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In the summer of 1992, I spent time at Argonne National Laboratory doing
research under Dr. Jim Boyle. While there I did some thinking concerning my
teaching philosophy in general and specifically about why I feel teaching
at a Christian College is what God has called me to do. Those thoughts were
written in my final report which I submitted on leaving Argonne that summer
and are given in the paragraphs below. Even now, four years later, I feel this accurately
reflects my teaching philosophy.
The greatest benefit of my time here (at Argonne) is its effect on how I will teach on my return to Southwest Baptist University. I relearned a number of key teaching ideas that I should have known before, but they are now more clearly in focus. To see the importance of these ideas for teaching at Southwest Baptist University, one needs to understand the basic philosophy of the school. Key to its mission is the Christian world view that
The Christian world view places man’s relationship with God at the highest priority. This affects both what and how one teaches in any subject (including mathematics although some would argue that its content is not affected by the Christian world view). So how one teaches at SBU is very important and my time here will affect how I teach as a number of key teaching ideas came into focus more clearly.
I was reminded of what seeing something new was like. It is rather frightening to be stretched beyond what one knows. This is what happens with my students all the time and now I will have more sympathy for students who are learning/seeing a topic for the first time. I was also reminded what it was like to be away from home and in unfamiliar conditions. Again, this is a common occurrence with my students and now I will be better able to help students adjust. My time at Argonne taught me the importance of remembering my graduates years down the road. I had been here at Argonne 9-10 years ago and I know what a boost it was to be remembered by people with whom I had worked.
I now have more insight into computer science. Many of my mathematics majors have a double major in computer science. I will now be better able to relate to both fields. My time has helped me see the functional language capability of Mathematica. I have been trying to incorporate Mathematica (and other software packages) into my mathematics courses for illustrative purposes. (This is as close to research as I get during my regular duties at SBU (By looking at my resume you can see that my use of technology has grown as has my opportunities for discussing such use)). I have realized some of the benefits that my job as a teacher at SBU has and will be a more satisfied, and hence effective teacher on my return.
As chairman of the mathematics department I am often asked to write letters of reference for my students, both for jobs on graduation and for undergraduate research programs at places like Argonne. My time at Argonne will give future letters of reference more weight, as I will know more of what will be required of them to judge their abilities to succeed in such a program.
This web page is produced by the Mathematics Department at Southwest Baptist University. It was created Sept. 16, 1996, by Dr. Kevin W. Hopkins and will be periodically updated by him. Questions/Comments can be sent to him. It was last updated Sept. 16, 1996.