Alexandra Perry

          Through my own research on the ethical issues raised by developmental disabilities and mental health disorders, I have come to reflect on exactly how complex the different learning needs and dispositions of my students really are.  At the core of my teaching philosophy is differentiation, or flexible and varied instructional and assessment methods aimed to put students at the center of teaching and learning. Whether the course is small or large, I aim to present content in a variety of ways to suit the diverse learning styles of my students.

          In my first year as a faculty member at Marietta College, I believe that this teaching philosophy has prompted me to be flexible about my pedagogy as I teach new courses that utilize new materials.  I still use the traditional lecture model, but also use instructional technology, video, and in-class activities and discussions to make the classroom an engaging and interesting space for student learning.

          I also vary discussion approaches and introduce activities such as debates between students, mock-trials, or fishbowl discussions in which half the students discuss a topic related to the course while the other half closely observes and analyzes the features, quality, and trajectory of the discussion in order to build discussion and argument skills. I also give students a range of opportunities to demonstrate understanding. I require writing and examinations in each of my courses, but also give creative assignments where appropriate to help students build their skills in ways that they might not otherwise have the opportunity to.  I think that many of my students appreciated these assignments and activities.  In Global Leadership (LEAD 203), for example, I developed and used a mock-model United Nations activity which we engaged in three times over the course of the semester.  The activity was meant to reinforce the material found in Lewis (2006) When Cultures Collide.  In the text, Lewis discusses various cultures and their leadership characteristics, strengths, blindspots, and so on.  The students used the model UN activity to look at leadership cases through the lens of a particular culture.  This helped them to develop a rich understanding of the culture and also to apply that understanding to current events, which the leadership cases were based on.  In one case the students acted as world leaders attempting to address goals set by the U.N. in collaboration with The World Health Organization (W.H.O) to alleviate hunger and health challenges in Sub-Saharan Africa.  Each student had to stay in the role of the country that they were assigned, and had to think through the characteristics of that country, along with potential interests and conflicts of interest.  Several students commented on this activity in my course evaluation and found it engaging and helpful.

In order to differentiate instruction for writing assignments, I mentor students through several components of writing course papers.  In 2010 I was the co-recipient of a grant from the American Philosophical Association (APA) that was used to develop a workshop to teach undergraduates writing skills. I have been able to use many of the tools developed for that project to work on writing in my own classroom. Through this work I have developed various methods of assessment including rubrics and templates for position papers, argument development, and critical analyses.  These have, for the most part, worked very well in the classes that I have taught at Marietta College.  In particular, I used these resources in the two classes that I have developed at the College, Ethics and Leadership, and Asian Philosophy, which were both writing-intensive courses.

          I also think that my first year at MC has provided me with the opportunity for professional growth.  I view much of the feedback that I received in my course evaluations as a challenge to further develop my pedagogy and teaching methods. As a result of my course evaluations, this semester I have started to use course portfolios, where students submit progressions of different assignments that showcase their best work, and have established small working groups in class where students collaborate on ideas and participate in peer editing of writing assignments. Next semester, I plan to engage my students in writing and maintaining blogs on issues related to social justice, leadership, and current events (using the New York Times), which I believe will provide them with a space to discuss current events and to develop argument skills.

            There are also a few practical areas where I believe that my first year at the college challenged me to grow.  For instance, I am working this year to return work faster and have made my syllabi clearly reflect both the rate at which I will return work to students and what they can expect in terms of contacting me.  I’ve developed the policies in the syllabi to respond to many of the comments on my course evaluations last year, and am sure to include clear guidelines regarding deadlines.

            After a very helpful meeting with my dean, Dr. Perruci, to follow up on his observations of my courses, I am also working on my delivery in class.  I am working to move around the classroom a bit more, sometimes sitting in a discussion circle with the students, sometimes walking around the room as I lecture.  I am also working toward using Powerpoint and other lecture aids less frequently in the classroom.  This semester in my LEAD 101 and LEAD 201 courses I am working on various forms of discussions with the students using lecture notes rather than any sort of presentation.  I am also working to engage individual students, particularly quieter students, in class by asking them to help facilitate class discussions, respond to questions, or provide challenges to the points made by more vocal students.

            In the coming year I hope to grow even further by developing new courses and teaching materials and fine-tuning my course policies, curriculum materials, and teaching styles.  In addition to those very general goals, I have four specific goals with regard to teaching for this particular year.  First, I would like to continue to add to the leadership core courses through both my expertise in ethics and my own perspective on leadership.  Second, I would like to play a major role in developing and assessing McDonough’s new Engineering Leadership Certificate.  I taught the first cohort of petroleum students in LEAD 103 during my first year, and hope to teach the first and second cohorts in LEAD 203 and 103 this Fall.  In the LEAD 103 course I am currently developing an intensive mapping project that the ELC students will use to explore the connections between leadership and social responsibility to the oil and gas industry’s efforts to contribute to development in the local region.  I would also like to develop more curriculum on Ethics and Leadership, specifically curriculum focused on leadership and contemporary moral issues.  Finally, I would like to take on an advising role for students.