Teaching

Teaching Statement

Context

I am an implementation scientist currently in year 5 of my PhD program at Duke University. 

I teach the fundamentals of my field as it is applied in the health systems setting, with emphasis on factors that affect access to and quality of care. 

Throughout my teaching career, I have been able to facilitate learning in a variety of class sizes, as well as one-on-one settings. In my current role as a PhD student, I serve as teaching assistant and have previously served as peer mentor and discussion leader. Before joining my PhD program, I held various teaching roles in medical school, undergraduate and master’s programs: instructor of record, guest lecturer, discussion section leader, and thesis/capstone adviser and committee member. I also participated as faculty in professional development trainings for health professionals. 

How I Teach

I aim to teach with innovation, rigor, and virtue.

As an instructor, my aim is to promote innovation, exemplify academic rigor, and instill virtues of respect and empathy among students, who will likely be leading and managing health systems in the future.

To describe my teaching approach, I am using the UK Professional Standards Framework's Areas of Activity (A1-A5) for higher education; I also cite other intersecting dimensions.

A1: Designing and Planning Activities

My design philosophy can be summed thus: start with what students know, and build on it. 

As such, my classroom learning activities are designed with my audiences in mind. For undergraduate students and medical students (such as in a Biochemistry course I taught in the University of the Philippines (UP) public health program), I lean heavily on recitation and group work that requires basic understanding of pre-assigned material. A more specialized audience (such as in a master's course at Duke) would call for group discussion activities with guide questions that gather unique insights from day-to-day experience with the concept. In both instances, my underlying aim is to gauge student understanding and engagement with the material, as well as to build writing, communication, and collaboration skills.
[V2 - Promoting learner engagement, V5 - Collaboration]

The nature of my field requires that I regularly update materials for courses and guest lectures. As such, I regularly review my teaching material and update content based on ongoing developments in the field; I also let students report on these developments as part of a journal club or class report-type activity. An example of that is during my stint as a faculty member in UP Manila, where, as a co-instructor of record for PHN 207, I designed activities where students report on an ongoing development in the field of public health nutrition.
[V3 - Evidence-based practice]

I also aim to keep abreast of developments in pedagogy, such as the implementation of the flipped classroom method and the insightful use of generative artificial intelligence (AI). In a flipped classroom, class sessions are dedicated to case discussions and questions surrounding material that should have been studied in advance by students with the help of session plans (see sample material below, under A3); consequently, lectures are done sparingly (Phillips & Wiesbauer, 2022; Shi et al., 2025). In 2017, as instructor of record for the Family and Community Medicine II course for second-year medical students, I implemented the transition of San Beda medical school's shift to a flipped classroom format. Regarding the use of generative AI, I co-developed approaches in an epidemiology course at my department's master's program (POPHS 707/708) to assess student understanding by combining written work and oral recitation with strategic use of generative AI within the classroom.
[V4 - Response to wider academic context] 

Moreover, as some of my instruction occurs in hybrid/virtual settings, I often lean into internet-based tools to keep students engaged within sessions, such as Kahoot!, Wooclap, and the Google Education Suite. In both in-person and internet-based instruction, I organize my materials using online learning management platforms; I am experienced in using Google Classroom, Moodle, Schoology, Edu 2.0, Sakai and Canvas. Notably, I served as a Canvas champion during my faculty stint at UP, where I assisted department colleagues in shifting instruction to Canvas in 2020.
[K2 - Approaches to teaching, K4 - Appropriate use of technologies]

Sample material: 

• Syllabus for PHN 207 (Assessment of Physical Growth and Development), a course that is part of the master's program in Public Health Nutrition offered at the University of the Philippines Manila, where I was course coordinator (i.e., co-instructor of record)

A2: Teaching and Supporting Learners

Soliciting and acting on student/learner feedback is at the heart of my teaching approach. 

After every new concept is introduced, I make sure to open the floor for questions or comments from students; I also reserve office hours during the week. Beyond the usual course evaluations, I ask students to identify areas for improvement in my teaching approach, and aim to implement or advocate changes as needed. One recent example of this was during my time as a peer facilitator for a responsible conduct of research course (BIOTRAIN 701) for Duke PhD biomedical students, which include my program. Previously, material from this course was mostly geared towards bench disciplines; this material was not relevant for students in my program. In response to comments from my junior colleagues, as a teaching assistant I advocated for inclusion of content that would be more appropriate for our discipline, and served as a bridge between students and head faculty in relaying concerns. 
[V2 - Promoting learner engagement, K1 - How learners learn]

To promote equitable classroom participation, I ensure that all students will have opportunities to contribute to the discussion; I aim to do so in a non-threatening way. I find that students will have individual preferences in terms of how they would like to participate in class: as such, I make space for live, online and asynchronous participation. For instance, in my current TA role, I implement collaboration-type activities via Canvas and Microsoft 365 (or Google Classroom and Workspace, as appropriate), and combine it with conventional classroom recitation. I also operate the Zoom instance of our hybrid course and monitor student participation among Zoom attendees who could not make it to class in person.
[V2 - Promoting learner engagement, K4 - Appropriate use of technologies]

