Teaching philosophy

In my opinion, science and learning is fundamentally the same thing. The only true difference is reflected in the collective aspect; to do science is to learn things that nobody else knows the answer to.

Serendipity, creativity and curiosity are all likely crucial ingredients involved whenever something is learnt for the very first time. At this point, the outcome is unknown, and the motivation for learning it is likely at its peak. The process of re-learning and passing on the knowledge can dilute these ingredients.

Specifically, when knowledge is recast into more streamlined material for learning, and teachers unravel efficient ways of getting students to pass the grade, there is a risk that the original mystery and context for the discovery are lost. Furthermore, this way of optimizing learning can be counter productive for scientific progress, since it inherently promotes inside-of-the-box thinking.

So how do we teach in ways that keeps the mystery intact? I believe we should not focus that much on answers - rather, we should communicate a concise and clear understanding of our problems, and guide students as best we can in their work on solving them.

Also, we should encourage creativity and highlight and cherish the remaining mysteries and weaknesses of current theories. That our theories has not been falsified yet does not mean that they are true.