Office: MM 282
Phone: (217) 554-1518
Email: jhoag@dacc.edu
Teaching Philosophy and Practice:
My basic philosophy of education is simple and has guided my teaching for over 35 years. Simply put, and based largely on my own life experiences:
I believe education and hard work are the only ways most people are able to both get ahead in life and fully enjoy life. I know learning is a challenging endeavor that requires a lot of hard work, but it has many rewards, not the least of which is pure enjoyment. I try to help my students see the need for the information they learn and the practical value of such knowledge. I try to present materials in a challenging, thought-provoking, but always attainable way, and I try to keep learning fun.
I believe each student is unique, with special circumstances that must be considered when deciding what approach to use in teaching him or her. As much as possible, I try to customize each student's learning experiences.
I believe learning does not take place in a vacuum. What we are able to learn is influenced by our experiences and what is going on around us at the time. Teaching by building on things students already know and can relate to greatly facilitates the learning process.
I hope to instill in my students the need to continue learning and improving oneself long after their formal education is over.
Finally, I hope I make learning fun and help my students find some new way of enjoying both learning and life.
I believe that being able to relate what you are teaching to things students already know is one of the most effective methods of teaching. If it is possible to get the students to see some of the practical everyday uses of what they are learning, the teaching and learning are both more easily motivated.