November 4, 2022 • 31 mins
RCTLE is excited to present a new podcast series, The Faculty Roundtable: the podcast where faculty discuss faculty development. In each episode, a group of Embry-Riddle faculty members will discuss their most common classroom concerns and share innovative solutions and strategies.
In the second episode, "A Conversation With Rookie and Veteran Faculty Members," we hear from two seasoned professors, Kristy Kiernan and Cheryl Lentz, and two new ERAU Worldwide instructors, Russell Schultz and Ajish Morris. As our new faculty members ask questions of veteran faculty, and vice versa, our guests discuss the new adjunct experience, connecting with colleagues, and finding meaningful instructor support at ERAU-W.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:03):
I'm Alyssa Dewees, and I'm Sharron DeRosier, and this
is Faculty Roundtable, the podcast where faculty
discuss faculty development. This is a production
by the Rothwell Center for Teaching and Learning
Excellence. Each episode will feature a new group
of Embry-Riddle worldwide faculty members discussing
teaching strategies and innovative solutions to
common online classroom concerns.
(00:27):
This is faculty roundtable and we'd like to
introduce our guests. Let's go ahead and start
with you, Cheryl. Good morning, everyone. My
name's Cheryl. I've been around the block with
Embry Riddle for quite some time at many different
locations, both Albuquerque, Vegas and now I am in
Chicago, veteran teacher of twenty two years, and
(00:48):
I'm also well published and a speaker. So I'm
looking forward to sharing some of my interesting
experiences along the way. I'm Dr. Kristy Kiernan.
I am a full time faculty in the College of
Aviation and Graduate Studies have been full time
for five years, but before that I was an adjunct
for 12 years for environmental as well. I live in
(01:09):
Fairhope, Alabama, which for those of us and our
industry can be best explained as across the bay
from the Airbus final assembly line. So delighted
to be here with my colleagues, both old and new.
Hi, everyone. I'm Ajish and I am from Singapore. I'm
attached with the Worldwide College of Business,
and I'm very new to the organization. I've only
(01:31):
been in the area for about five months now and I'm
also very new to the teaching profession. I've
only been teaching for a year now. Prior to that,
I spent 20 years in the airline industry managing
a range of functions from commercial sales,
marketing, operations, revenue management, etc..
(01:51):
So following the pandemic, I exited the airline
industry and I pursued new career options and as
part of that, I landed a guess. Well, that's very
nice to meet all of you and looking forward to the
conversations. And hello, my name is Russell
Schultz. I am teaching in the worldwide College of
(02:12):
Arts and Sciences. I am new to Embry Riddle as
well. I started earlier this year. However, I come
to teaching with 30 years of experience as a
graphic designer or as I like to say, visual
marketing communications strategists. I have my
own business and I was working as a Chicago police
(02:32):
officer and violent crimes detective for twenty
eight years. I just retired in March and I've also
served in communication related roles within the
police department. So I'm originally from Chicago
transitioning to Florida and I have started in the
fall teaching and I have talked about a total of
14 classes in that short time, both in-person and
(02:56):
online. So I've taught everything from speech and
public speaking to marketing and graphic design
and both online and in person and really enjoying
the experience. Russell, I just noticed that your
shirt matches your Russell is wearing everybody is
a pink shirt with bananas on it. Patches is the
(03:19):
most amazing thing ever. So this episode, we have
two veteran faculty members and two relatively new
adjunct faculty members, which you might have been
able to tell from their introduction. Cheryl and
Kristy are experienced faculty members here at
riddle, and Ajish and Russell are our new faculty
(03:42):
members. I worked with both of them during their
orientation. And I can tell you from experience,
they are both amazing. We are hoping to have our
new faculty members learn a little something from
our seasoned faculty members and vice versa. And
hopefully you guys at home might learn some cool
tips and tricks as well. Does anybody have any
(04:04):
thoughts on being a new adjunct or welcoming new
adjuncts to the university? One thing that I
wanted to point out is that when we do teach in
the online asynchronous environment, and
particularly when you come on board as an adjunct,
it's difficult to feel that affinity within the
university and to know who to reach out to. But
now, having made the leap adjunct to full time and
seeing both, there's nothing but good intentions
(04:26):
on the part of the university to support adjunct
instructors. I mean, that adjunct workforce is the
lifeblood of the university worldwide. Sometimes
it can be hard to figure out because you teach
particular classes, not like in a specific
department or in a specific program. But that is
not something that you should have to tackle alone
because it's a little bit isolating. Right. So I
would just encourage especially new faculty to
(04:49):
reach out to the people that you do know. There's
lots of folks that you can reach out to, although
sometimes difficult, but just start with the
person you know, and then hopefully build that
network so that you are not on an island go
experiencing something like that, good or bad. And
that kind of leads to the question that I had
posed before our session as a new adjunct. I
didn't feel a lot of connection with others in the
(05:11):
university yet. So that was one of my question as
to how should I go about to expand that? And I
started to recognize some names through e-mails
that I receive on a regular basis. And I have
participated in a couple of online training
sessions and other video sessions, which are
really a great way, I think, to get to know
someone. At the time I was saying I wouldn't be
(05:31):
able to tell anybody about anybody else's
personality. Like I haven't really experienced
other key faculty here at ERAU. With the
exception of maybe one or two during my on boarding.
But I think this is a great opportunity. Know,
this is a podcast, but I am currently wearing a
very bright pink Hawaiian shirt with bright yellow
bananas on this. And, well, I also happen to have
(05:52):
a matching cup that has a bright pink and yellow
bananas on it. So those of you listening, you can
visualize that. Well, I I've also use this in my
classroom with the first online sessions that I
have. And to say it gets the student's attention
and gets them to understand a little bit about my
personality. So now following this recording,
because we are actually with video so we could see
(06:14):
each other, even though you listeners at home are
listening. But now I have faces to go with the
stories and I think that's a great way to build
the community that was lacking before. I guess
I've answered a little bit of my own question, but
I'll put it out there for other strategies for how
to continue to build that connection with others
at ERAU, specifically with the faculty, because
they've been able to do it in my classroom with my
(06:35):
students. It's all about relationship building. As
Kristy said, you have to make sure in the online
environment that you don't stay isolated, you have
to reach out. And that's sometimes very difficult
because we don't want to come off as a whiner. We
don't want to come off as less than professional
and having goofy situations. But things will
happen. The more you are experienced, the more you
will know how to handle it. But no one has to have
(06:56):
all the answers. And that community is so
important because the community doesn't change
what happens. The community changes how you react
to what happens. And it really does take a village.
