Randall Kemp
University of Washington
Teaching Philosophy
What do we remember from the classroom (or other teaching environments, for that matter)? I recall, to this day, my geometry teacher, on the first day of class, uttering a profound statement, "The shortest distance between any two points is a straight line," then going on to say he would prove that through mathematical proofs, all the while engaging the class in the learning effort. He believed in education and a teaching method that informs my current teaching philosophy. He informed the learners with a statement; described the reality using diagrams and story; engaged the class in a joint exploration process to prove or deny the original statement; then the class, as individuals and in groups, accepted or refuted the original statement. Wash, rinse, repeat.
I believe effective teaching includes methods that encompass this cycle of teaching/learning. In my own study of teaching methods and philosophies of teaching, I have found solace in the model whereby didactic methods do not dominate, but give way to modeling and exploration. Communicating through story or example impacts learners, in my own experience, to a deeper level of retention, whether or not the student agrees with the original postulates or not.
As a teacher, in the classroom or more informal settings, I attempt to employ these principles of cycling through various learning stages, so that students, and teacher alike, incorporate knowledge and understanding and thinking by modeling and practicing. And, as I expect of my students, I hope to continue in my own cycle of learning how to teach, resulting in the refining of philosophy and techniques over time.
Research Interests
Globalism has directly impacted my current research interests. I am asking questions concerning the nature of information dissemination across boundaries of culture, language, government, power, wealth, and education, among others. Why should information flow freely? What incentives exist for information brokers, defined broadly, to spread information? What information access rights do people inherently possess? What is the correlation between pervasive information monitoring and the robustness of censorship and eavesdropping techniques? What roles do government, information professional organizations, librarians, non-governmental organizations, concerned citizens, and educators explicitly or implicitly play in enhancing or arresting access to information across these boundaries?
Hindrances to information flow include laws such as the DMCA or the Patriot Act, technological tools such as internet filters, restricted access to public domain data in proprietary databases, strict intellectual property interpretations, economic disincentives to information dispersion, turf wars among law enforcement agencies, philosophical aversion to information sharing by governments, lack of communication infrastructure, and the boundaries mentioned in the previous paragraph.
I am interested in an area of research focused on the philosophy of information (PI) and information ethics (IE), with an emphasis on information flow in a globalized environment. Investigating the philosophical foundations of information supports my entire research agenda by laying a groundwork of axioms upon which ethical questions can then be asked regarding hindrances to information flow in our global environment. The concepts behind PI and IE, articulated more forcefully in recent years, stem from disciplines long-present in the academy. PI seeks to provide a robust understanding of the fundamental nature of information, in all its nuances. The effort moves beyond simply tossing out definitions of information, to a well-rounded and complete understanding of its values, significance, meaning, and foundations. Ethics, no stranger to the intellectual community nor practitioners in various fields, also belongs to the same discussion, as I articulate the "so what?" questions about applying information in societal contexts.
Other questions include, What philosophical conclusions about the nature and foundation of information address the right to access information? What motivates entities (organizations, people, governments) to reduce hindrances to the flow of information in their control so that the information is available to a wider audience? How does globalization affect information in its cultural, political, and social contexts? How might foreign policy and human rights efforts be affected by PI and IE research? These and related questions I intend to address in my research, knowing that my ideas will be shaped by faculty and students, resulting in growth and refinement.