Mohan Yang
Teaching
Teaching Philosophy
There are a great many approaches in achieving learning objectives depending on a variety of factors such as learner characteristics, resources, policies, etc. To me, the underlying foundational principles of effective learning and teaching are similar, that is, learners are actively engaged in learning through personalized activities in simulated or authentic learning environments. Even when such environment is not feasible, context of how learners perform the targeted knowledge and skills should be taken into consideration. With that said, I believe learners should take control over their learning process with the scaffolding from the instructor. Ask me for a detailed teaching philosophy!
Teaching Experience
1. K-12 teaching:
(1). 2014-2016 in West Bloomfield School District, MI
I taught Chinese to 6th-8th graders in two public middle schools in Michigan. I designed the curriculum and delivered the lessons on a daily basis. I explored how to integrate different technology tools into my daily teaching to not only boost students' interests, but also lead to effective learning outcomes. Technology became an indispensable aspect of my teaching and students' learning. For example, I used Google Classroom to manage class assignments, Kahoot for engagement, and Quizlet for evaluation. Besides teaching in the middle schools during those two years, I volunteered to teach AP Chinese to high school students in a Church on a weekly basis and teach Chinese to 3-9 years old kids in an international school in a summer.
(2). Junior High School teaching: 2017 in Tecumseh Junior High School, IN
I volunteered to teach in a social studies class as a student teacher on a weekly basis in Spring 2017. I observed and co-taught with the host teacher, and my final lessons were integrated with the existing curriculum. Beyond the new activities, I also brought $1,500 service learning grant to the class for teaching materials.
3. Higher education teaching:
(1). EDCI 270: "Introduction to educational technology and computing" at Purdue University, IN (08/2020-Present)
I work alongside the instructor of this blended undergraduate course in assisting undergraduate students. My main responsibilities include: giving lectures in face-to-face classes, mentoring undergraduate students both remotely and in person, grading students' assignments and project, providing feedback, etc.
(2). EDCI 569: "e-learning by design" at Purdue University, IN (2017)
I co-taught this online graduate course with my advisor Dr. Victoria Lowell. Students were from around the world. I interacted with students in their discussions regularly, providing feedback on their projects, and evaluated their assignments.
(3). Instructor of GRAD 590: Graduate students engagement in K-12 (2017-2020)
I served as the instructor of this graduate-level class. Besides the four training workshops, I mentored students in lesson planning and their engagement activities in K-12 classrooms through emails and individual meetings. I assigned students weekly journals and communicated with them on their experience based on the submitted journals. Eventually on their teaching day, I visited their classroom and evaluated their performance based on an established rubric.
4. Professional workshop teaching: 2017 - Present at Purdue University, IN
This is a class-based educational training program. I designed a series of 4-hour training workshops focused on the knowledge of lesson planning, teaching, grant application, etc. Participants of this program have a variety of different backgrounds: educational levels (master, PhD, and post-doc students and visiting scholars), disciplines (engineering, technology, biology, chemistry, agriculture, language, education, etc.), and cultures (UK, Turkey, Egypt, China, South Korea, USA, etc.)