What is the contemporary pedagogy? Well, it is a complex topic and hard to answer. As a new instructor this semester, I would say contemporary pedagogy is an innovative idea that will be updated in different eras. During the pandemic situation, the teaching methods are quite different from the usual times. Students are experiencing new atmosphere and instructors also need to get used to how to teach students virtually. After we go back to normal situation, the teaching methods will be as normal as before.

Another interesting reflection is about the difference between the digital pedagogy and the virtual teaching. Although virtual teaching involves many technological aspects, it is still not enough to say virtual teaching equals to the digital pedagogy. Digital pedagogy is a broader idea compared to virtual teaching and it is a teaching philosophy rather than using some high-techs. Nowadays, technology makes it easier and complex to teach at the same time. In the past, teachers can just reply on chalks to finish all instructions and Ph.D. student can finish their dissertation by hands. Decades later, technology makes the teaching assignments easier but students and instructors need to grasp the ability of using technology. I hold the strong conviction that digital pedagogy is more than technologies but also includes the philosophy of how to use technologies.

Last but not least, many classmates shared their personal experience as TA or instructors during this special situation. We all agree that it is a hard time for both students and teachers. Everyone finds it hard to keep track of different deadlines, especially we are blocked in one room for a long time. Also, exceptions can be made for students who are in troubles but rules are rules. Necessary assistances should be offered to students but instructors also should not spoon-feed students.

Critical pedagogy is a teaching philosophy that enables students to ask questions and challenge domination and help them strengthen their beliefs and practices in that field. The ultimate objective of higher education is to enhance students’ critical thinking and form their own ideas. Actually, critical thinking is really important and essential in higher education. In universities, students should be motivated to challenge any ideas as long as this challenge is reasonable and logical. For students from middle schools and high schools, learning some knowledge is vital and following the instructions of teachers or authorities will be appropriate but for students in higher education, learn to challenge an idea should be highly encouraged.

As an instructor, the most exciting moment in my class is that students can propose some questions that require much thinking. In a university class, instructors are not the center of the class but the students. If no one asks questions in a class, this class is really a failure because the instructor either does not explain everything clearly or explain everything in a difficult way. I always encouraged my students to propose and ask questions and tell everyone in my class that the only stupid question is that you do not ask question if you have one.

In order to promote students’ critical thinking, a good start would be group discussions. In a small group, every student has the opportunity to talk and express their own ideas. The more they talk and discuss, students are more able to form their own ideas. Then, it would be great if students can bring their own ideas into the class and discuss with other students and instructor. It would be better if instructors can evaluate students’ ideas from the foundation of the subject. I always prefer to explaining everything from zero and let students understand their questions step by step. Finally, students are also encouraged to again criticize their own ideas or instructors’ evaluations. The entire logic of critical pedagogy should be “ideas-criticize by others-criticize by themselves-revise ideas” and then re-start the process again.

Digital pedagogy is the study and use of digital technologies in teaching and learning. Some people will misunderstand the digital pedagogy and online teaching. During this pandemic, most of teaching activities are moved online and the online teaching is not equal to the digital pedagogy. On the contrary, I would view digital pedagogy as a study, indicating we need to spend years and efforts learning it. An instructor needs some training before he/she is assigned to a teaching activities. Similarly, we become digital pedagogues by spending many years to researching, participating, writing and presenting on digital pedagogies. We are living in a technological world and use modern technologies everyday, every hour and every minute but we can not overestimate the digital pedagogy. The most important factor in teaching is still human being rather than the technologies.

As an instructor for undergraduate course, I also prefer using digital technologies to help students understand with a condition that technologies should be combined with the content. If the traditional way can be good enough for students to understand, then more digital way is redundant. However, during this special pandemic time, digital pedagogy has been proved quite useful and important. Those who combine their teaching philosophy with digital pedagogy have great advantages in teaching online. When I prepare my materials, I try my best to apply digital technologies into teaching materials, such as GIF and videos. All these digital ways are presented after students have a clear mind about what we are learning. I would view those digital technologies as a way of strengthening students’ impressions rather than some fancy way for fun.

In a fast changing world, the only does not change is the change itself. Therefore, it is necessary and essential for every instructor to be trained for the digital pedagogy. Without years of training and study, instructors are not eligible for digital pedagogy. As a new and junior instructor, I am open to all kinds of digital technologies and would be eagerly to combine the digital pedagogy with my teaching philosophy. Again, the key factor that determines the outcome and quality of teaching is the teaching philosophy rather than the technologies.

