Excerpts from my teaching philosophy statement
“My teaching philosophy centers on fostering student’s creative and critical thinking, and on helping students to not only attain an understanding of the fundamental concepts but also an appreciation for them. My philosophy in teaching recognizes student as an individual who has distinct needs, sensitivities, and learning style. I will equally encourage and support all of my students to strive for excellence in academia and the world beyond. Integrated in my teaching philosophy is a realization of the fact that the set goals and approaches must be revisited periodically to ensure a high standard of teaching, especially in an era of such technological advancement.”
“In designing assignments, my stress will be on promoting the understanding of the concepts and enhancing the problem solving skills, not just (but also not neglecting) memory. Group assignments or projects at appropriate occasions will be used to provide students with valuable interaction and also with worthwhile practice in communicating their ideas, and honing their interpersonal skills.”
Dr. Amirfazli has taught courses in the general area of thermo-fluids including
- Thermodynamics II,
- Thermo-Fluid System Design,
- Heat Transfer,
- Mechanical Engineering Lab II,
- Senior Design Capstone Project,
- Engineering Mechanics.
At the graduate level a new course was developed on Sustainability and Renewable Energy.
Dr. Amirfazli also has extensive experience in curriculum development for Mechanical Engineering programs.
Professional short courses has also been organized and delivered by Dr. Amirfazli, e.g. International Advanced Course on the Interface, Drops and Liquid Sprays Physics that was held in Darmstadt, Germany in 2014.
Dr. Amirfazli’s publications and scholarly work in the area of teaching and educational program development include
A. Amirfazli, “Out-of-Class Learning Opportunities for engineering Students”, Proc. 2014 Canadian Engineering Education Association (CEEA14) Conf., June 8-11, 2014, Canmore, Canada, Paper 101, pp 1.
A. Amirfazli, M. Gingras, L. Nostbakken, W. Renke, “Offering Interdisciplinary Courses: the Why, the How, and the What”, Proc. 2014 Canadian Engineering Education Association (CEEA14) Conf., June 8-11, 2014, Canmore, Canada, Paper 105, pp 1-5.
L. Szekely A. Amirfazli, “Challenging Higher Education: Developing Enterprising Graduates for a Changing World of Work” , WACE’s 7th WACE Int. Symp. Work Integrated Learning, Dec. 3-5, 2008, Madrid, Spain.
A. Amirfazli “Building a Global Research and Engineering Education Linkage: Multi-stakeholder Synergistic Approach”, Proc. SICE 2007, Mar. 7, 2007, Sapporo, Japan.