But sometimes it has to start with us because my
boss is not a mind reader, nor am I. And I tell
that to my students, if you need help, you need to
pick up the phone. And picking up the phone is
courage because it is making us vulnerable and the
(07:16):
courage to be uncomfortable with being
uncomfortable or to be comfortable with being
uncomfortable and the courage to be vulnerable is
something to reach out and show another human
being to your faculty or student that you were in
need of help or just want to have comaraderie. I
used to go to graduation's that every real person,
because they go to graduation or an aircraft
carrier in San Diego, coolest thing ever. But
(07:36):
that's how I was able to meet some folks with
being in Vegas. It was nice when we were all
together on ground. But you have to make that leap
to reach out, just like we're doing here today.
And relationship building takes time, but it's
worth the effort. So you are at the island because
an island is not a good place to be. You need that
sense of community. So my best advice, pick up the
phone and call somebody, because that's how
(07:57):
relationships will start, even though it's going
to be awkward. You can tell I have a wonderful
sense of humor that I try and hide behind
sometimes because that will often make that
icebreaker much easier as the relationships
develop. I tell you, I can call up my boss any
time now, personal or professional, but it's taken
years to get that way. So to have the courage just
to take the first step is my best advice. Christi,
(08:17):
what do you think? Well, actually, I hate to
answer a question with a question, but I'll turn
it back to Russell. We're starting a new
program, the master of science in Aviation Safety
and the program coordinator for that. I'm super
excited about it. We have a pool of faculty who
teach in this. One of the first things I want to
do is build a community between that that faculty,
both with myself and the university. But also one
of the advantages of being an instructor from
(08:39):
Bertel is that you can meet other people and build
your network with really a pretty amazing people.
But I'm also conscious of your time and not asking
things of you that are uncompensated. I mean, I
don't want to ask people to do voluntary work. So
from your perspective, what would be the best
thing for someone like me to do to it? Would it be
an individual Zoom call? Would it be a faculty
(09:00):
meeting? What are the ways in which you would like
to be reached out to answer that? And I guess my
my thing is I do believe that. One out of one
reach out and connection would definitely be that
way, or as we're doing in this podcast. A much
smaller group setting, which is also something
that I learned in my courses from my students, my
(09:21):
evaluations, they said with having, say, 15 to 20
people on a Zoom call, there's an opportunity for
a lot of people to hide in the corners, even
though I do my best to draw them out and make sure
I'm asking questions of everyone. But then they
suggested breakout sessions into smaller groups,
which I have now started doing in the latest
session of my course. And that has really helped
(09:41):
because they can feel like one. There's less place
to hide when there's only three or four in the
group and they're forced to kind of engage. Plus
you become more comfortable with a smaller group.
So definitely anything with a one on one
connection or the zoom calls where we can actually
see each other. The team sessions, I think those
would be tremendous ways to help put a name to a
(10:01):
face and a personality to a name. And I think
those are all great ways to help. That's wonderful.
Thank you. And along those lines, I wanted to ask
you, because we do have a couple of faculty or
students that are in opposite time zones. So I
want people all over the world, I mean worldwide
to feel included. And as important, when I'm
asking someone to do something at five o'clock in
(10:23):
the morning, you can kind of give the impression
that you're not really considering their needs. So
how could we handle that? So maybe what I can
answer that by sharing your experience. Then I
received some feedback from the students about how
the experience that they're having. So I reached
out to the course coordinator, the person who
prepared and set the course. So it was very
(10:43):
interesting and surprising to me that I think it
was American independence from the issue of on a
hot summer. And he volunteered to wake up at eight
a.m. in the morning on a holiday. Then he took
time away from family bonding time and spoke to me
over a call for close to an hour and a half or 90
(11:04):
minutes to almost two hours, I remember. And he
was very patient and he went through every single
comment I had. And after the holidays and she got
back, she had a whole list of action items and on
by email to various people that had to do the
follow up on some of the feedback I read, some of
the concerns I had and so on. So that was
(11:25):
fantastic. And that made me realize that if I keep
quiet, it is understood that everything is fine
and then. Right, because, I mean, come on, we are
not fresh out of college. The people that the
university has hired and also, of course, the
university also to have the resources and skills
(11:45):
to find and to all the problems that we have. So
if you keep quiet, probably that is what I learned
more efficiently. Dr. Reid was such an eye opener
for me. And because of that possibility in my head
nowadays, I do not hesitate to reach out to
anybody. And by the way, I so and so Time Zone can
(12:05):
be on an hour. That works for both of us. And I
don't want to disturb your sleep or your hours. So
on that point, I also wish I had that person I can
talk to or see come for guidance from right at the
time that I was on board to do the program. Right.
So that would have been fantastic. You even have
(12:26):
to be somebody from the subject that a team from
the college and from. So every new adjunct or even
full time faculty can somehow have a shadow mentor
or a guide that can handle them for the first
eight weeks or whatever duration then teaching.
That would be just a result. They have to knock on
(12:48):
the door every now and then and say, hey, I'm
having this problem. Do you have any advice for me?
And I'm sure people at the end of the day will be
more than willing to give some nuggets of advice
in such situations. I do get a little concerned
about over communicating or just letting people's
inboxes or is that something that I should be
(13:10):
concerned about when reaching out to new faculty
are not really. As a communications instructor, I
tell all my students, you cannot over communicate
with me one of my first lines, I tell them
whatever is going on, especially if something is
going to be late or they have births, deaths,
deployments, the more you could tell me, the
better I can handle that situation, not knowing
(13:31):
and not hearing, as she said, the silence. You
assume everything's OK, but it's not until
somebody actually communicates that, you know
what's going on. And so I've never really
experienced overcommunication. Sometimes that
flood of email can be a little much all clever and
wise to go through the clutter and make what is
important screen through them. And I think more
(13:53):
communication is better than very little or no
communication at all. And we are all smart enough
to look through them, prioritize them, action the
religion ones and keep beyond the ones. Can I jump
in here for one small little caveat to that? The
idea of texting is become an issue for me and
others with students. Just because we can doesn't
(14:15):
mean we should. As a communication instructor, I
have to sometimes teach my students and other
faculty the boundary. Just because you're up at
1:00 in the morning, it's not a good idea to text
your faculty at 1:00 in the morning. I'm glad you
brought that up, because I try in my classes to
keep track of communication through canvas email
so students will sometimes email me through
(14:36):
outlook, which is fine. It gets to me just the
same, but I encourage them to use canvas so that
all those communications are routed through the
class, so that when I'm like, Oh, I remember
somebody told me that they were deploying. Who was
it? I can then look in that one source and all of
that is housed within the canvas inbox rather than
having to go through outlook. And similarly, when
obviously I definitely want to encourage students
(14:58):
to pick up the phone and call and text if they
have, because that's immediate. I tell them if you
were getting frustrated with something that you're
working on and you need to get me immediately
sending me a quick text as best, but then I always
try to send back an email through canvas that
summarizes the conversation we had or the
communications we had both so that I can find it
again if I need to continue that conversation. I
have a record of what we spoke about, but also
(15:20):
because there are circumstances where a record of
communications will be helpful in resolving
situations. So that's just kind of one strategy
that I have used that I found helpful. Canvas is a
great tool. I love candles. So we're talking about
building connection, affinity, mentorship and
things like that. Well, first, I want to take a
(15:42):
moment to plug our offerings. We have we have our
virtual faculty learning committees. We have our
daily lives monthly. And all of those are a great
way to learn some new tips and tricks, but also
meet other people because we're meeting on Zoome
or meeting and the discussion boards, what have
you. But one thing that you mentioned is the value
(16:04):
of having someone who is there with you
immediately when you first start teaching. And we
do try to be that person in our city, but we're
not in your discipline. So I'm wondering what not
only we could do, but maybe what you think your
department might do in an ideal world to provide
(16:25):
that immediate mentorship. But one of the things I
was most impressed with with you was the setup and
the organization and the systems in place to get
everything rolling and the checks and balances to
make sure the courses are set up and ready to roll.
