The Underrated “Science”: Philosophy Professor Alex Koo Discusses The Value of Pedagogy
Professor Koo dives into the science and complexity of teaching, and shares ways for students to optimize their learning experience.
Most students attend lectures every day without much thought to the preparation required for the courses. After all, isn’t it just another couple of hours of professors explaining complicated concepts?
In an interview with The Medium, Philosophy Professor Alex Koo at the University of Toronto (U of T) shares the pedagogical side of education. He dives deep into what sparked his interest in pedagogy, the science behind the field, and its impact on education.
Teaching: a passion project
Professor Koo shared that he didn’t think much about his career in graduate school until he was given the opportunity to serve as a teaching assistant (TA). “I quickly realized that my favourite part of graduate school was TA-ing first-year philosophy [courses], which was super fun and enjoyable.”
While Professor Koo discovered his passion for teaching in his graduate studies, he did not learn about the field of pedagogy until he became a lecturer at the University of Toronto (U of T).
During his four years as a U of T lecturer, Professor Koo attended events held by a community called the Teaching and Learning Community of Practice. He explained, “They’re just a bunch of professors at U of T who are really interested in teaching, and I started going to their meetings and their presentations.”
Through interacting with other instructors, their enthusiasm for teaching sparked Professor Koo’s passion for pedagogy. “These other instructors were just so passionate about their work and teaching. It really inspired me to learn about it [pedagogy] and to rethink how I teach my classes at every level,” he said.
After teaching various classes and encountering like-minded colleagues, Professor Koo asked himself a critical question. “Did I want to publish and become a famous philosopher, like everyone thinks that they want to do? Or do I go all in on teaching? Which is something that I love to do.”
After weighing between career factors and his passion, Professor Koo made the decision to devote his time to researching pedagogy and cultivating students in the most effective ways possible.
A surprise found in studying pedagogy
Among the many surprising things he discovered in studying pedagogy, Professor Koo was most shocked by how little he knew about the field. “I didn’t know anything about pedagogy, and here I was, already teaching students.”
Upon reflection, he realized how his knowledge of course design, learning and instruction can be improved. “I was surprised to find out how much evidence-based research is out there about learning models and course design.” Professor Koo elaborated that he discovered many empirical studies were available about what is effective for student learning.
“I thought teaching was just your personal style, but it turns out there are some really good, accepted ways of facilitating learning.” Pedagogy has revealed that coursework is far more deliberate and complex than most think.
How is pedagogy relevant to students?
“When I read some of the major books on pedagogy, I kept thinking I wish I had read this when I was a student,” said Professor Koo.
Although course design pedagogy might not be as applicable for students, pedagogical knowledge can provide great study insights to students. For example, it offers scientific evidence on how to most effectively learn and have long-term retention and understanding of materials.
Professor Koo elucidated with an example of research findings. “There’s empirical evidence that students prefer learning styles that are the least conducive for them to learn.”
In these studies, researchers collected students’ preferences for course styles. Most students stated that they prefer a course with a dynamic lecturer where they can just sit and take notes. On the other hand, students generally don’t prefer a class with regular quizzes, assignments or discussions.
“It turns out that students overwhelmingly overestimate how much they retain just sitting there, listening to a really skilled lecturer versus how much they retain from active learning skills like discussions or regular quizzes,” said Professor Koo.
He shared this as an instance of the intrigue of pedagogy, saying that it is interesting to spot the difference between working to learn and retain knowledge, compared to attending lectures for entertainment.
Incorporating science into teaching
Professor Koo has applied his own pedagogical studies to course design and set up systems to help students learn effectively.
“Regular assessment is something that I’ve really incorporated into almost all my classes,” said Professor Koo. “And these [tests] can be small.” These low-stakes assessments’ value lies in allowing students to consistently work on class content.
“If they [students] don’t do well on these assessments, it doesn’t really matter overall. But it’s worth enough that students want to do well.” He shared that this type of consistent, challenging testing has been empirically shown to help with understanding and retention.
In one of his courses, PHL245: Modern Symbolic Logic, Professor Koo does a quick knowledge recapitulation on an online anonymous voting system called Mentimeter. He noted that students have an interestingly enthusiastic response and engagement to these assessments, even though they do not contribute to students’ grades.
“There’s something about the fact that students know that it’s coming at the beginning of every class, and they want to do well on it. Even though it’s not graded and it’s anonymous.”
Nowadays, these small-scale assessments are commonly seen in courses. However, university courses weren’t always structured like this. Professor Koo recalled that when he was an undergraduate, courses were structured very differently. This directly impacted the learning model that students adapted, and the effectiveness of their knowledge retention.
“There were no low-stakes, regular assignments. It was just like major essays or major tests, and that was it.” This difference is one of the many advances that pedagogy has contributed to education, reflecting how it optimizes students’ learning through information on course design and structure.
Consistent efforts from a supportive, passionate community
“I think it is worth pointing out that there are things that are very behind the scenes, but really support the UTM teaching community—and I think it’s great,” said Professor Koo.
He shared that there are many efforts made in the University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM) to promote effective pedagogy, such as pedagogy reading groups for faculty, where faculty members can sign up each semester. These reading groups allow faculty to vote on new books on pedagogy, and have discussions with other professors from various departments.
Professor Koo said that these conversations about teaching and learning are very valuable. For example, learning about other professors’ perspectives in different disciplines can inspire instructors to experiment with different teaching approaches.
The learning advice that you need to hear
“I want students to know that a lot of professors regularly care about the quality of their teaching and the quality of their students’ learning experience,” said Professor Koo.
While students often devote most of their time to studying and completing assignments, it is not the only factor that affects their learning experience and academic performance.
Professor Koo said, “Having discussions and conversations with faculty who show an interest in teaching is really worthwhile.” He explained that these discussions can help students’ connection and understanding of courses, and uncover reasons behind course structure and design.
“When students have that connection, they’re more invested in the learning experience and [students] do better in the course.” He continued, “I think it’s totally fine to go to a philosophy class and talk about philosophy all the time. But also chatting with your professor about teaching-related questions…I think it’s great.”
These conversations can not only strengthen students’ academic knowledge, but they can also help connect students with professors, providing insights to both parties.
Pedagogy versus the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
When asked about the change that AI has brought to instructors, Professor Koo opened up about the way AI has affected the value of university education.
“I don’t think it’s an overstatement to say that generative AI is totally changing the way people are looking at university education.”
When Professor Koo was planning his third-year Philosophy of Science course, he did an experiment with AI and tested how long it would take students to do well in his course using generative AI platforms. He concluded that it would only take five to ten minutes to complete his entire course with a good grade.
“In philosophy, this does represent a pretty big problem. Because on the face of it, it seems like the quintessential product or artifact of a philosophy class should be some essays.” He continued, “The challenge is, how do you assign something, knowing that it’s so easy for anyone to get generative AI to do it in about 30 seconds?”
Professor Koo expressed that he had hoped to provide a learning experience so fulfilling that students would not employ AI in their assignments. However, despite his endeavours, it has not resulted in the way he expected to.
“I’m in the middle of testing out a new course design that’s trying to be generative AI proof.” He said that there are tough trade-offs to courses focused on avoiding the use of AI, and course design with this focus is a work in progress.
While instructors might still be discovering the best ways to prevent AI from affecting students’ learning experience, many endeavours are certainly being made to protect the value of education.
More importantly, many instructors are working to ensure students can learn in an environment where they can practice critical thinking, resilience, and acquire skills and knowledge that are essential to their future. And these crucial life skills can only be done through learning authentically, without relying on AI to think for us.