Occasionally, students would submit requests for accommodations. In my current TA role, I have had experience in coordinating students with the university's accommodations office and implementing required adjustments. This also requires that I design tests in ways that equitably assess competencies among students in need and the rest of the class: this often entails scheduling a separate time for a student in need of accommodations to sit for an exam.
[V1 - Respecting individual learners] 

Sample material: 

• Lecture slides on the Comprehensive Framework for Implementation Research, delivered in November 2025 as guest lecturer for POPHS 901 (Population Health Theories). This deck demonstrates my use of online tools for class participation and updated class material.

A3: Assessing and Giving Feedback

In my teaching career, I have developed various forms of assessments that aim to promote critical and creative thinking.

Among these assessments are objective means (e.g., multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank questions), as well as more subjective ones, such as open-ended questions or essay requirements. I prefer assigning the latter, as these afford countless opportunities to identify areas for student improvement. In both objective and subjective assessments, I make it a point to leave comments for submitted work (such as an essay requirement explaining the difference between prevalence and incidence in epidemiology). These feedback-giving activities take the form of leaving comments on online discussions or sending them a private message about good points as well as areas for improvement. I also bring up these areas for improvement whenever students come to me during office hours; here, I make space for them to explain how they understand the concept, and build on their reasoning by providing concrete examples.
[V1 - Respecting individual learners,  K1 - How learners learn]

Assessing open-ended responses also requires a robust grading framework that aligns with the learning objectives of the course and the activity. I have developed rubrics towards grading various forms of class engagement: recitation, essays, and oral examinations. I also designed rubrics for class participation in flipped classroom settings. These rubrics are often influenced by emerging scholarship and guidance on the use of generative AI within class settings. An important source I consult for this is the book 'Teaching with AI' (Bowen & Watson, 2024).
[V4 - Response to wider academic context, V3 - Evidence-based practice]

Sample material: 

• A flipped classroom session plan for a class in Health Systems, part of the course Family and Community Medicine II, delivered to Year 2 medical students at San Beda University. Note the inclusion of rubrics for the class activity.

• A sample set of policies governing the use of generative AI; I submitted this as part of a course for the Certificate program in College Teaching at Duke Graduate School.

A4: Mentoring and Guiding Learners

I consider mentoring as a responsibility that is broader than what is usually expected within the teaching context. 

In my experience, mentoring includes guidance related to professional and personal development and helping mentees make sense of their future career. 

I have mentored more than 10 master's students as part of the faculty of the Master in Public Management program at the Development Academy of the Philippines. My past experience in public management provided a lot of material on which to base my mentorship, but I also made sure I was listening to their unique experiences. 

Subsequently, I mentored students within the context of service learning; at San Beda University, I facilitated the community medicine rotation of groups of around 10 year 4 medical students, where I aimed to exemplify how to responsibly engage with host communities and address root causes of recurrent community health concerns. More recently, I have been mentoring junior researchers who are part of my dissertation research team, as well as students in my TA role who have requested that I mentor them. 

In all of these settings, my mentorship conversations often include discussion on difficult situations related to mentees' academic, professional and personal life to an extent that they find comfortable; in such cases, I aim to listen to them and explore options with them. I also ask them if the mentorship conversation was helpful to them, and solicit feedback on how I could help them better as a mentor. Finally, in accordance with university guidelines, if necessary, I refer students to campus resources related to mental health or self-care. 

Mentoring is not easy, and through the years I sought additional training in mentorship: I enrolled in a Best Practices in Mentoring course at Duke Graduate School, where I learned various perspectives in mentoring that might be appropriate for specific situations, and where I learned that the key to successful mentoring is respect and trust.
[V1 - Respecting individual learners, K1 - How learners learn, K3 - Critical evaluation]

A5: Engaging in Professional Development 

My teaching approach has been enhanced by formal training from university-based programs, as well as from informal mentorship I have received through the years. 

