My approach to teaching/learning can be summarized as follows: (1) keep well-informed about the subject matter (2) have a clear vision of what I would like students to learn (3) present the material as clearly as possible (4) be enthusiastic about the topic I am discussing (5) be interactive and attentive to the questions and needs of students and be accessible to students (6) connect classroom topics to everyday experience (7) clearly define my expectations for students and (8) inject a little bit of personal experience into the course content. My goals are to enable students to learn.

My teaching style is classical. I use the typical lecture format at the chalkboard. I also try to engage the class in question-and-answer sessions (in both directions) during the course of a class. Learning to write structures is a skill that is critical to success in organic chemistry. This is one reason why I do not distribute lecture notes and use overheads only to introduce topics where the structures are too complex for a student to write during the course of a lecture. Undergraduate students should expect quizzes in recitation sections and should not expect me to routinely hand out practice examinations. I enjoy one-on-one teaching situations and encourage students to come to my office hours for help.