Teaching Excellence

Dr. White takes great pride in his teaching. He is constantly trying new things to make his classes better. For example, he is currently developing 45 state-of-the-art, multimedia presentation modules for the Principles of Marketing class. His teaching evaluations, 4.806 average on a 5.0 scale, were the highest average of all Ph.D. students and faculty in the Department of Management and Marketing at his graduate institution. Since coming to Union, Dr. White has continued to demonstrate excellence in teaching with above average student evaluations. Recently, several of his students competed against hundreds of others in the Tennessee Phi Beta Lambda Business Competition. Awards were given for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place in over twenty business discipline areas. Union University was the only school to have students sweep the top three spots in any one discipline. This feat was accomplished in the MARKETING discipline and all three winners were students of Dr. White.

(build link to Phi Beta Lambda web site)

He has had numerous students write him notes telling him that he is one of the best teachers they have ever had. Recently, Dr. White has had multiple parents contact him to communicate the complementary comments their sons or daughters have about his class. One parent recently told Dr. White that her son was ready to drop out of school until he took the Principles of Marketing class. Now this student is tremendously excited about getting a degree in marketing and working in this field! (According to Dr. White, "There is no greater reward than that!") Here are some examples of comments he has received in the last year from students:

"Enthusiasm is by far Darin’s strength..... He is the best instructor that I have had in 20 years of education."

"Friendly, Down to Earth, Realistic, Knows his Stuff, Good Family Man"

"He is a nice person and has an excellent class presentation style.... I appreciate his caring attitude."

"He cares about students"

"He is creative with class discussion"

"He is a great example for the students to aspire to"

"One of the most enjoyable professors I have taken"

"Dr. White is not only an instructor who really knows his subject, he also strives just as hard to peak our interest in marketing. He is always friendly and willing to work with students. I can’t say enough good things about him. He’s one of my favorite teachers."

"He’s a great teacher & relates to the students well."

"He loves to teach. Some of the topics we discuss are a little dull, but he has a knack for making it interesting."

"He really seems to care about his students"

"Really cares about the students not just as students but as friends"

According to Dr. White, "If I had to sum up my teaching philosophy in one statement it would be, ‘They really don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care.’ At least 75% of my evaluations over the course of my career have mentioned this facet of my teaching style. I believe it is the single most important factor in my teaching success."

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