Prior to joining the faculty of High Point University as an assistant professor of political science (Fall 2004), I spent the better part of a decade teaching in three quite different educational settings: a large, highly-diverse public school with 50,000 students (The University of Texas at Austin), a regional Roman Catholic teaching college (the University of Portland), and a national liberal arts college (Lewis and Clark College). As one might expect, over the years my courses have been tailored in many different ways as I have tried to reach various types of student audiences. At different points in time, my classes have enrolled majorities of first-generation college students, non-political science majors, first-year students, Latinos, African-Americans, foreign-born students, and political science majors whose test scores and grade point averages rank them among the very best prepared of undergraduates. I have mentored and advised students ranging from Marshall Scholars, to non-traditional students changing career paths at mid-life, to first-generation students from South Texas whose dominant language is Spanish. Rather than my adherence to any single approach to student learning or a one-size-fits-all bag of tricks that I use to wow any audience, I believe that what best characterizes my “philosophy” of teaching excellence is my commitment to three general principles through which I have aimed to empower my students and maximize their learning experiences in every one of my courses.

First, I believe that students at all levels of preparation should be challenged constantly and individually invited to excel. Taking students seriously and challenging them to take the most away from my courses means knowing them well enough to comment extensively and helpfully on areas where they are doing well and providing specific instructions on where they need to make progress. Anonymity in a classroom does little to encourage and instill pride in one’s scholarly endeavors, and its presence leads many students to settle for second-rate learning and effort. Even in large, introductory classes, I take the time to learn my students’ names in the opening weeks of the term (a skill that unfortunately does not come naturally to me). Outside of the classroom, I am a constant presence on campus, and my door is typically open for several hours each day. My experience is that students will respond well to demanding—and at times very challenging—reading and class assignments provided that they know that someone is paying close attention to what they write and say. At Portland and Lewis and Clark, two-thirds of my students reported on end-of-semester evaluations that I have higher-than-average workloads (fewer than three percent said that my courses were less demanding). Yet most students also indicated that they put more effort into my courses, and the great majority gave me the highest ranking as an instructor.

A second principle that is central to my approach to classroom teaching is that I believe that undergraduates should be active and full partners in their own instruction. Much research on student learning shows that undergraduates learn best when taking ownership of ideas and engaging in self-discovery. I work hard to help students acquire the intellectual toolkit needed to translate abstract ideas into well-reasoned arguments and opinions supported by an even-handed, methodologically-informed reading of the evidence. While my students learn how to critique and deconstruct the arguments of others, they also are invited, encouraged, and where necessary prodded to use the tools of political science to reach their own informed positions on social obligation, political affairs, and the state of the world around them. One of the most important keys to planting the seeds for a lifetime of learning and civic engagement is helping students to build an enthusiasm for political knowledge. Building a passion for learning is something I do by example: my teaching evaluations almost universally report that my energy and excitement for classroom teaching and sharing my research are nothing short of contagious.

While I make sure that my classes and assignments expose students to cutting-edge, discipline-specific knowledge and research, I am also keenly aware that undergraduates primarily rely on me to provide clear guidance on how they can strengthen their writing, oral, analytical, research, and quantitative reasoning skills. At the end of the day, most students are in college to learn how to independently pursue the career of their choice rather than to become future academics in political science (although I have had the rewarding experience of working closely with many undergraduates who went on to seek graduate degrees in law, political science, international relations, and public policy). My writing and class assignments thus aim to build general and practical skills as much as they do to reinforce discipline-specific knowledge and concepts. In most lower-division courses, my primary method of learning assessment is through multiple exams that each include a short (four to six pages) take-home essay. In upper-division courses, I typically assign three or four mid-length (eight to ten pages) essays that emphasize the development of critical thinking skills, succinct and elegant communication, and first-rate analytical reasoning.  

I typically complement standard tests and essay assignments with one or more additional exercises requiring either primary research or the application of skill sets commonly needed in professional work settings. In recent semesters, I have asked students to write résumés, verify the voting records of their elected representatives, conduct and analyze surveys, give oral presentations, interpret polling results, visually present  quantitative data, provide constructive feedback on their peers' papers, design independent empirical research studies, role-play historical and political figures, use leading statistical software packages and spread sheet programs, work collectively on small group projects, take sides in both impromptu and prepared debates, keep newspaper journals, and pursue their own research interests in term papers. Even when I am lecturing, my students are not encouraged to be passive sponges: where size dictates the lecture format, I still try to use innovative assignments, and I pepper each class session with dozens of questions that engage students in running, vigorous exchanges of ideas.

A final principle that guides my classroom instruction, one-on-one interaction with undergraduates, and my service to the broader university community is that I have a commitment to empowering students by breaking down artificial barriers between faculty and students. In refusing to be aloof in the classroom, keeping ample office hours, and maintaining an open-door policy, I seek to send students the constant message that I honestly enjoy working closely with them; if I didn't feel this way, I would have long ago chosen to do something else with my life and talents. Students seem to recognize my commitment to assisting them both in and out of the classroom. They regularly seek me out to talk about their classes, their career ambitions, internship possibilities, foreign travel, and countless other non-class related topics. Several times each term, I have been invited to participate in student-initiated university forums outside of my narrow area of scholarly expertise. I am kept busy writing recommendations for first- and second-year students who frequently tell me that I am the only professor who came to know them well during the previous term. Most importantly, I have had the opportunity to arrange for help in several instances where students were experiencing personal problems that threatened these students’ continued college education.  

Mark Setzler, copyright 2000-2005. Please respect the fact that the teaching portfolio pages on this website are highly personal and a form of intellectual property.