VI. Teaching Philosophy

My teaching philosophy revolves around three words: knowledge, dedication and methodology. As a science teacher and a mentor I believe that I have to possess deep knowledge of the subject and I have to be dedicated to endure the delightful isolation which is required to study and understand all material involved in the subject. It is my firm opinion that fundamental knowledge at a level that makes you comfortable to teach a course can be achieved and only realized if you have performed research on selected topics of the subject for many years. I define scientific research as the process that leads to the deep understanding of existing concepts and their limitations, validation, challenge, expansion and application into the same or allied area using already existing methods or by creating innovating ones. Research experience documented with publications is a testimonial of the author’s depth in relevant scientific background, critical thinking and deep understanding of the subject, and it warrants the talent, motivation and dedication of the individual in that particular field.

The syllabus of the course is carefully designed to ensure that all chapters and subsections are relevant to the scope of the course. The chapters are described in adequate detail so that students can read and understand the learning objectives, are updated to current knowledge, do not contain too much material beyond the required basic skills of the students and don’t contain excess information so they can be covered comfortably within the time period of the semester. Rules for grading and classroom administration are written clearly with fairness.

Lectures are written, read and polished many times, the same way I fine-tooth combed my books and my scientific manuscripts prior to submitting them for publication. I always review and organize lecture material prior to going to class to make sure that I make use of the power of language and deliver concepts and ideas to my students as clearly as possible. I am constantly ahead of technology, making sure that my teaching material is updated appropriately so that my students will do extremely well within the current pharmaceutical practices that are technologically demanding and quickly evolving.

Of utmost importance in efficient teaching is the selection of the required textbook. I believe that for meaningful learning to take place conceptual understanding has to be infused into all lessons. Teaching methods based on repetition/imitation models are more suitable to reveal special talent at a very young age. For example, young children who like to do math do not need to be explained the concept of addition in order to learn the skills of addition. They like to do arithmetic anyway, and not only will they figure out the relevancy of the skill to real life sooner or later, but perhaps they will even expand this concept later in their life. Contrary to young children, in order to motivate adult students to study a textbook and learn new skills through practice examples and homework problems, you have to show them the connection and relevance of each chapter to their profession. Thus, required textbooks have to contain the particular material taught in the classroom in adequate detail. They should also contain explanations and discussions that help the students comprehend the material presented. Examples have to be explained in a thoughtful and logical way and practice problems have to be challenging, aiming to improve the skills of the students. My book “Rational Approach to Pharmaceutical Calculations” is a reflection of my teaching philosophy. It places more weight on the qualitative understanding of concepts before considering other quantitative problems. It teaches the students how to approach and solve pharmaceutical and clinical problems using a rational approach. Clinical pharmacists have to be able to diagnose the problem correctly before attempting to solve it. To this end, every chapter contains conceptual questions. The origin and physical significance of all final forms of critical equations is always described in detail, thus, allowing the readers to recognize the real application and limitations of an equation. Practice problems are interesting, challenging and aim to probe and improve students’ understanding in many different ways.

Not only is it necessary to always show the connection between basic sciences and pharmacy but I also consider it to be very important that chapters be related to each other. The relevance of each chapter to the central scope is important because knowledge contained in the early chapters forms a framework by which new information is evaluated, related to existing knowledge and stored into the long-term memory of the student. The natural outcome of this process is that the more the students learn the easier it becomes to learn.

The last part of my teaching philosophy is the learning assessment which is a continuous process throughout the semester. In every lecture, I make sure that students know at the outset what I expect them to learn. In-class discussions and practice problems help me evaluate students’ basic science skills and identify gaps in their knowledge very early in the semester. I make sure that I give my feedback to the students, and whenever I identify difficulties and misconceptions in too many students simultaneously, I spend more time to explain the concept from a different angle or I supply the prerequisite skills to understand the new concept. If the misconception or lack of skills involves only few students then I allocate office hours to help them in my private time. Finally, in-class practice problems, quizzes, midterm and final examinations, and teaching evaluations will provide evidence of the effectiveness of my teaching methodology in students’ learning new special skills and in promoting students’ ability to think critically.