Nwanacho Nwana

My first teaching philosophy is that instructional strategies should be personalized for the student. Before engaging in any learning and instruction, it is super important that I understand my students' learning styles, interests, foundational gaps, and psychological hurdles around learning the subject. This allows me to create a more optimal learning experience for the student and will lead to better learning outcomes.

My second teaching philosophy is that foundational topics should be practiced as frequently as possible to build confidence and competency in deeper/higher-level problem solving and thought. Especially in STEM, many students struggle with what they are currently learning because they have not mastered core fundamentals. Additionally, some students have shaky foundations and stop practicing them once they graduate to higher-level subjects. I believe that drilling these foundations should not stop until a student has fully graduated from their STEM education.

Finally, my third main teaching philosophy is that real-world connections should come early in lessons to ensure students understand why the topic is relevant. Especially in today's world where students have an ever-growing number of distractions, it is paramount that educators convince their students that the topics are important to learn and can be applied to success and survival.