Teaching Philosophy

Teaching grounded in instructional technology and the learning sciences.

Idowu David Awoyemi in a professional portrait
Teaching as Design

Intentional, evidence-informed, and learner-centered.

I approach teaching as an act of intentional design. Every course, lesson, and interaction becomes an opportunity to create the conditions under which diverse learners can build understanding, develop agency, and apply knowledge in authentic settings.

Doctoral training and instructional practice helped me move from technology integration as a tool choice toward a fuller view of teaching as evidence-based orchestration of cognition, motivation, and participation.

That philosophy now shapes how I scaffold learning, interpret data, offer feedback, and select technology only when it genuinely improves access, clarity, engagement, or transfer.

My ongoing Arts-Integrated GenAI Literacy Development Program with pre-service teachers extends this orientation. Across music and theater modules, participants build prompt engineering, AI feedback evaluation, and AI ethics literacy by creating real artistic work, modeling the evidence-informed, learner-centered design I want to see in their future classrooms.

Frameworks That Guide My Practice

Theoretical commitments translated into teaching decisions.

These pillars shape how I design activities, structure support, evaluate learning, and decide when technology meaningfully belongs in the instructional environment.

Universal Design for Learning illustration
UDL

Universal Design for Learning

Builds multiple means of engagement, representation, and expression into instruction so learner variability is expected rather than treated as an exception.

TPACK Framework illustration
TPACK

TPACK Framework

Positions technology decisions inside the relationship among pedagogy, disciplinary content, and the realities of a teaching context.

Constructivism and Cognitive Apprenticeship illustration
CLT

Constructivism and Cognitive Apprenticeship

Supports active sensemaking, modeling, guided practice, and collaborative knowledge building around meaningful problems.

Backward Design and ADDIE illustration
LXD

Backward Design and ADDIE

Starts with learning outcomes and assessment evidence, then structures instruction systematically to make those outcomes achievable.

Culturally Responsive Teaching illustration
CRT

Culturally Responsive Teaching

Centers identity, relevance, and belonging so learners can connect disciplinary work to their own experiences and futures.

Learning Analytics and Feedback illustration
L.A.

Learning Analytics and Feedback

Uses formative evidence, interaction data, and reflective assessment to improve instruction while learning is still happening.

"I see teaching not as content transmission but as the design of conditions in which every learner can engage authentically, develop competence, and grow in agency."

Teaching Philosophy In Depth

The full teaching statement.

Open any section to read that part of the statement.

Course Evidence

Instructor of record, AI Fluency for the Workforce.

Co-designed and delivered as an undergraduate course at the University of Alabama (CIE 499-910), integrating applied AI, ethics, and workforce-readiness competencies.

Blackboard course page for AI Fluency for the Workforce (CIE 499-910), with David Awoyemi listed as Instructor in the Course Faculty panel
From the official Blackboard course page, David Awoyemi listed as Instructor in the Course Faculty panel.
Teaching Experience

Roles that shaped my instructional perspective.

How teaching practice developed across courses, contexts, and responsibilities.

May-July 2026

Instructor and Course Co-Designer, AI Fluency for the Workforce (CIE 499)

Undergraduate, The University of Alabama

Co-designed and taught an undergraduate course on applied AI, ethics, and workforce readiness for approximately 30 students. Designed and evaluated scaffolded, project-based...

April-June 2025

Co-Designer and Instructor, Art-Integrated GenAI Literacy

Online (UA Blackboard), pre-service music and theater teachers

Co-designed and delivered a fully online course of two modules and eight hands-on lessons building computational thinking, prompt engineering, problem solving with AI,...

Jan-May 2025

Graduate Teaching Assistant, Electronic Instructional Design (AIL 602)

Graduate, The University of Alabama. Mentored graduate teaching; Dr. Feiya Luo, instructor of record

Supported a fully online graduate design studio, observing and assisting with course components and co-evaluating five assignment sets, including both instructional-design case...

2016-2022

Mathematics Educator and Classroom Instructor

Model Secondary School, Federal University of Technology, Minna, Nigeria

Taught mathematics and further mathematics; redesigned instruction around student reasoning, and a tutored senior-secondary cohort reached a 90% pass rate. Developed...

2015-2016

Mathematics Educator

Abarikpo Community Secondary School, Ahoada, Rivers State, Nigeria

Taught secondary mathematics, designed quizzes and examinations, and provided targeted tutoring in mathematics and further mathematics.

Guest lectures and workshops

Mar. 2025

Guest Lecture, Introduction to Immersive Virtual Reality in Facilitating Multimedia Learning, AIL 605, The University of Alabama

Mar. 2025

Workshop, Behavioral and Microgenetic Analysis (designed and led for faculty and graduate researchers), The University of Alabama

Aug. 2025

Workshop Facilitator, Balancing Teaching Responsibilities with Academic and Research Commitments, Graduate Teaching Assistant breakout series, The University of Alabama

Nov. 2024

Guest Lecture and Recorded Interview, Instructional Design Strategies, Pepperdine University (recorded and embedded as a permanent course asset)

Certifications and Training

Continuing professional development.

Recent training supports my work in instructional design, AI, multimedia development, and course quality improvement.

AERA Division C Graduate Student Mentoring Program

2026

AI and Me: Navigating Generative AI for Higher Education Faculty, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

2026

Creating Accessible Electronic Materials with AI Tools, AECT Division of Distance Learning

2025

Instructional Design series (Needs Analysis; Working with SMEs; Foundations of LMS; Articulate Storyline Essential Training; How to Design and Deliver Training Programs), LinkedIn Learning

2023

Proficiency Certificates in Project Management and Data Processing, Classic Systems Infotech Ltd., Nigeria

2016