TEACHING PHILOSOPHY
We as graphic designers are in the era where visual communication has been evolving from print based to interactive electronic interface based. Graphic Design is the field visually engaged in various areas including art, science,literature, education, engineering, psychology, etc. How do we to teach graphic design to students in the 21st Century?

I believe that a teacher should guide students in such a way so as they can see where they are now and where they should go as graphic designers. I highlight their critical thinking in contemporary media such as web compared with traditional media such as print. They read related critical papers and essays and discuss about how they could be involved in society as graphic designers. I emphasize the social responsibility, as graphic designers,to articulate the social issues and to present the possible solutions to the public through visual communication media.

Motivation is a critical asset of my teaching. I have students research what they want to do throughout my classes. I encourage them to pursue their interests as class projects under the class objectives. For instance,many volunteering projects including book publications, web projects including virtual tours were created by the students in class. They include various social issues such as encouraging being interested in environmental issues, preserving culture properties, supporting non profit organizations such as schools and museums, etc. From those projects,students learn how they get engaged in society as motivated graphic designers in the 21st Century demands.

Collaboration is an emphasized part of my class. As a graphic designer, I was previously educated and accustomed to working alone, but my experience from computer science, information design, graphic design to interactive media has brought me to the conclusion that collaboration is essential and inevitable in the graphic design world. I enjoy group projects that teach them the experience of collaboration with others. I plan and organize them based on each students’s interests. I encourage the students to be participated as positive contributors. Throughout the group projects, I expect to see that they learn how to communicate, how to solve challenges, how to manage time-line, how to meet deadlines, and how to present presentations with group members.

All of my class projects are well planned and organized for students. I plan to get them involved into exhibitions and community activities directly during the semester. I mentor them to research and submit their proposals to various opportunities such as design competitions, research grants and conferences. For instance, the proposal for the Contemporary Pattern Design Project by all the students in 2007 Digital Design at Towson University got accepted by the Towson Undergraduate Research Grant and was published as a book by using lulu.com. A virtual reality city wasbuilt by all the students in 2002 Virtual Reality Modeling Language class at Juseong College,South Korea, and got accepted by 2002 National Multimedia Design Competition in South Korea.

My flexible teaching approach is based on various situations. I have taught various ranges of students including just high school graduates, part time students with day time jobs, old generations who need college degrees,high school teachers in summer institute in South Korea and the United States. Also I taught in various different academic programs such as computer science, information technology, design, fine arts, etc. Working with these situations directly, I learned that I need to approach my teaching styles flexibly based on level, background, majors,cultures, etc, so my classes are planned to meet the expectation of each class objectives and various background audiences in different programs, departments, schools and colleges.

I believe that teaching is a calling, so I have a strong sense of duty and responsibility for students through mentoring and advising. Students often come to my office to get advice about their challenges in class and their future career. I am willing to share my previous experience as a former student in computer science and how

I did deal with that situation to turn out as a creative designer now. I encourage them not to give up their goal and keep going with possible solutions. I recommend focusing on their current jobs with their best and then in pursuing their goal, since I believe that those attitudes will show a potential road for students to realize their goals under their goal, since I believe that those attitudes will show a potential road for students to realize their goals under the responsibilities of their jobs as professionals.

As a teacher, I am open minded and respect student’s new ideas and learn from their fresh ideas and thinking since teaching is another way of learning to share the knowledge and skills throughout involving them. Those values have helped me to mature as a better teacher of designer since I started teaching.