My teaching philosophy involves the other f-word – failure.

My expensive pieces of paper - degrees - are in design. Design is a process that involves asking the right questions, proposing solutions, creating artefacts, testing, and evaluating them. My goal is to teach this process.

At the root of design is failure. I equate failure with learning. Design is about exploring unknowns, taking risks, and learning from your mistakes.

From a conceptual level, I want students to be able to look at any problem, understand what they do not know, and empower them with a process to be able to find solutions. This process involves problem finding, and the creation of a series of artefacts. During this creation process is where learning occurs. There are many 'failures', but they lead to knowledge and understanding.

I feel that this process is important for someone working in a rapdily changing landscape. In ten years, students will be using technologies that are currently in the development stage. Understanding people, finding their problems, and using a process is important. I have discovered this firsthand through my own learning. I have always worked at the intersection of technology and design. Technology moves rapidly and design needs to respond by creating objects of value for the end user.

By fully understanding this process, an individual can work in multidisciplinary situations. They are not trained on a specific piece of software or tool; they become the individual that assembles a solution.

I currently teach the following courses / topics:

• Creative Thinking
• Multimedia Design
• Digital Branding Strategies
• Advanced JavaScript - NodeJs
• Physical Computing - IoT