Teaching
Teaching philosophy
My teaching is guided by a consistent vision: my students should become not only competent graduates, but competent colleagues as well. My teaching philosophy is asset-based and futures-thinking. I negotiate with students to clarify what education and science must mean to them personally and to the world they want to live in, and we work together to identify what they could best offer, how to make the most of their current opportunities, and how to reach their own goals. Instead of forcing students into idealized boxes of “leaders” or “STEM people” they need to fit into, I show them the boxes and ask: what do we do with these? How can we make it work?
My design principle is and has always been joy. I balance rigorous expectations with an understanding that we are all there to learn, that it is fine to fail so long as we overcome, and that we can count on each other with mutual trust and accountability. I believe this works best in joyful classrooms where students have enough trust to take intellectual risks, and enough responsibility to persist when those fail.
This is also where my teaching meets my research on scientist education. Whether I am mentoring high school researchers, teaching statistics to graduate students, or preparing science teachers, I want learners to move from knowing science to generating knowledge: taking ownership of questions they find consequential, judging evidence, and defending what they have done. Across my teaching, I want students to leave with experience using what they know to investigate a problem that matters, lead with responsibility and dignity, and contribute beyond the walls of our classroom.
Where I have taught
Indiana University Bloomington, Associate Instructor, 2024–present
- Secondary Science Field Experience and Classroom Management (Fall 2026)
- STEM for Educators, instructor of record (Fall 2024–Spring 2026)
- Intermediate Statistics Applied to Education, graduate lab instructor (Summer 2024)
University of the Philippines Mindanao, Senior Lecturer, 2022–2023
- Statistical Methods and Experimental Design; Mathematical Models in Operations Research II; Mathematical Analysis II; Precalculus; Finite Mathematics
Philippine Science High School, Southern Mindanao Campus, Special Science Teacher, 2018–2022
- STEM Research; Special Topics in Chemistry; Organic and Inorganic Chemistry; Design and Analysis of Chemical Experiments (developed the syllabus)
- Mentored 45 students across 15 research projects in the chemical and computational sciences, leading to six wins in student research competitions
- Science Club Adviser: led a three-day science camp for over 500 students focused on scientific soft skills, which led to work with three local government units supporting student-led innovations to rehabilitate a polluted creek
- Sinagtala Science and Innovation Teaching Award (2022), a national award for outstanding contributions in teaching and mentoring
Ateneo de Davao University, Instructor, 2016–2018 and 2024
- Physical Chemistry 2 Laboratory; visiting Science, Technology and Society lecturer
Sample teaching materials
Interactive lessons I built for my own classes.
Student evaluations
In seven Indiana University course sections since 2024, 58 of 63 students agreed or strongly agreed that I was an outstanding instructor, an average of 4.5 out of 5. Here is some of what they wrote. Full reports are available on request.
“He always emphasized the need to learn through mistakes and not just passing the class with an easy A.”
“If you had a question nobody was scared or ashamed to ask cause you knew you wouldn’t be judge[d].”
“He made science fun again and made me excited to teach it in the future.”
“The instructor was great at providing feedback and helping us learn from our mistakes.”
“Le responded to questions very quickly and always offered support.”