TEACHING / INSTRUCTIONAL ACTIVITIES

          In my years at East Tennessee State University , I believe that I have made significant contributions to the  intellectual life of the Department of Education Leadership and Policy Analysis through instruction and curriculum development.  I have also extensively utilized  technology to enhance overall  student learning outcomes.  Find below a summary of some of my instructional activities during the academic year.

                                                     Academic year 2005- 2006

   Development and Creation of Blackboard Online Course/ Redesign of Existing Course

                During the academic year I created, developed and taught three (3) online/ blackboard courses namely:

• Law for Educational Leaders               (Spring  2006)
• Policy Analysis.                                  (Summer 2006)
• School Law (Special Topics)               (Summer of 2006)

            Upon completion of the creation and development of the above online courses, they were  were submitted to the Office of Distance Education for routine review and compliance to ETSU’s/TBR’s  standard for distance education courses. All of the courses received approval from the distance education office. 

    The creation of the online blackboard course(s) involved major substantive changes and redesign of the traditional version of the course.   Substantive changes additions for the online courses create included but are not limited to the following: Online chatting forum and discussion thread board capabilities;   Instructional audio aids in the form of interactive PowerPoint presentation; Staff information and contact; Course syllabus which included course objectives, outcomes, grading policy,   course calendar, explanation of assignments, assignment  due dates, web resources external links and an online grade book and management system.

    Academic Technology Support Services Workshops

          During the 2005-2006 academic year, I attended two on-campus technology support workshop (s) offered by the Academic Technology Support Services in the following areas: BB 130- Blackboard grade book and assessment and OFF 194 - PowerPoint adding audio, video and more.

        Previously in 2004-2005, I attended BB 101 and BB 102 (Blackboard Introduction and Blackboard Managing Course materials) to provide basic instructions on how to manage the blackboard /online courses I taught. Training in BB 130 (Blackboard grade book and assessment) and OFF 194 (PowerPoint adding audio, video and more) further assisted in introducing valuable web-based tools to manage the blackboard online courses I instructed. Lecture aids in the form of audio /PowerPoint and an online grade and assessment section were incorporated into the newly designed blackboard courses.   The result of these additions was the timely return and accessibility of grades for online projects completed by students. Additional supplemental materials in the form of audio lecture series were incorporated to blackboard for  easy access and use by students.

         Submission of Course to the Curriculum Process System/Redesign of Existing Course

                                                    Higher Education Law and Finance

      Based upon approval from the department and the need to separate the course (Higher Education Law and Finance into two distinct courses, I submitted a redesign version of the higher education law course to the curriculum process system. This course has been reviewed by the curriculum sub-committee of the graduate council and has recently received approval.

  Substantive changes made to the course during the redesign process included the following:

1. A complete redesign in substance of the course syllabus, course objectives and outcomes to reflect a specific focus on higher education law ONLY. The previous course included a hybrid version that contained a focus on both higher education law and finance.
2. Incorporation of a formal online legal research component involving library and electronic legal research
3. Change and update of course required text and material  resulting in a slight change of course content focus
4. Web-enhancement tools via blackboard

                            Integration of Web-based Technology into Existing Course

 I continued to incorporate and integrate web-enhanced technology into   the traditional/paper-based courses I instructed. The electives;  Policy Analysis, Ethics for Educational Leaders and Higher Education Law and Finance are examples of traditional offered courses for which  web-enhanced technology was incorporated. I made available course materials including the syllabus, instruction aids and other course resources on the blackboard site. Students were encouraged to make use of addition external web resource and resources in conducting legal research and understanding policy briefs via blackboard.  Students were also encouraged to access and utilize the lexis nexis an online legal research network.

                   Creation of Experimental New Course (Special Topics) School Law and Negotiation

Based on approval of the department I created both the traditional paper-based version and online version of a new special topics course School Law and Negotiation.  The creation of this course was in response to the need to offer a school law course for k-12 teachers and students in the school counseling leadership concentration. The course was made available during the summer (2006) term as an experimental course but failed to reach the enrollment threshold for the course to be offered.

                                                   Statement of Teaching Philosophy

 As a Assistant Professor at East Tennessee State University, I am interested in teaching students to develop critical and creative thinking abilities. I am involved in teaching students how to solve problems and make better decisions. This is especially true in my case, since I teach classes in Education Law, Policy Analysis and Organization Development. Decision-making and problem solving in an educational environment can be very complex. Uninformed educators can make poor decisions that affect the lives of many individuals. Therefore, my most important goal as an instructor is to teach students to be informed and effective decision-makers.

In order to effectively teach these classes, I need to stay current on the literature and research associated with my specific area of expertise. The use of technology is bringing new challenges in college campuses. Computers make it possible to collect and analyze billions of pieces of information. Telecommunication is revolutionizing the way we do business. I must pay close attention to these advances. Furthermore, I must participate in my own basic and applied research. I strongly believe that scholarly research and teaching effectiveness are intertwined and inseparable.

I feel very strongly that to be an effective instructor, I need to treat individual students with respect. I must attempt to know each student's name, and his or her strengths and weaknesses. I must try to accommodate questions at any time, not just during class and office hours. I also believe that I can sacrifice the syllabus and schedule if students do not understand what has already been covered. My job is not to show them what I know, but to teach them what they need to know, and more importantly to facilitate their learning.
 
My classroom will be an inviting, friendly environment where students can maximize their learning potential. My role, as the instructor will be to help my students reach that potential. I want my students to take pride in our classroom. I want the students to respect each other and me. I want my students to construct their own knowledge through hands-on experiments. I want my students to be excited about  the legal system. I must employ a classroom management strategy that will allow me to achieve all these things. My classroom management philosophy involves good teacher-student relationships, intrinsically motivated students, an inquiry-based learning environment, a democratic classroom, and shared teacher-student responsibility for student success in the class.
 
Good teacher-student relationships are the foundation of a well-managed classroom. If I can successfully build good relationships with my students, the students will respect me and want to contribute positively to our classroom environment. My job is to be friendly, but not a friend. I will use collaborative problem solving techniques to find solutions to problems that are solvable, solutions that everyone involved can agree upon. For the problems that do not have an easy solution, I will be there to actively listen to my students without offering suggestions. Most of all, I want my students to trust me and know that I do respect them and that I will always have their best interest in mind.

Motivation in the classroom stems from two sources: the student’s intrinsic motivation, and my ability to bring in resources that will stimulate and challenge the students to learn. If I can bring interesting topics that are relevant to student’s lives, I can tap their intrinsic motivation. If a student can relate to a lesson, they will be much more willing to participate and learn the lesson. I must also be motivated to teach the topic. When a teacher is excited about a subject, that excitement is passed on to the students. I think it is also important to bring variety into the classroom. I want to constantly change my method of conveying the information to my students, switching between lectures, mind sharpening activities, and other instructional techniques. Students enjoy surprises and are more willing to participate in a classroom that can offer them new and exciting ways of learning.

 Finally, I hope to be able to instill in students a love of learning. I hope to teach my students that school is more than just exams and grades. I hope that the real value in their education is not found in their grade but in the knowledge that they take away. It will be my goal to stimulate my students’ minds so that they will be intrinsically motivated in my classroom.
 

                                              TEACHING /INSTRUCTIONAL ACTIVITIES