Dawn Lee


Teaching Philosophy

As a college professor, my primary responsibility is to provide basic physics and chemistry knowledge and promote scientific thinking to a diverse group of students with a variety of career aspirations (mainly non-science majors), but my goal is to show students how the laws of physical science apply to their everyday lives in such a way that they retain that knowledge, share it with others and build on it. In doing so, I hope to generate “thinkers” that utilize the fundamental skills and information I provided to think independently and critically.

To accomplish these goals I am willing to try just about anything! I am always seeking new ways to integrate technology and new teaching/learning techniques in a meaningful way.  Currently, I include traditional techniques such as lecturing, but also promote collaborative, inquiry and problem-based learning. I take advantage of using the laboratory time to work with students to get them actively engaged in the experiments and the scientific process, in hopes of gaining a better understanding of both the material and the processes of deductive and inductive reasoning.

I am enthusiastic about the topics I teach and teaching in general, and express that openly with my students. I am actively involved with my class despite the large lecture setting we have. I try to establish a supportive learning experience by encouraging students to ask questions, during and outside class time, and giving thoughtful responses that provide positive feedback. To the best of my ability with such large classes, each student is treated as an individual with his/her own needs, abilities, and interests. It is important that each person involved in the education process be treated with respect and dignity, and that no one feel as though they or their ideas are not “good enough” or “smart enough” to reach the instructional goals of the class or their own goals and aspirations.

For additional information about my work in the Fellows Program, please see my report Overcoming Misconceptions in Physical Science through Guided Inquiry.