My Portfolio

Jim Luke

Jim Luke

Welcome

Jim Luke picture Hello. Welcome to my Teaching Portfolio website. I’m Jim Luke. If you’re looking at this website, presumably you are interested in learning more about me, my teaching experience, and the methods and philosophy I use when teaching. Feel free to explore by clicking the tabs shown above.

Background: A Diverse Career

I first stepped into a classroom as “teacher” as an undergradate teaching assistant in 1976. Since then I’ve been full-time professor (twice), adjunct professor, and a corporate trainer. I’ve taught economics, business, marketing, strategy, securities law, communication, speech, e-commerce, and business systems, but mostly I’ve taught economics in one form or another. I’ve taught for community colleges, universities, private schools, corporations, and as an entrepreneur. I estimate that I’ve taught more than 8,000 students in this time.

My career hasn’t been all adademia though. For 25 years I mixed my teaching efforts with work as a stock broker, corporate planner/analyst/manager, strategy and technology consultant,and entrepreneur. Since 2001 though, I have focused all my energies on education. I won’t talk much about my corporate, entrepreneurial, and non-teaching experiences here since this is a “teaching portfolio”. However, it is important to note that my teaching has always been well-informed and tempered with practical experience, not just my academic learning. For more information on my non-teaching background you can check out my vitae or contact me by email.

Why I Teach

I like teaching. And the evidence shows I’m pretty good at it. It’s also a good way to pay the bills and put food on the table for my family, given my resources and abilities and the opportunities the market affords me. (after all, I am an economist!).

Beyond just the practical reasons, though, I teach because it fits what’s important to me. I want to share what I know and what I’ve learned with students of all ages. I enjoy helping them learn so they can improve their own lives, careers, and communities. I believe strongly in everyone having the right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”. Knowledge and learning is critical to promoting these values. Teaching at the college level is the best way I’ve found yet for me to help people and promote peace, life, and liberty. I teach economics partly because it involves a mix of both big-picture value discussions and practical career-oriented skills.

Finally, I also teach because I enjoy learning. Teaching requires that I keep learning more about the subjects I teach and the world in which we live. Teaching is also a pursuit at which I can keep improving. I don’t like to stand still. Teaching, particularly using new technologies, requires constant experimentation, evaluation, and learning. It provides an opportunity to keep getting better.

— Jim

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