One of my most memorable professional development experiences as a teacher was when I volunteered to teach in a high school in 2015. That experience taught me how to prepare detailed lesson plans, align my teaching pace and rubric development with the rest of my department, explain complex concepts at an audience-appropriate level, and provide space within sessions for students to think, reflect and collaborate with peers. The lessons from that experience continue to guide my teaching approach today.
[K2 - Approaches to teaching, V5 - Collaboration to improve practice, K5 - Quality assurance]

Now at Duke, I am part of the Certificate in College Teaching (CCT) program, where I learned specific technologies that could aid in implementing learning activities. As a CCT student, I also learned how to develop sessions, assessment rubrics and policies governing the use of AI. An important part of the CCT program is Teaching Triangles, where I had the opportunity to teach four sessions in a doctoral course in my department, two of which were observed by peer CCT students. That experience enriched my teaching as it exposed me to best practices in other fields: in my case, I had the privilege of observing sessions in the departments of Romance Studies and Documentary Arts. I also received feedback as an instructor, which allowed me to pay closer attention to how I organize the space in which I conduct my teaching, my visuals, as well as how I explain complex topics.
[K2 - Approaches to teaching, K3 - Critical evaluation, K4 - Appropriate use of technologies]

I am also part of the Preparing Future Faculty (PFF) program, where, alongside peers as well as with the guidance of a senior faculty mentor, I am being exposed to the realities of faculty life in an R-1 institutional setting distinct from Duke. At PFF, I am also being mentored on how to approach these realities in my own emerging academic career, and am given the priceless opportunity to discuss lessons learned with my peers and receive feedback and/or advice from them. Teaching is an ever-evolving discpline, and I am fortunate to be in the CCT and PFF circles where best practices in instructor technologies and approaches are discussed and exchanged.
[V4 - Response to wider context, V5 - Collaboration to improve practice]

Supporting evidence: 

• My final report describing lessons learned from the Teaching Triangles activity, part of the Certificate program in College Teaching at Duke Graduate School.

Integration and Reflection

Reflecting on all the above skills and the experiences that strengthened them, 

I am drawn to three overarching themes that encapsulate the lessons I learned throughout my teaching career: innovation, rigor and virtue. 

Innovation encompasses my experiences that enhanced my ability to develop approaches that keep up with the emerging trends in educational technology: learning management software, classroom engagement tools such as Kahoot!, and policies that promote independent creativity amid the rise of AI. But innovation also includes the ability to implement learning activities despite technical constraints (such as my service learning stint at San Beda) and optimize available resources (such as in implementing accommodations for a student in need) to achieve one's instructional objectives.

Rigor includes my experiences that strengthened the ability to align my teaching activities with robust scholarship (for instance, ensuring up-to-date content in an implementation science session), coordinate with peers to ensure consistent delivery of content across the department (especially from my experience as a volunteer high school teacher), and ensure fair and evidence-based evaluation of student achievement and identification of areas for improvement (as applied in my rubrics development and how I hold office hours).

Finally, virtue is encapsulated by experiences that emphasize the value of respect and diligence. For me, teaching with virtue means respecting individual learning styles, promoting and exemplifying respectful collaboration among students and service learners, and ensuring adequate venues for students to relay feedback to me so I could improve my teaching and better address their learning needs.

Future Directions

As my research work continues to develop, I aim to be able to teach a foundations course in implementation science or global public health. I am thrilled to be able to share the lessons I am learning from my research, and I hope that sharing them as well as my experiences as a practitioner would make for a memorable learning experience for my students.

I also aim to be able to develop an online course on implementation science research methods that would benefit global audiences, as well as a specific version for learners from my country of origin (the Philippines). I anticipate being able to develop ways to engage with distance learners through active collaboration with peers in other countries, and create material that would enable learning in a broad set of instructional contexts (such as via internet-based platforms but also through easily reproducible modules for those in low-resource settings).

Finally, as a way to usher junior implementation scientists into the field, I hope to be able to serve as a mentor to an existing community of practice, so I could contribute to further growth of the field and, hopefully, to better health program implementation and consequently, improved health outcomes.

Teaching and Training Activities

As part of my past roles, I facilitated and/or co-led multiple training sessions for professional development of personnel in public health and health system roles.

Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital (Bacolod City, Philippines)
I co-organized and taught evidence-based medicine skills for medical residents and nurse-researchers.
2022 - in-person instruction, 20+ trainees
2021 - virtual, 20+ trainees
2019 - in-person instruction, 20+ trainees

Global Health Focus
I co-developed and delivered material for two short courses held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
2018 - Global Health Nutrition Course, in-person instruction, 20+ students from the Islamic Medical Association of Cambodia
2018 - Global Health Course, in-person instruction, 20+ students from the University of Puthisastra

Department of Health (Philippines)
I assisted in developing teaching materials and gave lectures as part of the faculty of the Department's Health Policy and Systems Research Fellowship Program
2020 (April 24-25), virtual, 15+ trainees, organized by the University of the Philippines Manila
2017 (July 12-13,  August 16-18) - in-person instruction, 20+ trainees, organized by 101 Health Research, Inc.

University of Washington Department of Global Health's e-Learning Program
I served as co-facilitator of the Philippine offering of the Introduction to Epidemiology for Global Health short course.
2019 - virtual, 10+ students

Section Under Construction

Institute of Health Policy and Development Studies, University of the Philippines Manila
I assisted in developing teaching materials and gave lectures as part of the faculty of the Institute's policy brief workshops and bill writing workshops.