And you've checked all the little check boxes and
set everything up. That has really been amazing.
(16:45):
And the team there, it might be a response from
Melissa or someone else. They start recognizing
the names again. That's helpful. And it's like, OK,
it's not just going out into a void, but I guess
the more specific response is kind of like what
we're talking about, I think within the department
to be able to know and have a conversation with
the department chair or whoever is leading that
(17:07):
department is also helpful. And that way there's
somebody that knows who you are, you know, who's
leading this team, where are we going? So if there
is that question, you do have that person you feel
most comfortable to reaching out to. I think,
again, at the beginning when I did have a question,
all I knew was Alyssa onboarded me. So that's who
I spoke with. So having somebody else is always
(17:29):
help, even if it's just that one. So besides what
Russell said, maybe I can share a real life
example. Right. So maybe that will help us
understand how a mentor could have experienced
faculty could have helped me. So in the course I
was teaching, I myself felt that some of the
rubrics, they're not very clear and they were
pretty set up and determined. That was the same
(17:52):
rubric used to run after run and seeing students
getting frustrated and frustrated then and reading
the assessments. So I was like, hey, I know that
this can be Ed, but I don't know whether I have
the ability to make changes to the rubric. So I
went around asking and they told me, OK, you need
to refer back to the calls administrator. So it
(18:13):
took like a few days and then the coach said, oh,
I need to check with somebody else and blah, blah,
blah. You know, in the end, I didn't get to edit
the rubric. So if I had the not Sherryl on my feet
dial, I can say, hey, you know, and facing this
problem, in your experience, is it OK to edit the
rubric? I mean, do I have the power to do that?
(18:35):
And then they would tell me, oh, no, that is not
acceptable, are you? You can absolutely cannot do
that. All they do is just go and do it right.
Solve the problem. Then then that is settled. I
don't have to go on a wild goose chase to find
that. And by the way, I follow them. They don't
allow us to edit the rubric. And I think that for
(18:56):
everyone. Oh, I think there's one other aspect
that's interesting, too, is that there's the
official communication channels and there's the
unofficial communication channels. And when I was
first teaching, those are things that are way out
of the norm that I would not have felt comfortable
initially as a newbie because they would have been
judging, in my opinion, judging everything I did
and how well I did it. What I needed was a safe
(19:18):
place to just put it all out there and then decide.
And so I think there's the official when my boss
is being the chair and then when my boss is just
being a human being and just saying, all right, so
tell me what happened. This isn't any official and
you've got to understand where those lines may be
drawn, because I know in this current environment,
we teach in I teach a law class. And so we're
often a little worried about the litigation and
(19:39):
the officials things that if we say something, it
might officially go somewhere. I think when we
announce those brochures, we just need someone to
talk to unofficially to kind of give us the lay of
the land and to have that safe place. Sometimes
those who are department heads, they hear our
title before they will hear us. And I need to be
very clear with them. It's OK. You know, this is
this is off the record. Let's just talk to me.
What's going on? How can I help and let them vent
(20:01):
a little bit? Then we can put through official
channels. Not that there's anything wrong with
there, but there is that point of I need to have
everything, the good, the bad and the ugly. These
if I don't know everything and we're trying to be
politically correct and we're trying to be that
whole professional with our bosses can sometimes
hinder learning and hinder the ability to be human.
And so that's a really tough line to walk
sometimes. I also know we have set up a kind of a
(20:23):
social media platform for faculty. I don't have
time to engage in a social media platform. So for
me, it's nice to know that it's there. And I get
the emails like, hey, your community hasn't heard
from you in a while. Yeah, because I'm really,
really busy grading. So I appreciate that it's out
there. It's nice that it's there. But that really
(20:44):
isn't the best way for me to engage with other
people, especially given time constraints. So
having again, going back to that one out of one is
probably as good as it gets sometimes in terms of
having somewhere to go to as opposed to an online
community that's available to you. So can I just
interject there and maybe ask what a contribution
(21:09):
to our fifteen seniors here? I noticed that my
students, they have enabled me, has the most
clicked instructor they have encountered and
really do because I'm very stingy with the grade I
give and I only give E very rarely to the most
deserving. And they all feel that that is not what
(21:29):
the experience with the other subjects have taken
and apparently everybody gets a or a minus. Right.
So,
yeah. So I want I know this is something that I
have raised some of the discussions as where we
are. We are very generous with the university. Or
(21:52):
is that a problem? What is your experience of like
I do look at the bell curve when it comes to
reading. So I do try to ensure that those that are
excelling really have the top kind of grade.
However, I'm gracious in terms of my understanding
of what people are going through. And as I tell
them, even though I may wear a pink shirt and you
(22:12):
don't get to see my blue sequins tuxedo jacket
that I often wear, and I do like to bring my sense
of humor. I'm very serious about the topic and
what they are learning, and I do have high
expectations that they learn the subject matter.
