My teaching philosophy

As a teacher-researcher of medical, healthcare, and workplace communication, I aim to foster writerly agency, real-world problem solving, and ethical rhetorical decision making via a liberatory pedagogy approach. Central to these aims is the belief that students do not learn in a vacuum. The knowledge they attain as writers is inseparable from their roles as students and people. My ultimate goal as an educator is for students to become more effective and ethical communicators in their intended disciplines and beyond.

Writerly agency via rhetorical listening and active learning

My Master’s thesis on liberatory pedagogy naturally fueled my commitment to challenging the teacher-to-student power dynamic. This commitment is guided by my belief that effective teachers continually seek student feedback and acknowledge that the needs of each section and individual student differ. As such, I aim to approach the classroom as a learning coach who meets students where they are through rhetorical listening. This approach begins on the first day when students complete an introductory survey to share background information about themselves, their current writing strengths, course goals, and a brief description of a previous course they enjoyed. I read these responses and use them to tailor our learning environment for the first portion of the semester. This micro practice allows me to learn more about my students—outside of class time—and begin assessing each section’s learning preferences. Aided by iterative design values, I regularly incorporate student feedback into my course design by assigning an anonymous “Start, Stop, Continue” instructor survey after each unit. These surveys prompt students to share what is currently working well in our course and what can be tailored to better foster their success. When students realize that I want them to have an active say in our course format and design, they often more readily take ownership of their learning and see the value of rhetorical listening and iterative design principles.

Likewise, I believe that a range of learning activities and modalities is necessary to foster an empowering, inclusive classroom. Students engage in various hands-on learning activities such as resource scavenger hunts, design critiques, think-pair share discussions, individual writing, partner and group work, and post-class exit tickets. The lectures I present are often interactive; students are prompted to share their prior knowledge, answer discussion questions, or even freewrite as we move throughout the slides. This attention to active learning extends to my course curriculum where students are encouraged to engage with various scaffolding activities to build their writerly confidence throughout the term. Each course unit includes a series of smaller, low-stakes assignments that build to our final project, such as a topic generation prompt, source synthesis chart, design plan, or rough draft. One previous student described this attention to scaffolding: “I thoroughly enjoyed the content of the class and the way the class was formatted. The assignments were structured in a way that made sense and allowed my best learning.”

Rhetorical awareness via real-world problem solving

By engaging with real-world problems, students enhance their rhetorical awareness and ability to effectively communicate across diverse contexts. In my composition courses, first-year students often research a local need in their academic discipline or campus community. Later, they remix their findings into a research poster or multimodal presentation to enhance their sense of scholarly belonging when entering academic conversations. In upper-level courses, my professional writing students engage in hands-on professionalization by identifying local research needs and working collaboratively to respond to multiple audiences. My business writing sections, for example, have worked directly with local non-profit partners to identify their communication challenges and produce a series of rhetorically-sound campaign deliverables, specific to their designated community partner. Some of these deliverables include website redesigns, fundraiser fliers, YouTube videos, and social media templates to raise greater awareness for non-profits in our local backyard. Other STEM students in my Writing for the Health and Human Sciences course have worked in teams to develop grant proposals for local medical research initiatives like developing a mobile children's health clinic in rural Benton, Indiana, or initiating a "Cancer Buddies" program to enhance the mental health of those diagnosed in our area. Many upperclassmen students engaged with the genre of grant writing for the first time and saw the practical benefits of conducting this type of research. This attention to local research and writing prepares students for the workplace and strengthens their ability to write for real-world audiences and genres in their communities. One of my previous students affirms, “our projects really set me up for success when taking my next steps in the professional world.”

As a technical and professional communicator, I prompt students to not only reflect upon their rhetorical situation but to also consider how their rhetorical choices will impact readers. Each section learns to critique written texts and design deliverables from an equitable lens, often asking, “who do these rhetorical choices include, exclude, or dismiss?” In upper-level writing courses, students learn about data storytelling by analyzing data visualizations that use the same data sets but tell different stories. While comparing visualizations they note what variables and stories are neglected and are tasked with developing an original, ethically designed visualization for their research. Each section also practices incorporating accessible design principles and plain language when creating research posters, website pages, or multimedia deliverables. In Writing for the Health and Human Sciences, students create digital patient education materials for a specific disease and patient population. This rhetorical challenge involves researching their chosen disease and patient populations’ experiences with the medical system. They are then tasked with producing a culturally sensitive brochure that distills complex medical terminology and advocates for their lay audience. Through these activities, students not only develop essential communication skills but also cultivate a critical awareness of the ethical implications of their work, preparing them to be responsible and informed communicators in their fields.

Holistic learning via a culture of care

Lastly, my first-generation background fuels my belief that a holistic learning environment is central to intellectual risk-taking and growth—“What the educator does in teaching is to make it possible for the students to become themselves” (Freire, 1968). Part of cultivating this environment involves honoring the whole student and recognizing their humanity—their background, successes, and challenges, both in and outside of the classroom. Each of my assignment sheets includes a list of course outcomes the project fulfills, along with how students will benefit from the project as individuals and professionals. This practice affirms my belief that learning, along with the purposeful application of knowledge, involves the whole person. Beyond course content, I make an effort to regularly check in with each section and their lives outside the classroom by asking an informal “go-around” question during the first two minutes of class. This practice allows me to learn more about my students and build further rapport with them throughout the term. Additionally, I facilitate brief mindfulness writing prompts during midterms and finals week to allow students to check in with themselves, connect with the writing process in a new way, and become grounded in their schoolwork and lives. As one previous student remarked, “This course was unlike anyone I have taken at Purdue, because the instructor actually cared about me, my grades, and my mental well-being.” Such a pedagogical posture is essential for each section to bring their full selves to the classroom and apply what they have learned to their communities as professionals and people.

As a mentor, I focus on cultivating a brave space where students feel inclined to ask questions and openly share their academic and personal interests. Part of this process includes actively engaging in one-on-one discussions and providing input on relevant resources and opportunities that foster their success. Ultimately, my teaching philosophy is dedicated to creating an inclusive and empowering learning environment that promotes writerly agency, critical thinking, and personal growth, enabling students to become effective communicators and active contributors to their communities.