This short document summarizes the author’s essential approach to teaching. It follows a simple outline presenting—in this order:
- Why?–my basic motivation,
- How?–my personal methodology, and
- What?–the nature of the knowledge and skills that I wish to transmit to students and mentees.
Why? – How? – What?
- Why?—The essential drive that has motivated me pursuing a career in research has come from my own experience as a student since the beginning of my schooling. Indeed, I was lucky to benefit from very inspirational teachers that shared with me their passion for sharing knowledge. With experience, as I myself became a teacher, I essentially confirmed this passion as the main drive to challenge myself into new topics and in-depth study of new areas. In so doing, I have quickly discovered that the reward of sharing was enriching, and that learning from my students as much a drive as my original inspiration to expand one’s own contribution. My satisfaction has come as much from the opportunity of sowing seeds of understanding in newer generations’ minds, and inspire them to take it all further and deeper.
- How?—Given the close relation between being a student and a teacher, I have come to realize that the best way to learn something new is to teach it. Indeed, the best way to ensure that I could familiarize myself with all aspects of a topic and all approaches underlying a technology has always been to endeavor explaining it to someone. The most effective manner that my experience has made me profess has been by challenging younger minds into the various disciplines and processes that have shown to be productive for me and my own mentors. The best teaching method is to share the fun.
- What?—So-motivated and having understood the invaluable benefit teaching actually bestows on the one sharing knowledge, I put my effort toward acquiring any scientific skill and understanding in the field of Artificial Intelligence, specifically knowledge representation and automated reasoning, in the context of the Semantic Web. Teaching such scientific pursuits is an essential creative drive, even if only in the form of didactic publications. What I teach has thus an adequation to very timely technology and, in my opinion, is in high demand. This is what I have been striving to transmit to my students.