So I think the way that I approach that is
criterion referenced grading. If every single
student in the class meets the requirements to get
(22:33):
an A., then they will all get nay. If every single
one is performing at a C level, then they will all
get C's. That's how I approach it. And then you
had mentioned the rubric and those become pretty
important because if you are abiding by that mean
the Department of Graduate Studies, we've reworked
a lot of the rubrics this past year because
instructors were getting frustrated that average
performance resulted in a you know, if you clicked
(22:55):
on something that you consider to be average, then
it would still result in an eight, which was
ridiculous. But at the same time, the adherence to
the rubric gives a standard way for students to
understand what the feedback is. Ideally, I think
you have a strong rubric that can differentiate
between performance so that there is an advantage
for real high performing student and then
(23:15):
sometimes criterion referenced and you feel that
somebody is getting a higher grade. I do think
that there are other ways to reward that good
performance. So there are other ways to
distinguish higher performing students. Sometimes
I will share their work with their permission and
an announcement. Some of them really go the extra
mile and that should be recognized. And if there's
not a way to do that, you can't give them an A
plus plus plus. But you can celebrate that. I
(23:38):
think sometimes one of the challenges in the
online environment is that we are providing a lot
of feedback and not necessarily it's harder to
provide what somebody described to me. The days
feed forward. It is harder to do that. But I do
think that in responding to their work, there is
that opportunity to both really provide some
guidance for the lower performers on how to build
(23:58):
that up, but then also to encourage that positive
behavior from the highest performing students. I
will echo that with a couple of caveats I try to
help manage expectations and manage expectations
is efforts are not outcomes and looking for
progress, not perfection. And the point is, is
that the whole idea is for them to get better.
Each and every day, each student comes to us at a
(24:19):
different level. And while there is evidence based
criterion that's within the box and there are some
degrees of that. And so each week I never, because
I'm a professional editor or ever be able to
completely edit a paper from soup to nuts because
they quit. So I try and focus on two or three
things each and every week and use an editing
reference checklist for them to be able to
constantly being improving. But they have to
(24:40):
realize just showing up is not a great just
turning in a paper is not a great again, efforts
are not outcomes in there. And so I'm trying to
actually prepare that and I tie this to relevancy.
This is part of the integrative teaching is you go
back to Stephen Brookfield. We're looking at this
is what we're preparing our students to do. It's
not just in my class. It's I'm preparing them to
be a good employee, a W2 employee, an entrepreneur,
(25:01):
a business owner, something that I want to connect
what I'm doing in class for what they're going to
do out, or then they understand the process as
opposed to just another discussion post just into
the grade. They got to understand that connection.
And as soon as they do, they're like, oh, you need
an employer's going to look at some of my writing.
It's like, yeah, they want the whole I mean,
they're going to actually want to know about how I
show up on time and the rest of it, they're going
to want that, too. So I'm trying to be able to
(25:23):
make that. And I've had a lot more luck in my last
my last years of teaching, not just adhering to
the phoniness of the rubric, but showing the
connection of why that Rubert in there. I want to
propose one of the questions that you guys sent in
to everybody. If you could get professors to do
one thing in each class, what would it be? And if
(25:45):
you could get professors to stop doing one thing
and each class, what would it be? Christine, I
know we said some things for the ten thousandth
time, and it is so hard for us to not roll our
eyeballs because we've said it over and over. But
to recognize that that student would been the
first time they've heard it and still get excited
is the first time, as we do for the ten thousand.
(26:06):
So I create videos. I create blog posts. I created
my own personal library. This way my students can
have things that are evergreen that I did maybe
five years ago that are still relevant today and
they can see my enthusiasm. That will be a
mechanism that I can keep them and to prove that
it's me teaching the class. I think in an online
class it's difficult when you don't have that
physical connection. I try and do weekly videos
(26:28):
for my students. I don't always do it, but I try
to remember. So they have a physical connection,
even though it's a video and I talk directly to
them to give them something that they really know
that it's me. If they choose to connect and
encourage use of my office hours. That's why I
would say that what I would like for instructors
to stop doing is one hundred percent. Good job.
That's just such a disservice. But if you're
(26:49):
listening to this podcast, you're not one of those
experts. And obviously people on the screen with
me are not like that. That's something we all as
full time faculty and personal coordinators really
need to try to encourage people who are here to do
a good job. And sometimes I think we just need to
provide what what our does provide the support to
(27:11):
give people opportunities to engage in much more
substantive ways. So I would say the one thing I
would like for four instructors to try is try an
online synchronous session. Even if you are in an
asynchronous online class, I will put in twice
during the term at the option for a live
discussion in lieu of the written discussion board.
And typically I'll get about a third of the
(27:32):
students to participate, which is actually perfect
because in the size of the class that we have, you
know, twenty to twenty five students, a third is a
manageable amount. If you had twenty people, it's
not going to be manageable. I will set the
parameters early. It's one hour no longer. It
gives us an opportunity to build affinity and a
really unique way and it's totally optional. But
also if I make an optional session that has no
outcome tied to it now that's just extra work. So
(27:54):
I do it in lieu of a discussion board and they can
earn that grade in that conversation. So I would
encourage people to try that addition. Russell,
what not to have. So I will say this from the
perspective of your instructor, but from the
perspective of a student, I was a student. I did
my master's and all this time basically. So the
thing that frustrated me the most is when
(28:17):
instructors based on PowerPoint slides and not the
PowerPoint slides supporting the learning process.
So in many instances, especially when you have you
are having a very heated case study discussion or
whatever, that this class is participating. And
the worst thing to hear is that you strike this. I
hope to stop this discussion because I finished my
(28:39):
set of lights. That is the most uninspiring thing
the student and I have here would have put in the
effort to analyze that being. They would have
written their talking points. We are here debating
the opinion of the classmate, and then you have
the instructor saying, OK, my time's up, I have to
pass through the slide. I think that is a
(29:00):
disservice to the students. The PowerPoint was
never meant to replace the textbook. Or any other
construction material. It was just meant to
facilitate the flow of thoughts and ideas and all
of these. I think there is too much reliance on
PowerPoint slides and all these. So I think we
should all probably revert back to the blackboard
and chalk this in here. Here. Very good as far as
(29:26):
the to dos then following on what Sheryl has said,
I've tried to do the same thing to be present
again. I take the feedback from the students to
try and build that forward into the next session.
And again, I've heard the caveat on podcast one.
There will always be bad evaluations. So you have
to take everything with a grain of salt. No matter
what you do, you'll have people that love it and
(29:47):
people that hate it. So you take that into a
consideration, but get at what works. I had
students there told me to have an introductory
session would be nice. So I start all my classes,
whether it's completely online or asynchronous. I
start with the opportunity for a meet and greet
session so they can ask me questions as we're
going in and I can share what I know already so
(30:09):
far and give those tips and tricks on how to be
successful in the course. I keep a running list of
all the messages and emails that I send out to the
class so that for the next round I remember, oh,
this is what tripped up people last time. Let me
make sure I post this ahead of time to avoid that.
