Darrick Pope has a passion for teaching science that began when he led help sessions for chemistry students in college. His highest goal is to make scientific knowledge accessible and stimulating for students by challenging them to use their own problem-solving skills and treating them as active participants in the learning process. After beginning to teach at Community Colleges of Allegheny County, he realized he needed to spend more time gathering feedback from students, which helped alleviate student and his own frustration. Teaching working adult students, he adapted his methods of listening to students and incorporating interactive software to engage students visually with scientific concepts.

1. Teaching Philosophy
Darrick Pope, Adjunct Professor
Department of Chemistry and Physics
Community Colleges of Allegheny County
I discovered a passion for teaching science early in my college career when I was
assigned to lead required help sessions for first year chemistry students. During the help sessions,
students seemed to enjoy my efforts to help them almost as much as I enjoyed being the helper.
Since that time in college I have sought out places where I can help students learn, including
volunteering to tutor grade school children and being available as a tutor to organic chemistry
students during graduate school. In each of these endeavors my highest goal was to make my
knowledge as accessible and stimulating for the student as possible. I have two priorities that are
essential for reaching this goal with a student. The first is ensure that the student is challenged to
use his or her own reasoning and problem-solving skills. Secondly, the student must be treated as
a participant in the learning process, not merely a recipient. With these two aspects of teaching in
mind, I am continually developing new techniques and honing my skills as I teach a diverse body
of students at the Community Colleges of Allegheny County (CCAC). I find nothing invigorates
me like the opportunity to help a student realize their ability to understand and utilize scientific
knowledge.
When I began teaching introductory chemistry courses at CCAC, I limited student
questions to the 20 minutes before and after the evening class sessions. I soon learned that this
practice alone was insufficient to learn about the needs of many students, so I began directing
them to the tutoring center or other such services. This helped a few of them, but a sense of
frustration still persisted with the students and myself. At this time I realized that a better
solution might be a more intentional approach to gathering feedback from students during class
time and as well as before or after. My increased interest and sensitivity to the students required
a little more time commitment, but eventually began to alleviate student frustration as well as
some of my own. As I have continued to develop how I encourage and listen to student feedback,
I have found that the practice of listening can enhance every aspect of the student learning
process.
Every Introduction to Chemistry course (CHM109 or 110) that I have administered has
taken place in the evening, and thus each class has contained a majority of working adults.
Teaching classes with working adults has challenged me to develop techniques and practices that
are uniquely suited to their specific demands. For example, taking time to listen and follow-up
on the questions or constructive criticism of these students has been vital to earning their respect.
In return, the working students are more receptive to my requirements and expertise.
My methods have also been adapted to teach courses in Organic Chemistry (CHM201)
and Basic Physics (PHY100) to full-time students. Subtle changes to my course plans and
techniques were made to adjust for the sophistication, age, and established content of these
classes. The flexibility in my teaching style has been guided by the general approach that I have
towards teaching anything in science, which is to engage the student with a fundamental
knowledge of the course subject.
Facilitating a course so that the students are engaged with the topic is a process that
fascinates me. I have learned from my readings, workshops, and classroom experience how some
practices encourage student participation. But the familiarity of modern students with technology
will allow me to incorporate more sophisticated and interactive tools into the chemistry

2. curriculum. I intend to develop methods of educating students based on my research experience
with computational modeling. The use of graphic user interface (or GUI) software has the
potential to greatly enhance the learning for a diverse student population. Software like
ChemBioDraw and Molecular Operating Environment (MOE) made major contributors to my
chemistry education by enabling me to visualize and manipulate chemical processes. Students at
all levels of chemistry have and will benefit greatly from opportunities to see and use these GUI
software programs and others like them. The use of GUI software is the present and future of
quality education in science, and my in-depth knowledge of such programs makes me an ideal
candidate to implement them into my curriculum. These software programs can be the vehicle by
which students are challenged to learn and equip them with technological skills that will serve
them in future endeavors. In combination with my experience in engaging students on a personal
level, I have a unique opportunity to oversee an educational environment that offers far more to
students than a typical college classroom. My goal as a professional educator is to use interactive
technologies and personal interactions to engage students on a daily basis.