"I just wanted to let you know that while I've been teaching the Short Story for years, and it has always gone well, last semester was by far my best class yet. Not just with great papers, but impassioned and involved students, over 80% participation in every class discussion, and this semester--while they haven't turned in their first papers yet--participation is likewise extremely high, both in quality and quantity. I know it all has to do with the reboot of the class I was able to do during the QEP workshop. The new writing assignments are not only more fun and engaging for the students, they have shaped the way that I approach teaching the classes building up to them, and that has made all the difference."
--Andrea Nolan, English
"I learned a lot about interdisciplinary writing. It was a very valuable experience that I will carry forward into all of my classes. For example, I have learned to take major projects and scaffold them throughout my class so that students are consistently receiving feedback. Further, the idea of creating different medium and low-stakes in-class writing will make my classes a much more stimulating learning environment for the students. I will make sure to recommend this workshop to other faculty in the College of Business. Thank you!" --George White, Management
"Part of the reason for the poor quality of student writing is due to my part in delivering the expectations. I have now added rubrics with specific criteria outlining my expectations for a precise level of quality. I also appreciate the importance of examples and images!! They made the course concepts much clearer in this workshop and I will now include them in my class."
--Kathryn Schwartz, Communication Disorders and Special Education
"I truly enjoyed participating in this workshop and feel it will be valuable in making my course more authentic for my students. The strategies learned and examples given will be extremely beneficial in allowing me to incorporate more authentic assignments and activities in my course." --Kim Baskette, Human Movement Services
"I am convinced that this endeavor is both essential in the changing university environment and that it effectively and enthusiastically leads faculty to a new awareness of their own pedagogic practices, simultaneously letting us produce real work in a supported environment and arming us with the resources and contacts we need to build critical mass and momentum in what I hope is sweeping change at ODU."
--Lane Dare, English and Foreign Languages & Literatures
"It has been such a pleasure to engage in discourse with faculty who are passionate about the art of teaching. All the sessions and Lunch and Learn speakers were fantastic-- I am encouraged by the number of useful resources we have right here on campus. I am especially pleased that this workshop was targeted to teachers who are not only from varying disciplines, but also at different stages in their careers. I was pleasantly surprised to learn new (and recycled) techniques that I can integrate into multiple courses to approach my content area. I have already begun to implement changes to my Fall courses by implementing the use of rubrics, improving the efficiency of my grading practices (less stress), and introducing exercises that are more applicable to students' future professions."
--Erica Woods-Warrior, Political Science and Geography