Dr Yurgos (Georgios)  Politis 
 

I believe in an Inclusive Learning approach to education, an approach that advocates the need to cater to students’ different ways of learning and adapting the teaching material in a way that meets their needs and preferences. I design and develop a curriculum that caters for different abilities, as well as make the content relevant to the students' lives. I will incorporate hands-on learning, cooperative learning, projects, and individual work that engage and activate students learning.

I want to create a safe and nurturing classroom environment so that students feel comfortable and actively engage in the learning process. I encourage open discussions and an exchange of ideas, so that the students develop critical thinking and embrace a common-sense approach to new and challenging material, skills that will prove key in their life after education. I therefore, see my role as an educator not limited to moulding well educated professionals, but also nurturing the next generation of innovators and thinkers. Informed and critical citizens are aware of their civic duties, responsibilities and privileges, and are therefore more likely to have a strong moral compass.

My teaching philosophy is influenced by Active Learning theories. It started to form in my early teaching days, when I had to explain to my students, Physics concepts from the micro- (atoms, electrons, quarks) and the macro- (planets, stars, galaxies) cosmos and everything in between; concepts that are difficult and abstract. To address this issue I used imaginative approaches, from drawing diagrams, using analogies, showing physics applets, showing video demonstrations and demonstrating in the class/lab; I employed methods that made concepts visual and relatable. Trying to inspire my students was my main goal, and is central to my teaching philosophy.

I feel it is imperative that I initially gauge students’ prior learning, identify any misconceptions and try to tackle them as a matter of priority before exploring a new idea/concept/topic. The next step involves empowering students to build on their knowledge by guiding them through a process of discovery and inquiry-based learning, which is engaging and intellectually stimulating. This constructivist approach is further re-enforced by providing rich and constructive feedback through formative assessment (Assessment for Learning). During COVID, i got acquainted with and I was intrigued by the connectivist learning theory, which advocates that knowledge is distributed across a network of connections (e.g., online or hyflex student cohorts), and therefore learning consists of the ability to construct and traverse those networks.

I constructively align the modules and programmes that i design and develop, always starting from the Learning Outcomes, both programme and session level, followed by the identification of the assessment approaches most effective in allowing me to gauge whether the learning outcomes have been met. To this end, I adopt both summative and formative assessments, either graded or ungraded, and accompanied by constructive and actionable feedback that allows students to reflect on their learning through a “Feedforward” process. To close the constructive alignment cycle, i carefully consider the teaching activities and material i use that will enhance student learning

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I played a key role in redesigning the Certificate of Excellence in Teaching in Higher Education into the current Certificate of Teaching in Higher Education utilizing the action-mapping (Moore, 2017) curriculum design model. Action-mapping is more iterative and flexible, emphasizing a focus on outcomes and performance from the outset. Action-mapping's emphasis on active, engaging learning experiences, practical scenarios, and formative feedback makes it particularly well-suited for higher education, where educators need to acquire practical skills that they can apply immediately in their teaching environments.

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I design, develop and facilitate my teaching sessions through the hybrid approach, involving asynchronous learning and activities (a reading, a video, reflective task etc) prior and/or following a teaching session (for consolidation of knowledge and as part of formative assessment), and synchronous teaching that involves active learning approaches and techniques (small-group/break-out rooms, think-pair-share, world-cafe, padlets, role-playing etc). I try to vary the activities i use to motivate students and stimulate their desire to learn. The design of a session, therefore, involves carefully selecting for a specific student audience and appropriate for the chosen assessment approach, educational technologies/gamification (e.g., kahoot, genially, mentimeter) or even games, such as the game i'm currently creating that will introduce students to the syllabus of the Foundations of Teaching in Higher Education module (it is currently storyboarded in Twine: https://twinery.org/2/#/stories/cde6fff3-f090-421d-b288-66a14461d3e8/play).

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This last point shows that i am always ready to learn new teaching approaches, strategies and techniques, whether that is in an non formal way through observation of colleagues' teaching and facilitation or an informal way through reflecting on my teaching with colleagues that have substantial teaching experience in other fields, and thus being exposed to new ideas. I have also attended workshops (formal avenue) on research supervision support, on using learning management systems and on game-based learning. As a result of all of those efforts, I  sought and was awarded the Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (AdvanceHE)

We are on an endless journey of learning and discovery, and i hope i transmit that thirst and passion for learning to my students.

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