And I say by doing this, by giving them this
(30:30):
information up front, I saved myself a whole lot
of digital red ink correcting things later. Thank
you, guys. We've been talking to Cheryl, Kristy
Kiernan, Ajish Morris and Russell Schultz, all
amazing instructors from Embry-Riddle. this has
been faculty roundtable. Thank you guys for giving
(30:50):
us an amazing discussion.
I'm Alyssa Dewees, and I'm Sharron DeRosier, and this
is Faculty Roundtable, the podcast where faculty
discuss faculty development. This is a production
by the Rothwell Center for Teaching and Learning
Excellence. Each episode will feature a new group
of Embry-Riddle worldwide faculty members discussing
teaching strategies and innovative solutions to
common online classroom concerns.
(00:27):
This is faculty roundtable and we'd like to
introduce our guests. Let's go ahead and start
with you, Cheryl. Good morning, everyone. My
name's Cheryl. I've been around the block with
Embry Riddle for quite some time at many different
locations, both Albuquerque, Vegas and now I am in
Chicago, veteran teacher of twenty two years, and
(00:48):
I'm also well published and a speaker. So I'm
looking forward to sharing some of my interesting
experiences along the way. I'm Dr. Kristy Kiernan.
I am a full time faculty in the College of
Aviation and Graduate Studies have been full time
for five years, but before that I was an adjunct
for 12 years for environmental as well. I live in
(01:09):
Fairhope, Alabama, which for those of us and our
industry can be best explained as across the bay
from the Airbus final assembly line. So delighted
to be here with my colleagues, both old and new.
Hi, everyone. I'm Ajish and I am from Singapore. I'm
attached with the Worldwide College of Business,
and I'm very new to the organization. I've only
(01:31):
been in the area for about five months now and I'm
also very new to the teaching profession. I've
only been teaching for a year now. Prior to that,
I spent 20 years in the airline industry managing
a range of functions from commercial sales,
marketing, operations, revenue management, etc..
(01:51):
So following the pandemic, I exited the airline
industry and I pursued new career options and as
part of that, I landed a guess. Well, that's very
nice to meet all of you and looking forward to the
conversations. And hello, my name is Russell
Schultz. I am teaching in the worldwide College of
(02:12):
Arts and Sciences. I am new to Embry Riddle as
well. I started earlier this year. However, I come
to teaching with 30 years of experience as a
graphic designer or as I like to say, visual
marketing communications strategists. I have my
own business and I was working as a Chicago police
(02:32):
officer and violent crimes detective for twenty
eight years. I just retired in March and I've also
served in communication related roles within the
police department. So I'm originally from Chicago
transitioning to Florida and I have started in the
fall teaching and I have talked about a total of
14 classes in that short time, both in-person and
(02:56):
online. So I've taught everything from speech and
public speaking to marketing and graphic design
and both online and in person and really enjoying
the experience. Russell, I just noticed that your
shirt matches your Russell is wearing everybody is
a pink shirt with bananas on it. Patches is the
(03:19):
most amazing thing ever. So this episode, we have
two veteran faculty members and two relatively new
adjunct faculty members, which you might have been
able to tell from their introduction. Cheryl and
Kristy are experienced faculty members here at
riddle, and Ajish and Russell are our new faculty
(03:42):
members. I worked with both of them during their
orientation. And I can tell you from experience,
they are both amazing. We are hoping to have our
new faculty members learn a little something from
our seasoned faculty members and vice versa. And
hopefully you guys at home might learn some cool
tips and tricks as well. Does anybody have any
(04:04):
thoughts on being a new adjunct or welcoming new
adjuncts to the university? One thing that I
wanted to point out is that when we do teach in
the online asynchronous environment, and
particularly when you come on board as an adjunct,
it's difficult to feel that affinity within the
university and to know who to reach out to. But
now, having made the leap adjunct to full time and
seeing both, there's nothing but good intentions
(04:26):
on the part of the university to support adjunct
instructors. I mean, that adjunct workforce is the
lifeblood of the university worldwide. Sometimes
it can be hard to figure out because you teach
particular classes, not like in a specific
department or in a specific program. But that is
not something that you should have to tackle alone
because it's a little bit isolating. Right. So I
would just encourage especially new faculty to
(04:49):
reach out to the people that you do know. There's
lots of folks that you can reach out to, although
sometimes difficult, but just start with the
person you know, and then hopefully build that
network so that you are not on an island go
experiencing something like that, good or bad. And
that kind of leads to the question that I had
posed before our session as a new adjunct. I
didn't feel a lot of connection with others in the
(05:11):
university yet. So that was one of my question as
to how should I go about to expand that? And I
started to recognize some names through e-mails
that I receive on a regular basis. And I have
participated in a couple of online training
sessions and other video sessions, which are
really a great way, I think, to get to know
someone. At the time I was saying I wouldn't be
(05:31):
able to tell anybody about anybody else's
personality. Like I haven't really experienced
other key faculty here at ERAU. With the
exception of maybe one or two during my on boarding.
But I think this is a great opportunity. Know,
this is a podcast, but I am currently wearing a
very bright pink Hawaiian shirt with bright yellow
bananas on this. And, well, I also happen to have
(05:52):
a matching cup that has a bright pink and yellow
bananas on it. So those of you listening, you can
visualize that. Well, I I've also use this in my
classroom with the first online sessions that I
have. And to say it gets the student's attention
and gets them to understand a little bit about my
personality. So now following this recording,
because we are actually with video so we could see
(06:14):
each other, even though you listeners at home are
listening. But now I have faces to go with the
stories and I think that's a great way to build
the community that was lacking before. I guess
I've answered a little bit of my own question, but
I'll put it out there for other strategies for how
to continue to build that connection with others
at ERAU, specifically with the faculty, because
they've been able to do it in my classroom with my
(06:35):
students. It's all about relationship building. As
Kristy said, you have to make sure in the online
environment that you don't stay isolated, you have
to reach out. And that's sometimes very difficult
because we don't want to come off as a whiner. We
don't want to come off as less than professional
and having goofy situations. But things will
happen. The more you are experienced, the more you
will know how to handle it. But no one has to have
(06:56):
all the answers. And that community is so
important because the community doesn't change
what happens. The community changes how you react
to what happens. And it really does take a village.
But sometimes it has to start with us because my
boss is not a mind reader, nor am I. And I tell
that to my students, if you need help, you need to
pick up the phone. And picking up the phone is
courage because it is making us vulnerable and the
(07:16):
courage to be uncomfortable with being
uncomfortable or to be comfortable with being
uncomfortable and the courage to be vulnerable is
something to reach out and show another human
being to your faculty or student that you were in
need of help or just want to have comaraderie. I
used to go to graduation's that every real person,
because they go to graduation or an aircraft
carrier in San Diego, coolest thing ever. But
(07:36):
that's how I was able to meet some folks with
being in Vegas. It was nice when we were all
together on ground. But you have to make that leap
to reach out, just like we're doing here today.
