Alliance High school, Kenya, 2013
Jamie Kennedy
Teaching Philosophy
Education is a substantial part of life. It is what drives one generation to the next and what is left behind from one person to another. Most importantly, education is an element of change. This is because the world is forever changing with the rapid growth of technology. How can we prepare our future leaders without rejuvenating the way we teach? Educators need to utilize the tools discovered by scientist to account for the exponential amount of knowledge students are expected to learn. I am an advocate for innovation in education. Ultimately, this begins with acknowledging and implementing advanced-personalized learning. Learning happens when passions and interests meet innate traits, such as curiosity, to foster a positive emotion or outcome while building a student’s confidence in a subject matter.
“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I may remember. Involve me and I learn.” As an educator, we must develop curriculum that allows for both personalization and student engagement. This is possible through student-centered learning. In belief that every student is the same, education is becoming too normalized on a large scale. Students are not being offered the opportunity to learn in an environment that provides them with the best chance of succeeding. Curriculum development should expose each student’s strengths and learning ability to allow equal opportunity to excel. Inquiry-based and cooperative learning, both student-centered, allow for challenges and problems to develop ambition to learn the why, when, what, etc., while teacher-centered learning fails to create a sense of attraction and validity of a topic.
In my paper, “Using Infographics as a Tool for Introductory Data Analytics Education in 9-12,” I demonstrated that interest generates improvement in a student’s confidence and performance. In my preceding paper, “Understanding the Learning Propensities in Students 10 Through 12 in Data Analytics,” I showed that students have the skill set to perform data analytics, but are not provided the opportunity. More importantly, this paper yielded the importance of tailoring the module to fit a particular group of students based on individual’s academic maturity and emotional intelligence. In design-centered learning, modules can be formatted to provide a student with the ability to make a project their own. Students’ minds need to be stimulated and challenged to receive a positive outcome. Fostering positive emotions, such as confidence, enjoyment, interest, and trust, allows humans to retain more complex topics. In a successful teaching situation, students are engaged in a task that he or she feels will make a difference.Although the phrase “guide on the side” has be criticized and misconstrued for a lack of presence in a classroom, I am a firm believer in cultivating a student’s dexterity to apply themselves, especially in integrative STEM. Student interaction is extremely important in project-based learning whether it is with the teacher or their peers. I am a teacher that flourishes during one-on-one interactions with students. By learning what engages a student, I am more capable of providing him or her with a path to a solution. I value the time I spend my students and I always hold office hours and help sessions to make sure that every student has the opportunity to speak with me in a comfortable setting. In past courses, my overall reviews as a teacher have been that the course was challenging and a lot of work, but worth the effort. My hope is that I make the class more interactive and less intimidating.
I am a teacher with high expectations. No student should ever walk out of a classroom and say, “That was easy.” I will challenge young minds and receive feedback. By developing design-centered learning modules, I will help individuals master STEM subjects as a potential to become part of the future STEM workforce through confidence and understanding. Overall, as a teacher, I have to acknowledge and accept not knowing everything as a beautiful notion. Education is a two-way street and everyday that I step into a classroom I am gaining growth and knowledge.
“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I may remember. Involve me and I learn.” As an educator, we must develop curriculum that allows for both personalization and student engagement. This is possible through student-centered learning. In belief that every student is the same, education is becoming too normalized on a large scale. Students are not being offered the opportunity to learn in an environment that provides them with the best chance of succeeding. Curriculum development should expose each student’s strengths and learning ability to allow equal opportunity to excel. Inquiry-based and cooperative learning, both student-centered, allow for challenges and problems to develop ambition to learn the why, when, what, etc., while teacher-centered learning fails to create a sense of attraction and validity of a topic.
In my paper, “Using Infographics as a Tool for Introductory Data Analytics Education in 9-12,” I demonstrated that interest generates improvement in a student’s confidence and performance. In my preceding paper, “Understanding the Learning Propensities in Students 10 Through 12 in Data Analytics,” I showed that students have the skill set to perform data analytics, but are not provided the opportunity. More importantly, this paper yielded the importance of tailoring the module to fit a particular group of students based on individual’s academic maturity and emotional intelligence. In design-centered learning, modules can be formatted to provide a student with the ability to make a project their own. Students’ minds need to be stimulated and challenged to receive a positive outcome. Fostering positive emotions, such as confidence, enjoyment, interest, and trust, allows humans to retain more complex topics. In a successful teaching situation, students are engaged in a task that he or she feels will make a difference.Although the phrase “guide on the side” has be criticized and misconstrued for a lack of presence in a classroom, I am a firm believer in cultivating a student’s dexterity to apply themselves, especially in integrative STEM. Student interaction is extremely important in project-based learning whether it is with the teacher or their peers. I am a teacher that flourishes during one-on-one interactions with students. By learning what engages a student, I am more capable of providing him or her with a path to a solution. I value the time I spend my students and I always hold office hours and help sessions to make sure that every student has the opportunity to speak with me in a comfortable setting. In past courses, my overall reviews as a teacher have been that the course was challenging and a lot of work, but worth the effort. My hope is that I make the class more interactive and less intimidating.
I am a teacher with high expectations. No student should ever walk out of a classroom and say, “That was easy.” I will challenge young minds and receive feedback. By developing design-centered learning modules, I will help individuals master STEM subjects as a potential to become part of the future STEM workforce through confidence and understanding. Overall, as a teacher, I have to acknowledge and accept not knowing everything as a beautiful notion. Education is a two-way street and everyday that I step into a classroom I am gaining growth and knowledge.
Publications on STEM Education
- J. Kennedy, J. Janssen, "An Analytical Study on Underrepresented Justice-Involved and Foster Youths' Potential in STEM," Frontiers in Education Conference Proceedings, October 2018.
- J.Kennedy, A. Fontecchio, "STEAM Approach by Integrating the Arts and STEM through Origami in K-12", Frontiers in Education, October 2016.
- J. Kennedy, P. Abichandani, A. Fontecchio, “L.E.A.P.: Localized Engineering Awareness Program through Collaborative K-12 STEM Projects”, Frontiers in Education, October 2015.
- J. Kennedy, P. Abichandani, A. Fontecchio, “Using Infographics as a Tool for Introductory Data Analytics Education in 9-12”, Frontiers in Education, October 2014.
- J. Kennedy, P. Abichandani, A. Fontecchio, “Understanding the Learning Propensities in Students 10 through 12 in Data Analytics”, Frontiers in Education, October 2013.
- J. Coyle, J. Kennedy, B. Morton, and A. Fontecchio, “Engineering Visiting Fellows: A modular, low-cost model for scalable, university-facilitated international K-12 partnerships in engineering education ”, American Society of Engineering Education, June 2013.