Organizational Behavior Updates

I wanted to share the teaching statement I wrote about how I would approach teaching Organizational Behavior. I will tell you the outcome tomorrow.

Teaching Statement

My goal is to foster an atmosphere of dynamic interaction in which students acquire a strong conceptual understanding of the course material. I have found that students learn abstract concepts more completely when they are able to put the concepts into practice as they are learning them. In addition to developing exercises appropriate to the lecture, it is also important to follow the exercise with a debriefing. This will ensure that the goals of the activity have been met. Before testing students, I expose them to concepts first in the lecture with examples and then via exercises. I have successfully used this paradigm in my xxxxx course and would continue to use this approach in the Organizational Behavior class.

Prior to teaching, I held positions in several different industries. These experiences have provided me with countless real world situations, which can be used to explain or elaborate upon academic concepts. Typically, when I find that students have not comprehended new theories, I am able to provide examples from their experiences first, then expand the lesson to examples they will face in the future. These first hand observations were always valuable to me as a student.

To keep lessons current, I try to find items in the news that reflect issues we have discussed and present them in class for a 5 or 10 minute discussion. In my course sections, I have found that students enjoy this discussion and that after some time; students begin to bring current issues up in class.

The diversity of the student body requires that course lectures and activities meet the needs of all students, regardless of race, gender or nationality. This is necessary to ensure an atmosphere of openness to all student views in the classroom. Many of the students are introverted by nature. One approach that I have employed in my class is the use of the WebCT discussion module. Extending the class discussion to an online media allows the students another means to communicate with one another. This does not negate the necessity of classroom interaction, but instead supplements the experience.

While in graduate school, Organizational Behavior was one of my favorite courses. Not surprisingly, many of the activities that are included in the current syllabus are those that I was required to perform as a student.