Core beliefs about learning
I view learning as a liberating process that helps people understand the world, develop their abilities, and participate more fully in society. Education is not simply the delivery of information. It should cultivate intellectual independence, curiosity, confidence, and the capacity to continue learning beyond the classroom.
As an educator, I aim to create a supportive and inclusive environment in which students feel able to ask questions, take intellectual risks, and engage seriously with difficult material. Students bring different experiences, responsibilities, and barriers to learning. Clear expectations, multiple forms of explanation, structured guidance, and reasonable flexibility can help more students succeed without lowering academic standards.
Goals for students
My goal is for students to leave my courses better able to reason independently, evaluate evidence, communicate technical ideas clearly, and apply their knowledge in unfamiliar situations. Vocational preparation matters, particularly in science and engineering, but education should also foster creativity, reflection, and intellectual curiosity.
I want students to understand not only how to solve a problem, but also how to identify the assumptions behind it, assess the limitations of a method, and recognize the broader consequences of technical work. These habits prepare students for employment, further study, and thoughtful participation in society.
Teaching methods
I use a hands-on, multimodal approach that combines direct instruction, guided practice, and independent inquiry. Analogies, visualizations, physical models, computational tools, and practical demonstrations can provide different routes into the same concept. I also encourage students to move between mathematical, verbal, visual, and physical representations so that their understanding is not tied to a single method.
Research and engineering provide valuable contexts for learning. I encourage students to work with incomplete information, practical constraints, and problems that may have more than one reasonable solution. These experiences help students connect theory with practice and develop judgment rather than relying only on memorized procedures.
I welcome diverse perspectives and foster respectful discussion, particularly when scientific questions intersect with ethics, history, public policy, or philosophy. When appropriate, I draw on my own nontraditional academic path to make persistence, uncertainty, and intellectual growth more visible. The purpose is not to center my experience, but to show that learning is often nonlinear and that difficulty does not imply a lack of ability.
Inclusion and student support
My experience with ADHD and anxiety has made me attentive to the ways that course structure, ambiguity, time pressure, and personal circumstances can affect learning. Inclusive teaching begins with course design rather than relying only on individual accommodations after problems arise.
I therefore value transparent instructions, predictable organization, accessible materials, opportunities for questions, and feedback early enough for students to improve. Flexibility should be purposeful and equitable. It should help students meet the learning goals while preserving fairness and intellectual rigor.
Assessment and improvement
Assessment should provide evidence of learning and help students improve. I favor assignments that require explanation, interpretation, application, and revision rather than recall alone. When possible, I use low-stakes practice, scaffolded tasks, and timely feedback to help students identify misunderstandings before they become entrenched.
I also rely on feedback from students and colleagues to improve my teaching. Mid-course surveys, informal conversations, office hours, peer observation, and patterns in student work can reveal where explanations, pacing, assignment design, or classroom practices need revision. I treat teaching as an iterative process and adjust my methods when evidence shows that students are not learning as intended.
Professional development and aspirations
I am committed to continued growth as an educator and to using evidence-based teaching practices. I am particularly interested in integrating research, computation, and engineering design into science education. Meaningful projects can help students learn to work within resource constraints, communicate across disciplines, and connect technical decisions with real-world consequences.
My broader aim is to foster a community of learners who are curious, independent, reflective, and prepared to contribute to society. Education should equip students for professional life, but its purpose is larger. It should expand their ability to understand, question, create, and act.
Joseph J. Thiebes, Ph.D. 