering down" the curriculum - making it less rigorous than the curriculum at more prestigious institutions. I take very strong exception to that notion for two fundamental reasons. First, the marketplace is unforgiving. Students who are not well prepared academically will likely have greater difficulties adapting and succeeding after graduation. Second, it has been my experience that students "rise to the level of expectations." By that I mean that most students respond positively to challenging and difficult work. Students in general, and in particular, from rural America have well-developed work ethics and abilities well above what it takes to succeed in most instances. Techniques that I employ to build rigor into any course are:
Mentoring: All of us, I suppose, are involved in student advising. I think mentoring should go well beyond that. In my view, mentoring means providing students with information about careers, classes, behaviors, and the realities of the workplace. It means being actively involved with employers and Career Services. Granted that some students don't need as much mentoring as others, it's probably true that most students (in varying degrees) can benefit from some mentoring. As an example - the senior military officers that I teach occasionally at the Army's Command and General Staff College and Camp Pendleton Marine Base are very capable of handling class and curriculum questions. They are well prepared to handle their own career questions in the military. The are less well prepared to answer questions about employment and promotion in the civilian world after retirement from the Armed Forces. Traditional eighteen to twenty year olds at PSU can probably benefit, in most instances, from active mentoring as regards most aspects of their education and future career issues. Techniques employed in the mentoring area are:
Community Service: College of Business instructors have a remarkable opportunity to contribute to the outside community - particularly in areas like economic development, entrepreneurship and business operations. Beyond having an opportunity to contribute, it is my very strong belief that they have a responsibility to contribute in this area - particularly at state funded institutions. Over the years I have had the opportunity to run our Small Business Institute and also to direct our Kaufman Internship program. These programs have returned to the community (and students) much more than they have cost. They have been, by most estimates, positive contributions. Recently, I adopted a program developed by Gene Woolsey at Colorado School of Mines. Undergraduate students in my TQM class were assigned client small businesses that had quality problems. Students developed a consulting report for their clients that described solution for the problems - including detailed cost/benefit analyses. In one class, student solutions for five client firms yielded $64,000 worth of annual cost savings. Techniques that can provide community service include:
Finally, I believe that training is the acquisition of skills. Education is instilling new hungers for learning. I work hard to be an educator.