Teaching Statement
Matthew Aaron Lanham
Most students realize that the collegiate instructor is a position maintained by those who have
achieved academic success at the highest level and whom are trained for scholastic contribution in
their respective field. Interestingly, the advanced training and expertise does not always transition to
excellent instruction in the classroom, nor should they expect it to. Many instructors use various
pedagogical approaches because students internalize and recall what they have learned in different
ways. The subjects I teach are mathematical in nature and I realize such courses can be painful for
some. I have tried different ways to convey topics to students and found that I currently prefer a
combination of problem-based and project-based learning, which I describe below, along with some
collaborative learning activities depending on the number of students in the class. I have yet to find the
magic formula for what methods work optimally while considering the social-cultural makeup of my
students and classroom constraints that have been imposed upon us. However, my teaching career is
still in its infancy and I have many things yet to try.
In the days of Plato and Aristotle, teacher to student learning would take place one on one from
mentor to mentee. Strong relationships were formed and bilateral discussions were initiated from the
student based on her pace of learning. Unfortunately, few in that era had access or the privilege to such
education. Today, formal education is available to the masses via one-size fits all classrooms. While
this has open doors to many, it also creates obstacles for teachers in providing their students high
quality service. As a graduate student whom continues to be a product of this legacy one-size fits all
educational environment, I strive to provide my students a taste of something different, and to my
enjoyment most come to thank me later for the experience.
I spend a lot of time at the beginning of a term getting to know my audience with online survey’s and
classroom discussion, and then modify my lectures, notes, and homework to accommodate their
preferences. When teaching Biostatistics, many of the students had aspirations of pursuing medical
school, so I tailored the material toward medical topics. Teaching quantitative methods and statistics
to business students, I tend to get a very large and diverse group of students. I have found that sports,
social media, and mainstream media examples tend to keep their attention more so than textbook
examples, and even though the math is exactly the same, students empirically get more problems
correct when they do not come from the textbook.
My primary teaching principle is the first of W. Edwards Deming’s 14 points, which he devised for
managers wanting to transform effective business and instill total quality management:
“Create constancy of purpose toward improvement of product and service, with the aim to
become competitive, to stay in business and to provide jobs.”
What the father of quality control is saying is you must absolutely establish buy-in from everyone
involved in the team. I view my class as one big team. I constantly remind them that we are all in this
learning engagement together, and while it is my job to explain topics and provide clear exercises,
others must emerge from within the group to help everyone succeed. To accomplish this learning
environment, I find it necessary to employ a teacher-centered pedagogy. My coaching style approach is
natural for me having been active in sports all my life, and working professionally in start-ups and
consulting.
To establish buy-in over the course of the semester and employ my problem- and project-based
learning approaches, I give regular quizzes either at the beginning of class, or assign a quiz to be due
before our next class using our online course website. A few real-world exercises on material we
discussed in lecture provide everyone instant feedback, which leads to increasing their confidence, and
keeping me aware of their progress. Usually, I will adapt how I get feedback from the students. In my
smaller classes, I can walk around the room, quickly have students form teams, and get students to
participate more on the board. In larger classes, I have tried using real-time student response systems
(i.e. clickers) to request feedback and tailor my speed and discussion toward the masses. I went so far
as creating designed experiments to assess their learning which I obtained IRB approval. I have even
been successful at organizing group speed races with clickers with over one hundred students in a
lecture hall. While the look and feel of such a classroom can appear wilder than normal, students are
extremely engaged and have a great time. Most importantly, post class quiz data suggest the majority
understand the concepts. While unorthodox, I constantly try to incorporate new technology and
approaches that I can empirically show enhanced their learning experience.
Outside of the classroom, students may work together on homework assignments where they
incorporate software, such as JMP and Microsoft Excel to solve and implement a solution. However, I
have found that by using the available tools in our online course management system, I can assess
student knowledge of the homework by asking unique questions about each problem that they would
know only if they had truly understood the problem on their own. This forces everyone to remain
honest and helps establish the buy-in of total team success that I preach daily. It also makes grading
more efficient and unbiased.
As I stated previously, I believe instructors must adapt the one-size-fits all classroom. While I tend to
focus on how well the majority of the students are doing during a lecture, someone will surely leave a
lecture confused or lost regardless of the class size. To accommodate them, I find that the regular
quizzes motivate them to come to my office hours faster than they would otherwise, which keeps them
from falling behind. Moreover, I have had success at having students work out problems on the board
even in front of many. I believe difficult topics can always be better explained from a student’s
experience to her confused peers than from me. Also, I always hold an exam review session the class
before our exam, and at least one outside of regularly scheduled office hours. This gives them multiple
opportunities to make sure they understand all the concepts and can formulate and solve similar type
problems on their own, but with me there for support. Since these sessions are not mandatory, I
provide small incentives like gift cards to Starbucks and other local eateries for students who work the
problem for everyone on the board. This shows them that I really care about them and that their
success is my reward. Some students see the message that I am selling early on in the semester and
those are the ones who step up and help me help others over the course of the semester.
As a former Virginia Tech University-wide Graduate Student Teaching Excellence Award nominee in
both the Statistics and Business Information Technology departments, I have been recognized for
outstanding instruction quality and service based on feedback from my students and peers for all
courses that I have taught. I am confident my success can be attributed to my primary teaching
principle of establishing student buy-in, and adapting the classroom by incorporating new
technologies and pedagogies. I have yet to find the magic formula for what methods work optimally,
but I plan on continuing to proactively strive to improve the quality and service of higher education.