Statement of Teaching
I believe that teaching at the university level requires serious commitment to the students as this is the place where students should be challenged to reach their full intellectual potential. I believe it is my responsibility not only to teach the subject matter, but also to instill values desirable for successful business careers by ensuring that my students have the opportunity to develop leadership skills, good project and time management skills, and team work among others. I encourage my students to think “out of the box” and explore areas they may not have known much about prior to taking my classes without fear of making a mistake.
In order to achieve my goals as a teacher, I ensure that I provide my students with:
- A very structured and well organized course, with objectives, deadlines and expectations clearly outlined from the beginning
- Fast feedback on grading and any questions from the students so that the students never feel neglected by the teacher and/or lost
- Illustrate how the subject material is a part of the ‘real world’ and how the covered content relates to other courses and disciplines
- Foster an environment of respect for diverse perspectives with open mind to discussions of course content, allowing students to express their own experiences with the subject
In an effort to make class material more relevant and interesting, I often draw on recent trends by bringing extra materials to the classes in the form of short videos or articles from magazines and newspapers. I always ensure ample time is given to class discussion of these materials as I have experienced that students tend to learn from these discussions as they try to relate the concepts to their own experiences. The students also respond well to the change in focus such discussions bring and are better able to process the material covered in class as a result. I also find these discussions very interesting as the students often have experiences that inform all of us about new practices that I myself may not have known before, which helps me grow and improve my classes for the future semesters.
More specifically with respect to teaching management information systems courses or related business courses, I believe it is my responsibility to help my students understand the importance of Information Systems for organizations and explain the specific impacts information systems can have on these organizations and their activities. To date, I have taught both introductory and advanced MIS courses at the undergraduate level. I taught these courses in both face-to-face and online settings. Additionally these classes ranged from 14 students to a class of 500. Thanks to the experience I have gained through teaching courses as well as serving as a teaching assistant for various professors, I feel prepared to teach a wide variety of courses. I would be especially interested in teaching introduction to MIS, e-commerce, systems analysis and design, and database management. Additionally I also have experience with teaching telecommunications and networking.
I have been fortunate enough to teach introduction to Management Information Systems course over three consecutive semesters, which has given me a chance to act upon student comments and incorporate them into my classes. This iterative improvement has helped me better understand what students value and what helps them realize their potential.
My curriculum vitae provides a full list of classes I have taught with my evaluation ratings received from my students. Select comments from students I have taught are also provided. Additional details can be found at my website at www.annamcnab.com/teaching.
