Lindsey B.

Payne

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Teaching Philosophy

I have a diverse background in non-profit work, secondary education, and field research, but it
wasnt until I began teaching in higher education that I found my niche as professional and a
domain in which to blend my passion for sustainability and civic engagement. I cannot imagine
doing anything else. Teaching affords me the opportunity to inspire students to become
empowered citizens that are able to engage in the multiple dimensions of sustainability and
become leaders in addressing the complex bio-physical and socio-cultural issues of todays
world. In order to accomplish this task, my teaching is grounded in the following learning
outcomes.

Students will be able to:
Design solutions that integrate bio-physical and socio-cultural knowledge that aligns with the
interests of users.
Formulate logical conclusions on complex sustainability issues by critically reflecting upon
their own and others perspectives and opinions.
Demonstrate social responsibility through civic engagement and leadership in addressing
sustainability issues.

The role I play in this learning process is part facilitator, part mentor, and part motivator. As a
facilitator I guide students through the academic learning process. As a mentor, I support
students in professional activities, research pursuits, and extra-curricular interests. As a
motivator, I encourage students to apply their knowledge beyond the classroom and engage in
their community. Creating students that demonstrate an eagerness to thoughtfully engage in the
complexities of sustainability and act beyond the classroom presents a pedagogical challenge,
however. How does one motivate students to critically engage in the academic content and
inspire them to become socially responsible citizens? Foremost, I strive to provide a foundational
background for sustainability. Secondly, I seek to ground the academic content in meaningful
engagement opportunities. Below are some examples of my instructional techniques based upon
the following strategies: active learning, authentic learning, and critical reflection.

Active Learning
For the past few years I have had the opportunity to co-instruct and assist in the redesign of a
lecture-based, upper-level engineering course of 100 students to an active learning environment.
On a daily basis, the class of 100 is now transformed into small teams of 4-5 students that are
tasked with creating novel solutions to real-world, city-based sustainability problems. Every day
tables and chairs are reorganized and teams gather in city-focused groups participating in small
group discussion sessions. Throughout the semester, students govern team functionality and
engage in collaborative partnerships with other teams via physical and virtual mediums.

Instructional activities have also been restructured in this course to include the voices of students
often unwilling to participate in large group discussions. In an activity on water access, students
are asked to provide an anonymous personal account of an experience in which they lacked
access to a resource. A selection of these responses representing diverse populations of students
are later read out-loud to the class. This strategy has a two-fold impact, 1) water access to
resources becomes relevant as the stories are from students peers, and 2) voices of those often
unwilling to speak are heard in the classroom.
Lindsey B. Payne

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Authentic Learning
A second foundational strategy I utilize in the classroom is the creation of authentic learning
experiences for students. Partnering with the Ford Motor Company and a local non-profit in
2012, I designed a service-learning course that addressed local stormwater issues and provided a
hands-on design experience for undergraduate students. In this course, students are provided a
real-world platform to apply theoretical knowledge while gaining experience working with
stakeholders as they collaboratively identify problems, co-design solutions, maintain budgets,
and evaluate impacts. These students also participate in small group discussion, teaming, and
inter-teaming collaboration, but extend these activities beyond the classroom and into the
community. For example, this past spring students collaborated with middle school students via
bi-monthly, on-site design sessions to incorporate their feedback into the final project. At the end
of the semester, the native plant savanna in the school courtyard reflected not only technical
engineering design, but stakeholder needs as well. The students engineering design experience
reflected real-world, hands-on learning and application.

Critical Reflection
Critical reflection is a third strategy that I use to support student learning. In both of the
previously mentioned courses, students critically reflect upon their experiences through
reflective journals, peer and self-evaluations, and information literacy assignments. In the large
engineering course, students are asked to investigate a single dimension of hydraulic fracturing,
such as benefit to the local economy or use of water resources, and then come to class ranking
their agreement with hydraulic fracturing on a scale of 1-5. As students enter the room, they are
placed by their corresponding number creating a visual representation of the entire class
perspective of the issue based upon a single dimension. Students are asked to discuss their issue
and explain why they chose their number. After multiple dimensions have been introduced into
the conversation, students are asked whether they would like to change their rank and why.
Students often cite that this complex issue requires deeper critical thinking than they had
previously expected and by expanding their perspectives it caused them to reflect upon the initial
decision they made.

From theses experience in the classroom, I have learned that ultimately, I am not a good educator
if I am satisfied, complacent one. As students change every semester, so must my pedagogical
techniques. To evaluate the student learning experience, every semester, I conduct mid-semester
feedback sessions, review university evaluations, and often hold office hours to gather input
from current and former students. I strive to continually integrate this feedback into curriculum
redesign hoping to develop learning experiences that are embedded in active learning, authentic
learning, and critical reflection. It is my hope that these approaches will ultimately create socially
responsibility citizens and leaders in efforts to develop tomorrows sustainable communities.