alex
tuckness
associate professor
political science
Teaching is his family
job.
It seems perfectly natural
for Alex Tuckness to spend his time in front of a classroom. "I come from
a family of teachers (both parents, both siblings as well as aunts, cousins
and a grandmother. I have thought of teaching as a noble calling for literally
as long as I can remember."
Alex says his teaching philosophy comes directly from his parents. "My
parents taught me that teaching is not just conveying information - it is impacting
lives. I learned from them the importance of active learning in the educational
process and how it is closely tied to finding ways to motivate students to become
active learners."
His father was particularly influential in this respect. Alex says he repeatedly
emphasized that one learns to speak well in public by speaking in public often,
not by hearing someone talk about how to do it. "These same lessons shape
the way I teach political theory and public law at Iowa State."
