Teaching Philosophy

An introduction

How to ensure that the skills obtained during the degree remain relevant and how the personalities being developed by university courses can be suitably holistic and resilient to meet increasingly complex, interdependent needs of society and industry?

The answer is to integrate the value of problem-solving, taking ownership, embracing failure, and encouraging curiosity during the learning and teaching process.

Our younger generations have an innate ability and interest to solve problems that can be harnessed to provide more stimulating lessons in early education. For example, instead of asking students ‘what they want to be’ educators could ask ‘what they want to solve’ to inspire a mindset that is more curious and flexible.

When we give students an impression that we value the right answer more than critical thinking, we may drive them to take shortcuts and cheat. -Chris Tovani

Student Learning Goal

This recent year, we start to receive the Gen Zers student (born 1996–2012). Generation Z has its own unique characteristics. They have never known a world without the internet and have grown up with social media. They are really attach to video and interactive activity. Their focus or span time is very low as low as 20 minutes only.

From teaching and learning courses and sharing in school, Alhamdulillah, as I keep learning on the active and collaborative learning such as jigsaw activity, think pair and share and etc.
I usually try to shorten the delivering session to at least only 20 to 30 minutes as advance opening. I wish to help the students to keep focus with providing interactive surroundings especially during online teaching and learning activity, with the best material and fun activity for teaching so it could inspire and enhance the learning session and increase their curiosity and understanding.

In short,
i. To keep interactive class – both during face to face or online teaching

  1. To nurture creative and critical thinking rather than accepting correct answers only

iii. To enrich student by integrating them the value of problem-solving, taking ownership, embracing failure, and encouraging curiosity during the learning and teaching process

May Allah bless, and help this humble slave to complete every learning and teaching session in success and good term, inshaAllah!

My teaching philosophy:

As humble slave:

‘Kerana Tuhan Untuk Manusia’
As I believe, everyone has an equal and vast opportunity to seek knowledge, therefore I try to always positive, encourage and help students to enhance their understanding. My relationship with students not only limited to an in-class session but with the help of media/IT, I believe we could connect and discuss a lot of things. The most important things are not only to produce success intelligent student but to honour them to become a civilized man for the future. It’s more on about the journey as much as the outcome (not output!)

My educator philosophy:

To respect, to nurture and to enrich students, not only about the teaching only but to prepare them to become next leader!

My assessment practices

I believe for the assessment and evaluation should be carried out via both formative and summative way via sharing session, discussion, site visit, test, final exam etc. Scaffolding activities such as quiz, cooperative learning and case study also conducted during formative assessment. I also try my best to always give impromptu feedback especially regarding their assignment and during those activity.  Structural questions and  Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ) with the respective Taxonomy Bloom Level also to be used in order to give more understanding and good achievement.

My philosophy for the carry marks, its’ theirs’, they have big opportunity  to score the best. They could try to the last.

Self-teaching development

This year(2022), I able to attend series of courses in T&L, one of it under the UTM Torch series (Champion in Teaching and Learning). From the courses, I felt that there is big room for exploration and improvement especially to prepare for HyFlex learning in near future. I need to start mentoring and encouraging for my colleagues to apply recent STEAM T&L and of course to explore the digitalization of the courses. I’m interested to seek for 3D virtual learning especially for Soil Mechanics, and hopefully with a strong team, we could make it in near time. Besides attending training and courses on teaching and learning, I always ask the student to comment and reflect on my teaching so I could improve. In the same time, I continues to engage with industry and prepare to go for my industrial training to seek opportunity to learn new things (experiential learning). By doing so, I hope to become a competent engineer lecturer, engage with real industry player and at the same time could help the university to be boost as the best university in our region.

Besides attending training and courses on teaching and learning, I always ask the student to comment and reflect on my teaching so I could improve. In the same time, I always plan to engage with industry and go for site visit opportunity to learn new things. By doing so, I hope to become a competent engineer lecturer, engage with real industry player and at the same time could help the university to be a boost as the best university in our region. Recent engagement with industry via site visit (experiential learning activity) is attached here.

In year 2020, I managed to involve my students in seminar organized by GEOTROPIK centre. Prof. Paulus Pramono Rahardjo share his experience on ground improvement topic. Students gave positive feedbacks for the activity conducted.

For year 2021, I maganed to participate in PicTL and won two gold 2 and one silver.

This year in 2022, my friend and I submitted to the NALI 2022, hope we could hear some good news later.

Summary

From Abu Umamah al-Baahili radhiyallahu ‘anhu bahwa Rasulullah Shallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam said,

« إِنَّ اللَّهَ وَمَلاَئِكَتَهُ وَأَهْلَ السَّمَوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ، حَتَّى النَّمْلَةَ فِى جُحْرِهَا وَحَتَّى الْحُوتَ، لَيُصَلُّونَ عَلَى مُعَلِّمِ النَّاسِ الْخَيْرَ »

“Sesungguhnya Allah dan para Malaikat, serta semua makhluk di langit dan di bumi, sampai semut dalam lubangnya dan ikan (di lautan), benar-benar bershalawat/mendoakan kebaikan bagi orang yang mengajarkan kebaikan (ilmu agama) kepada manusia”[1].

[1] HR at-Tirmidzi (no. 2685) dan ath-Thabrani dalam “al-Mu’jamul kabiir” (no. 7912), dalam sanadnya ada kelemahan, akan tetapi hadits ini dikuatkan oleh hadits lain yang semakna. Hadits ini dinyatakan hasan shahih oleh imam at-Tirmidzi dan Syaikh al-Albani rahimahullah dalam “Silsilatul ahaditsish shahihah” (4/467).

To sum up, teaching and learning is a something that always keep changing i.e., dynamic. We meet with new generations that who need new techniques in delivering or approaching them. However, the basis is always there.
Iman, akhlak dan amal yang soleh jugalah yang menjadi kayu ukur kepada semua. So, keep being true and consistent.  🙂