TEACHING PHILOSOPHY I am a firm believer that teaching is not the process of leading students to a university degree, but rather of guiding students to gain knowledge and to further develop themselves. Traditional teaching models operate on the principle of knowledge transmission from a teacher to students. My active learning approach embraces a constructionist view of learning, where the student is engaged in the creation, incorporation, and transmission of knowledge as guided by the instructor. The active learning method envisions the role of the teacher as setting up an environment that guides students towards the learning objectives, is engaging, and is conducive to learning from multiple sources of information, including their peers. The key components of active learning are that the student is responsible in part for their own learning, and the instructor provides a supportive environment that nurtures creative thought, experimentation, and values participation. Studies have shown that information that conflicts with a students existing worldview can be easily rejected or dismissed. Active learning avoids this pitfall by engaging students to think critically about what they already know, compare their opinions/information with that of their peers, understand the strengths and weaknesses of their opinions and those of the instructor, and acknowledge the validity of multiple perspectives. A key strategy of an active learning classroom is "always-on", meaning that they are engaged, at any point in time the instructor may involve them in the learning process, and students should be constantly incorporating new ideas/perspectives into their own worldviews. The core of my active-learning teaching strategy is to challenge students in knowledge and skill development. In this scenario, my role changes from knowledge delivery to guidance who sets goals and provides clues and resources. Here, students are pathfinders who take their own initiative to seek their own way to the destination.
CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT I recently lead the development of the Agricultural Data Science Minor Program and two associated courses Agricultural Data Science and Geographic Information Systems in Agriculture at Colorado State University. The program and two courses have been approved and will be officially launched in the Fall 2024 and is expected to enroll approximately 150-200 students in the next three years. This program helps students equip themselves with the required skills and knowledge in data science, data analytics, geospatial science, and precision agriculture to become more competitive in the job market in the Era of Industry 4.0. I have also participated in the development of the Numeracy Development Initiative project at the University of Toronto that helps improve students’ numeracy and statistical analysis skills to enhance their learning experience in geospatial data science courses. Recently, I am the lead author of the section “Sampling: Size selection, sample types, and intervals” of the Geographic Information Science & Technology Body of Knowledge, an online authoritative reference manual for use by professionals, educators, and students in the field of geographic information science and technologies, as well as by all others interested in these and related topics. The project is initiated by the University Consortium for Geographic Information Science.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
2023-present Instructor, Colorado State University, USA AB415 – Agricultural Data Science (developer & course instructor) SOCR377 – Geographic Information Systems in Agriculture (developer & course instructor)
2019 Course Instructor, University of Toronto, Canada GGR276 – Spatial Data Science
2011-2013 Lecturer, University of Mining and Geology, Vietnam Geometrical Geodesy Geodetic Surveying Field Course
2016-2021 Teaching Assistant, University of Toronto, Canada GGR337 – Environmental Remote Sensing GGR335 – GIS and Remote Sensing Integration GGR372 – Geographical Analysis of Land Resources GGR276 – Spatial Data Science GGR272 – Digital Mapping and Principles of Cartography ENV330 – Experimental Design in Environmental Science ENV100 – Environment
2018-2021 GIS Ambassador, ESRI Company, Canada Teaching GIS for K-12 students in Ontario, Canada