Charles David Cooper - My teaching philosophy is based on several beliefs and practices that have evolved over my 30+ years of teaching and 63+ years of living. I firmly believe that good engineers are products of their education and training, more so than of their innate abilities. Although raw intelligence and a “penchant for numbers” are important for engineering students, those alone are not sufficient. It is more important that they be educated in the discipline (with both theoretical foundations and with practical knowledge), and that they be trained to think and work with numbers. They must be able to quantify physical phenomena, and to do calculations that translate the physical, chemical and biological sciences into processes and structures that operate to the benefit of humankind and the environment. It is the engineering educator‘s job to present knowledge at the right level and in a logical progression, to motivate learners to stretch beyond what they thought they could do, and to set a good example by being organized, disciplined, and responsible in presenting the course. The first responsibility of the teacher is to know the subject well. Next, the teacher must prepare thoroughly and then deliver the lectures with confidence, relevance, and humor (when possible). Finally, the teacher must be fair and caring in order to connect with students. I believe in “hands-on” learning. That is, I think students learn better by doing rather than by listening. I regularly schedule sessions in my air pollution class where students do design calculations in teams while I walk around and make corrections or point out better approaches. I also assign a lot of homework to reinforce important concepts or calculation techniques. Finally, I believe in teaching by example. Professionalism and ethics are important aspects of engineering, and I not only convey that through lectures and examples in class, but also I try to display those traits to the students. I am always on time to lectures, I always return tests and homework the next class period, and I am very accessible to students in my office, both within and outside of office hours.

Costas Efthimiou - Physics and Mathematics have garnered reputations as extremely difficult scientific disciplines, accessible only to students with innate natural talent. In fact, although these subjects can be more abstract than others, an enthusiastic and devoted teacher can instill the excitement and awe of understanding of how the physical universe works through the powerful language of mathematics—an excitement that can energize students to approach physics and mathematics with unsurpassed dedication driven by their own curiosity. This is what leads to scholastic success, regardless of the difficulty of the subject matter. Therefore, I feel that the most important goals for a teacher are:

To expose the students to new ideas, impart new skills and generate excitement, motivating them to master the material.

To illustrate new ideas and develop new skills by analyzing as many interesting examples and applications as possible.

To communicate the new ideas with simple but exciting demonstrations that make a permanent mental imprint to which students can subsequently refer to harness the new ideas fully.

To give the students a framework for following up on these new ideas and skills, either on their own or in subsequent course work.

Lisa Mills - When I arrived at UCF eleven years ago I believed my primary role as an educator was to prepare students for a profession. My teaching philosophy has greatly changed since then, and my classroom activities and assessments reflect a new and evolving belief that I should learn from my students and that I have a responsibility to help them become better citizens of their community. I am fortunate to be teaching multidisciplinary art. Having students write about their experiences convinces them that making films is about understanding people, places and points of view. My online tutorials allow students to brush up on their camera and editing skills any time. Students upload rough cuts of their film projects to the Web for individual or peer assessments. The advantage of doing this is that it allows more quality time in the classroom, where students help each other and discuss digital methods or ethical considerations. The connection between my creative activity and my teaching has never been stronger. Having completed my third feature documentary in three years, I now have many personal examples, both strong and weak, to engage students in a creative process that has a real outcome. The result is that my students view me as a credible coach who has recently been where they are, so they trust me to help them reach their own creative decisions. My goal is to help them discover who they are and what kind of stories they want to tell with their films.

Houman Sadri - Education is a tool for improving the quality of life. Education is not an end in itself but a process. My teaching philosophy is to encourage critical thinking, innovative problem-solving, practical application of theory, using technology, and tolerance of diverse ideas and cultures from an international perspective. To achieve these goals, I employ an interactive teaching style, which empowers students by encouraging them to contribute to the discussion of both familiar and unfamiliar topics and materials. My teaching goals are both to share my academic knowledge and experience with my students and to inspire and help them to become life-long learners. Active learning fosters academic success. When students take part in the learning process they learn more and retain more than when operating in the passive mode. Students learn through repetition. All college students can learn the material if they see it, hear it and/or read it several times Students will work harder and learn more if the course is relevant to their lives. I always emphasize how international and national issues affect us directly.

Tison Pugh - The common feature of all medieval literature, despite differences in authors, cultures, and genres, is that it is very, very old, and for my pedagogy to be effective, I must demonstrate that this old literature is still very much alive. To accomplish this goal, I rely upon pedagogical practices that center on students as individuals and as members of a learning community. On an individual level, I ask that students respond to course readings with analytic rigor and imaginative empathy. For example, to understand Beowulf we must explore it within its own cultural context, paying close attention to its narrative structure and language, as well as the ways in which it engages with Anglo-Saxon legendary history. But a text is not a lifeless corpse only meant for critical dissection, and I also ask my students to make connections between the past and the present. How does Beowulf enlighten current constructions of gender, for example, or how does it comment on the current War on Terrorism? The issues with which medieval literature engages never die, and I provide ample opportunities for my students to consider a text rigorously while engaging with its issues imaginatively.  My role in the educational process is to adapt to new challenges and changing conditions in the continual quest to foster personal initiative in students while providing guidance that does not devolve into a crutch. For students to develop into independent critica