And relationship building takes time, but it's
worth the effort. So you are at the island because
an island is not a good place to be. You need that
sense of community. So my best advice, pick up the
phone and call somebody, because that's how
(07:57):
relationships will start, even though it's going
to be awkward. You can tell I have a wonderful
sense of humor that I try and hide behind
sometimes because that will often make that
icebreaker much easier as the relationships
develop. I tell you, I can call up my boss any
time now, personal or professional, but it's taken
years to get that way. So to have the courage just
to take the first step is my best advice. Christi,
(08:17):
what do you think? Well, actually, I hate to
answer a question with a question, but I'll turn
it back to Russell. We're starting a new
program, the master of science in Aviation Safety
and the program coordinator for that. I'm super
excited about it. We have a pool of faculty who
teach in this. One of the first things I want to
do is build a community between that that faculty,
both with myself and the university. But also one
of the advantages of being an instructor from
(08:39):
Bertel is that you can meet other people and build
your network with really a pretty amazing people.
But I'm also conscious of your time and not asking
things of you that are uncompensated. I mean, I
don't want to ask people to do voluntary work. So
from your perspective, what would be the best
thing for someone like me to do to it? Would it be
an individual Zoom call? Would it be a faculty
(09:00):
meeting? What are the ways in which you would like
to be reached out to answer that? And I guess my
my thing is I do believe that. One out of one
reach out and connection would definitely be that
way, or as we're doing in this podcast. A much
smaller group setting, which is also something
that I learned in my courses from my students, my
(09:21):
evaluations, they said with having, say, 15 to 20
people on a Zoom call, there's an opportunity for
a lot of people to hide in the corners, even
though I do my best to draw them out and make sure
I'm asking questions of everyone. But then they
suggested breakout sessions into smaller groups,
which I have now started doing in the latest
session of my course. And that has really helped
(09:41):
because they can feel like one. There's less place
to hide when there's only three or four in the
group and they're forced to kind of engage. Plus
you become more comfortable with a smaller group.
So definitely anything with a one on one
connection or the zoom calls where we can actually
see each other. The team sessions, I think those
would be tremendous ways to help put a name to a
(10:01):
face and a personality to a name. And I think
those are all great ways to help. That's wonderful.
Thank you. And along those lines, I wanted to ask
you, because we do have a couple of faculty or
students that are in opposite time zones. So I
want people all over the world, I mean worldwide
to feel included. And as important, when I'm
asking someone to do something at five o'clock in
(10:23):
the morning, you can kind of give the impression
that you're not really considering their needs. So
how could we handle that? So maybe what I can
answer that by sharing your experience. Then I
received some feedback from the students about how
the experience that they're having. So I reached
out to the course coordinator, the person who
prepared and set the course. So it was very
(10:43):
interesting and surprising to me that I think it
was American independence from the issue of on a
hot summer. And he volunteered to wake up at eight
a.m. in the morning on a holiday. Then he took
time away from family bonding time and spoke to me
over a call for close to an hour and a half or 90
(11:04):
minutes to almost two hours, I remember. And he
was very patient and he went through every single
comment I had. And after the holidays and she got
back, she had a whole list of action items and on
by email to various people that had to do the
follow up on some of the feedback I read, some of
the concerns I had and so on. So that was
(11:25):
fantastic. And that made me realize that if I keep
quiet, it is understood that everything is fine
and then. Right, because, I mean, come on, we are
not fresh out of college. The people that the
university has hired and also, of course, the
university also to have the resources and skills
(11:45):
to find and to all the problems that we have. So
if you keep quiet, probably that is what I learned
more efficiently. Dr. Reid was such an eye opener
for me. And because of that possibility in my head
nowadays, I do not hesitate to reach out to
anybody. And by the way, I so and so Time Zone can
(12:05):
be on an hour. That works for both of us. And I
don't want to disturb your sleep or your hours. So
on that point, I also wish I had that person I can
talk to or see come for guidance from right at the
time that I was on board to do the program. Right.
So that would have been fantastic. You even have
(12:26):
to be somebody from the subject that a team from
the college and from. So every new adjunct or even
full time faculty can somehow have a shadow mentor
or a guide that can handle them for the first
eight weeks or whatever duration then teaching.
That would be just a result. They have to knock on
(12:48):
the door every now and then and say, hey, I'm
having this problem. Do you have any advice for me?
And I'm sure people at the end of the day will be
more than willing to give some nuggets of advice
in such situations. I do get a little concerned
about over communicating or just letting people's
inboxes or is that something that I should be
(13:10):
concerned about when reaching out to new faculty
are not really. As a communications instructor, I
tell all my students, you cannot over communicate
with me one of my first lines, I tell them
whatever is going on, especially if something is
going to be late or they have births, deaths,
deployments, the more you could tell me, the
better I can handle that situation, not knowing
(13:31):
and not hearing, as she said, the silence. You
assume everything's OK, but it's not until
somebody actually communicates that, you know
what's going on. And so I've never really
experienced overcommunication. Sometimes that
flood of email can be a little much all clever and
wise to go through the clutter and make what is
important screen through them. And I think more
(13:53):
communication is better than very little or no
communication at all. And we are all smart enough
to look through them, prioritize them, action the
religion ones and keep beyond the ones. Can I jump
in here for one small little caveat to that? The
idea of texting is become an issue for me and
others with students. Just because we can doesn't
(14:15):
mean we should. As a communication instructor, I
have to sometimes teach my students and other
faculty the boundary. Just because you're up at
1:00 in the morning, it's not a good idea to text
your faculty at 1:00 in the morning. I'm glad you
brought that up, because I try in my classes to
keep track of communication through canvas email
so students will sometimes email me through
(14:36):
outlook, which is fine. It gets to me just the
same, but I encourage them to use canvas so that
all those communications are routed through the
class, so that when I'm like, Oh, I remember
somebody told me that they were deploying. Who was
it? I can then look in that one source and all of
that is housed within the canvas inbox rather than
having to go through outlook. And similarly, when
obviously I definitely want to encourage students
(14:58):
to pick up the phone and call and text if they
have, because that's immediate. I tell them if you
were getting frustrated with something that you're
working on and you need to get me immediately
sending me a quick text as best, but then I always
try to send back an email through canvas that
summarizes the conversation we had or the
communications we had both so that I can find it
again if I need to continue that conversation. I
have a record of what we spoke about, but also
(15:20):
because there are circumstances where a record of
communications will be helpful in resolving
situations. So that's just kind of one strategy
that I have used that I found helpful. Canvas is a
great tool. I love candles. So we're talking about
building connection, affinity, mentorship and
things like that. Well, first, I want to take a
(15:42):
moment to plug our offerings. We have we have our
virtual faculty learning committees. We have our
daily lives monthly. And all of those are a great
way to learn some new tips and tricks, but also
meet other people because we're meeting on Zoome
or meeting and the discussion boards, what have
you. But one thing that you mentioned is the value
(16:04):
of having someone who is there with you
immediately when you first start teaching. And we
do try to be that person in our city, but we're
not in your discipline. So I'm wondering what not
only we could do, but maybe what you think your
department might do in an ideal world to provide
(16:25):
that immediate mentorship. But one of the things I
was most impressed with with you was the setup and
the organization and the systems in place to get
everything rolling and the checks and balances to
make sure the courses are set up and ready to roll.
