As a developmental psychologist and gerontologist, my teaching philosophy is centered on the belief that the ultimate goal of education is for personal fulfillment and lifespan development. To achieve this goal, I believe in implementing the “3Is” in my teaching:

• Inclusive. Being an international student myself, I understand the importance of creating an inclusive classroom environment. With Cornell CTI lead fellows, we discussed Bell Hooks’ Teaching to Transgress and Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed.
• Independent. I believe that autonomy in learning is crucial for students’ success in transitioning from high school to undergraduate and graduate studies. To achieve this goal, scaffolding is necessary, and the foundation of scaffolding is to create a secure attachment between the instructor and students.
• Integrative. I am committed to designing integrative courses (Fink, 2005) via pedagogical and psychological methods. An integrative course combines reinforcement among learning goals, teaching/learning activities, and feedback/assessments with attention to situational factors.

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