Cased-Based learning (CBL) is a method in which students can develop their skills, analytical thinking and reflective judgments by reading and discussing the complex and real-life scenarios. In CBL, students are often provided with some examples related to the lecture notes and discuss within a small group so that they can communicate and exchange their own ideas on this topic. Before the start of CBL, students need to have a general ideas about the topics and problem they are going to discuss. Also, it is appropriate for instructors to set up the directions and outlines of topics in case students are out of the topics.

There are many benefits of CBL in the classroom. For example, students can develop their incentives and motivations to learn something new and their self-reflection and critical thinking by collaborative learning. By forming into different groups, CBL enable students to communicate with other students fully and exchange unique diversity ideas. As a instructor, the most important meaning of CBL in class is students could start from the practical example to learn some theatrical ideas in the textbooks. The logic of learning should start from the practice and then go to the theories. Next, when students fully understand the theories, they should also try to use the theories to guide their practice again. From the practice to practice, that is the true essence of learning. By CBL, students can gradually learn the relationship between the practice and theory.

However, CBL sometimes is not functioning very well in the class. Every time I try to inspire students to think the relationship between cases and theories, the first thing I need to make sure that I give the appropriate cases. Also, in case students gradually switch their attention to unrelated topics, an instructor needs to set up a boundary before discussion. Sometimes, students are too involved in the practical cases but ignore to extract the theories behind these cases. Therefore, a proper summary right after the CBL discussion is really necessary.

As teachers or instructors, we always want to our class to be in a good learning environment for all students. Inclusive pedagogy is a method that instructors and classmates work together to create a creative and supportive environment in which everyone has the equal access to learn. I realize it personally when I finally teach a course for the undergraduate this semester. After teaching for a few weeks, I find it is crucial and necessary to pay attention to the learning environment in which every student could learn something in it.

The most important learning environment is that students can discuss and ask any question about the class. Many students will ask different questions and some questions maybe viewed as “too easy” for some students but still, as an instructor, I think this kind of question should be paid attention to because students are really unable to understand instructors’ points and that is why they ask suck kind of “too easy” question. I use quotation mark here because I want to express questions are not actually easy and they are just easy for some students. I always tell the students that the only stupid question is you do not ask question if you have one.

Another valuable experience I would like to share about forming a supportive learning environment is about the cooperative work between instructors and students. As a instructor, I consider myself as one step ahead of students in terms of knowledge rather than learning ability. That is why I would like learn something from the students, such as how they look at the ideas I present in the class. Also, their intuitive minds sometimes are valuable as students will propose questions from their real life rather than from the textbook. In most of the cases, I learn how to explain something in the textbook with plain language. I always believe that if one research can explain his/her research clearly to common people who have no knowledge in this field, he/she really understands the essence of his/her research.

As a instructor for the undergraduates, I keep discovering my own true teaching style. Before being a instructor, I have been a TA for undergraduates and graduates. However, there are great differences between the TA and instructor. As a TA, the main job is to follow what instructor has taught and then solve problems for students, which means there is no need to organize and discover everything for students. This semester, I need to write my own lecture notes, come up with problem sets and think very hard about the teaching philosophy.

After teaching for several weeks, I gradually get used to undergraduates and try to adjust myself for them. In my opinion, there is no perfect teaching style for students and instructor needs to adjust themselves with different groups of students. For example, I need to explain myself step by step about how to solve a problem rather than just providing key points for undergraduates. Also, I need to think of a consistent teaching logic for them to get used to otherwise they will easily misunderstand one definition with another. Another important think I would like to share is that instructor’s body language sometimes mean a lot as it will tell students which part is important and which part is difficult or not.

As a very young instructor, there is still a long way for me to become a really teacher in university and I sill need to learn a lot of things. There are some points I would like to learn after teaching this semester. First and foremost, I think it is urgent for me to establish a stable and framework of teaching style for me. Normally, I will start to teach something new with its definition and then how it can be used. But I need more class to strengthen this skill. Next, I would like to learn more about homework design. A good homework should help students to review notes but also enable them to have a deeper understanding of this course. Finally, I need to put more attention to students’ feedback. Sometime, I can teach smoothly and make myself understood but actually there are still some students who are confused about what I have said. Therefore, adjusting myself based on students’ quick feedback is quite important.

This is a quick post for GRAD 5114 Contemporary Pedagogy.