And you've checked all the little check boxes and
set everything up. That has really been amazing.
(16:45):
And the team there, it might be a response from
Melissa or someone else. They start recognizing
the names again. That's helpful. And it's like, OK,
it's not just going out into a void, but I guess
the more specific response is kind of like what
we're talking about, I think within the department
to be able to know and have a conversation with
the department chair or whoever is leading that
(17:07):
department is also helpful. And that way there's
somebody that knows who you are, you know, who's
leading this team, where are we going? So if there
is that question, you do have that person you feel
most comfortable to reaching out to. I think,
again, at the beginning when I did have a question,
all I knew was Alyssa onboarded me. So that's who
I spoke with. So having somebody else is always
(17:29):
help, even if it's just that one. So besides what
Russell said, maybe I can share a real life
example. Right. So maybe that will help us
understand how a mentor could have experienced
faculty could have helped me. So in the course I
was teaching, I myself felt that some of the
rubrics, they're not very clear and they were
pretty set up and determined. That was the same
(17:52):
rubric used to run after run and seeing students
getting frustrated and frustrated then and reading
the assessments. So I was like, hey, I know that
this can be Ed, but I don't know whether I have
the ability to make changes to the rubric. So I
went around asking and they told me, OK, you need
to refer back to the calls administrator. So it
(18:13):
took like a few days and then the coach said, oh,
I need to check with somebody else and blah, blah,
blah. You know, in the end, I didn't get to edit
the rubric. So if I had the not Sherryl on my feet
dial, I can say, hey, you know, and facing this
problem, in your experience, is it OK to edit the
rubric? I mean, do I have the power to do that?
(18:35):
And then they would tell me, oh, no, that is not
acceptable, are you? You can absolutely cannot do
that. All they do is just go and do it right.
Solve the problem. Then then that is settled. I
don't have to go on a wild goose chase to find
that. And by the way, I follow them. They don't
allow us to edit the rubric. And I think that for
(18:56):
everyone. Oh, I think there's one other aspect
that's interesting, too, is that there's the
official communication channels and there's the
unofficial communication channels. And when I was
first teaching, those are things that are way out
of the norm that I would not have felt comfortable
initially as a newbie because they would have been
judging, in my opinion, judging everything I did
and how well I did it. What I needed was a safe
(19:18):
place to just put it all out there and then decide.
And so I think there's the official when my boss
is being the chair and then when my boss is just
being a human being and just saying, all right, so
tell me what happened. This isn't any official and
you've got to understand where those lines may be
drawn, because I know in this current environment,
we teach in I teach a law class. And so we're
often a little worried about the litigation and
(19:39):
the officials things that if we say something, it
might officially go somewhere. I think when we
announce those brochures, we just need someone to
talk to unofficially to kind of give us the lay of
the land and to have that safe place. Sometimes
those who are department heads, they hear our
title before they will hear us. And I need to be
very clear with them. It's OK. You know, this is
this is off the record. Let's just talk to me.
What's going on? How can I help and let them vent
(20:01):
a little bit? Then we can put through official
channels. Not that there's anything wrong with
there, but there is that point of I need to have
everything, the good, the bad and the ugly. These
if I don't know everything and we're trying to be
politically correct and we're trying to be that
whole professional with our bosses can sometimes
hinder learning and hinder the ability to be human.
And so that's a really tough line to walk
sometimes. I also know we have set up a kind of a
(20:23):
social media platform for faculty. I don't have
time to engage in a social media platform. So for
me, it's nice to know that it's there. And I get
the emails like, hey, your community hasn't heard
from you in a while. Yeah, because I'm really,
really busy grading. So I appreciate that it's out
there. It's nice that it's there. But that really
(20:44):
isn't the best way for me to engage with other
people, especially given time constraints. So
having again, going back to that one out of one is
probably as good as it gets sometimes in terms of
having somewhere to go to as opposed to an online
community that's available to you. So can I just
interject there and maybe ask what a contribution
(21:09):
to our fifteen seniors here? I noticed that my
students, they have enabled me, has the most
clicked instructor they have encountered and
really do because I'm very stingy with the grade I
give and I only give E very rarely to the most
deserving. And they all feel that that is not what
(21:29):
the experience with the other subjects have taken
and apparently everybody gets a or a minus. Right.
So,
yeah. So I want I know this is something that I
have raised some of the discussions as where we
are. We are very generous with the university. Or
(21:52):
is that a problem? What is your experience of like
I do look at the bell curve when it comes to
reading. So I do try to ensure that those that are
excelling really have the top kind of grade.
However, I'm gracious in terms of my understanding
of what people are going through. And as I tell
them, even though I may wear a pink shirt and you
(22:12):
don't get to see my blue sequins tuxedo jacket
that I often wear, and I do like to bring my sense
of humor. I'm very serious about the topic and
what they are learning, and I do have high
expectations that they learn the subject matter.
