Teaching Day Highlights Classroom Relevance, Engagement

Assistant Professor of Kinesiology Dan Williamson recalled a student years ago who complained about having to learn chronic diseases such as obesity, type 2 diabetes and heart disease, claiming the subjects were not relevant to the course.

That student later thanked him in an e-mail.

“She sent me an unsolicited e-mail and said she ended up working in cardiac rehabilitation and when she got there, she was able to understand exactly what the patients were talking about with their coronary events because of the class,” Williamson said.

Teaching Day at the University of La Verne on Nov. 9 included numerous stories about engagement, relevance and reflection between students and faculty. Nine faculty members and five students sat on a panel to answer questions about teaching and learning experiences.

“It’s to highlight the great teaching that happens at the University,” said Sammy Elzarka, Director of the Center for Advancement of Faculty Excellence and coordinator for Teaching Day.

Students who sign up for Associate Professor of Education Valerie Beltran’s Methods of Research class come in unsure what to expect, Beltran shared with attendees.

“I think less than 1 percent of students come in excited to take that class,” she said.

Beltran says she uses fun, sometimes silly exercises to get her point across. But they are completely relevant. They are simply informal versions of what professional researchers do.

“Oftentimes, I’ll get students who say, ‘I was so scared and hesitant to take this class and now I use what I learned on a regular basis,’” Beltran said.

Students also offered feedback about engagement, reflective practice and the importance of college.

Speech Communications major Brittany Boiko shared her experience in a course whose teacher made students take a quiz at the end of each class. The teacher explained that in other courses without daily quizzes, overall grades went down.

“I was forced to reflect on something, but it benefitted me in the end,” she said.

Students also spoke about learning experiences outside the classroom. Meghan McHenry, a philosophy major, complimented professors who are willing to meet with students one on one to help them advance their educational careers.

“You get out of your education what you put into it, and it’s nice to have professors who want to help further that endeavor,” McHenry said.