Iowa State University Alumni Association| online edition | winter 2007

WINTER 2007
Home

Cover Story:
>>The power of one

• Introduction
• A Week in the Life
• The professor who changed my life: Corly Petersen Brooke
• The professor who changed my life: Richard Heggen
• The professor who changed my life: Barbara Mack
• The professor who changed my life: Jim Pease
• The professor who changed my life: Wayne Scholtes
• The professor who changed my life: Joan Herwig
• The high cost of attracting and retaining top faculty
• Why I teach: Steve Mickelson
• Why I teach: Amanda Fales-Williams
• Why I teach: Connie Hargrave
• Why I teach: Charles Bradley Shrader

Feature Story:
Time to celebrate

Departments:
Getting Started
Letters
Around Campus
Association News
Giving
Sports

WHY I TEACH: TEACHING TO LEARN
BY CHARLES BRADLEY SHRADER

Why do I teach? Part of the answer is rather straightforward: It’s my job. Teaching is fundamental to modern academic scholarship. I teach because that is what I was hired to do. I like my work and care about doing my job well. I have a responsibility both to teach and engage in research. I believe the outcomes of research enhance good teaching, and good teaching effectively communicates the results of research. I enjoy working collaboratively with others in the classroom. Students gain more from teachers who care and are enthusiastic about the material. And as a teacher, I come to understand the subject better as I create new ways to get the point across. As a result, I am constantly learning as I teach. I teach to learn. And in class, I strive to present myself as the most eager learner of all.

About the Writer | Brad Shrader is a professor of management and Bill and Liz Goodwin Faculty Fellow in the College of Business.