So I think the way that I approach that is
criterion referenced grading. If every single
student in the class meets the requirements to get
(22:33):
an A., then they will all get nay. If every single
one is performing at a C level, then they will all
get C's. That's how I approach it. And then you
had mentioned the rubric and those become pretty
important because if you are abiding by that mean
the Department of Graduate Studies, we've reworked
a lot of the rubrics this past year because
instructors were getting frustrated that average
performance resulted in a you know, if you clicked
(22:55):
on something that you consider to be average, then
it would still result in an eight, which was
ridiculous. But at the same time, the adherence to
the rubric gives a standard way for students to
understand what the feedback is. Ideally, I think
you have a strong rubric that can differentiate
between performance so that there is an advantage
for real high performing student and then
(23:15):
sometimes criterion referenced and you feel that
somebody is getting a higher grade. I do think
that there are other ways to reward that good
performance. So there are other ways to
distinguish higher performing students. Sometimes
I will share their work with their permission and
an announcement. Some of them really go the extra
mile and that should be recognized. And if there's
not a way to do that, you can't give them an A
plus plus plus. But you can celebrate that. I
(23:38):
think sometimes one of the challenges in the
online environment is that we are providing a lot
of feedback and not necessarily it's harder to
provide what somebody described to me. The days
feed forward. It is harder to do that. But I do
think that in responding to their work, there is
that opportunity to both really provide some
guidance for the lower performers on how to build
(23:58):
that up, but then also to encourage that positive
behavior from the highest performing students. I
will echo that with a couple of caveats I try to
help manage expectations and manage expectations
is efforts are not outcomes and looking for
progress, not perfection. And the point is, is
that the whole idea is for them to get better.
Each and every day, each student comes to us at a
(24:19):
different level. And while there is evidence based
criterion that's within the box and there are some
degrees of that. And so each week I never, because
I'm a professional editor or ever be able to
completely edit a paper from soup to nuts because
they quit. So I try and focus on two or three
things each and every week and use an editing
reference checklist for them to be able to
constantly being improving. But they have to
(24:40):
realize just showing up is not a great just
turning in a paper is not a great again, efforts
are not outcomes in there. And so I'm trying to
actually prepare that and I tie this to relevancy.
This is part of the integrative teaching is you go
back to Stephen Brookfield. We're looking at this
is what we're preparing our students to do. It's
not just in my class. It's I'm preparing them to
be a good employee, a W2 employee, an entrepreneur,
(25:01):
a business owner, something that I want to connect
what I'm doing in class for what they're going to
do out, or then they understand the process as
opposed to just another discussion post just into
the grade. They got to understand that connection.
And as soon as they do, they're like, oh, you need
an employer's going to look at some of my writing.
It's like, yeah, they want the whole I mean,
they're going to actually want to know about how I
show up on time and the rest of it, they're going
to want that, too. So I'm trying to be able to
(25:23):
make that. And I've had a lot more luck in my last
my last years of teaching, not just adhering to
the phoniness of the rubric, but showing the
connection of why that Rubert in there. I want to
propose one of the questions that you guys sent in
to everybody. If you could get professors to do
one thing in each class, what would it be? And if
(25:45):
you could get professors to stop doing one thing
and each class, what would it be? Christine, I
know we said some things for the ten thousandth
time, and it is so hard for us to not roll our
eyeballs because we've said it over and over. But
to recognize that that student would been the
first time they've heard it and still get excited
is the first time, as we do for the ten thousand.
(26:06):
So I create videos. I create blog posts. I created
my own personal library. This way my students can
have things that are evergreen that I did maybe
five years ago that are still relevant today and
they can see my enthusiasm. That will be a
mechanism that I can keep them and to prove that
it's me teaching the class. I think in an online
class it's difficult when you don't have that
physical connection. I try and do weekly videos
(26:28):
for my students. I don't always do it, but I try
to remember. So they have a physical connection,
even though it's a video and I talk directly to
them to give them something that they really know
that it's me. If they choose to connect and
encourage use of my office hours. That's why I
would say that what I would like for instructors
to stop doing is one hundred percent. Good job.
That's just such a disservice. But if you're
(26:49):
listening to this podcast, you're not one of those
experts. And obviously people on the screen with
me are not like that. That's something we all as
full time faculty and personal coordinators really
need to try to encourage people who are here to do
a good job. And sometimes I think we just need to
provide what what our does provide the support to
(27:11):
give people opportunities to engage in much more
substantive ways. So I would say the one thing I
would like for four instructors to try is try an
online synchronous session. Even if you are in an
asynchronous online class, I will put in twice
during the term at the option for a live
discussion in lieu of the written discussion board.
And typically I'll get about a third of the
(27:32):
students to participate, which is actually perfect
because in the size of the class that we have, you
know, twenty to twenty five students, a third is a
manageable amount. If you had twenty people, it's
not going to be manageable. I will set the
parameters early. It's one hour no longer. It
gives us an opportunity to build affinity and a
really unique way and it's totally optional. But
also if I make an optional session that has no
outcome tied to it now that's just extra work. So
(27:54):
I do it in lieu of a discussion board and they can
earn that grade in that conversation. So I would
encourage people to try that addition. Russell,
what not to have. So I will say this from the
perspective of your instructor, but from the
perspective of a student, I was a student. I did
my master's and all this time basically. So the
thing that frustrated me the most is when
(28:17):
instructors based on PowerPoint slides and not the
PowerPoint slides supporting the learning process.
So in many instances, especially when you have you
are having a very heated case study discussion or
whatever, that this class is participating. And
the worst thing to hear is that you strike this. I
hope to stop this discussion because I finished my
(28:39):
set of lights. That is the most uninspiring thing
the student and I have here would have put in the
effort to analyze that being. They would have
written their talking points. We are here debating
the opinion of the classmate, and then you have
the instructor saying, OK, my time's up, I have to
pass through the slide. I think that is a
(29:00):
disservice to the students. The PowerPoint was
never meant to replace the textbook. Or any other
construction material. It was just meant to
facilitate the flow of thoughts and ideas and all
of these. I think there is too much reliance on
PowerPoint slides and all these. So I think we
should all probably revert back to the blackboard
and chalk this in here. Here. Very good as far as
(29:26):
the to dos then following on what Sheryl has said,
I've tried to do the same thing to be present
again. I take the feedback from the students to
try and build that forward into the next session.
And again, I've heard the caveat on podcast one.
There will always be bad evaluations. So you have
to take everything with a grain of salt. No matter
what you do, you'll have people that love it and
(29:47):
people that hate it. So you take that into a
consideration, but get at what works. I had
students there told me to have an introductory
session would be nice. So I start all my classes,
whether it's completely online or asynchronous. I
start with the opportunity for a meet and greet
session so they can ask me questions as we're
going in and I can share what I know already so
(30:09):
far and give those tips and tricks on how to be
successful in the course. I keep a running list of
all the messages and emails that I send out to the
class so that for the next round I remember, oh,
this is what tripped up people last time. Let me
make sure I post this ahead of time to avoid that.
And I say by doing this, by giving them this
(30:30):
information up front, I saved myself a whole lot
of digital red ink correcting things later. Thank
you, guys. We've been talking to Cheryl, Kristy
Kiernan, Ajish Morris and Russell Schultz, all
amazing instructors from Embry-Riddle. this has
been faculty roundtable. Thank you guys for giving
(30:50):
us an amazing discussion.
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