TEACHING PHILOSOPHY

Three main components guide my approach to teaching. First, I am a believer in The Missouri Method and thus seek to combine theory and practice as much as possible in my journalism courses. Second, I believe in modeling use of tools in order for students to have a framework for how to use tools themselves. Third, I believe in community; it spills over from my own research, but I also work to make sure that information is embedded in communities (and all types of them) as much as possible.

Theory and practice: My pedagogical approach is steeped in the Missouri Method made noteworthy by Missouri School of Journalism founder Walter Williams.  He instilled in the world’s first school of journalism the notion that journalism education works best when students are taught how to integrate theory and practice.  Whether it is teaching an undergraduate how to write or a graduate student how to research, it is vital for students to master the fundamentals that allow them to sharpen their skills.  At the same time, it is important to teach students the theory or philosophy behind the practice of journalism.  Undergraduate journalism students need to understand the theories that guide journalism so they can recognize how to do journalism even when technology changes methods or platforms.  By combining theory and practice, students learn the principles that guide the use of practical skills.  They become more agile in a changing world, and are able to adapt to technological change or new environments that are thrust upon them in the workplace. This flexibility requires an approach that says it’s safe to make mistakes as long as you are learning, and it communicates to students that I’d rather see effort when they try something new rather than expect perfection the first time.

Modeling: I specialize in new media, which makes use of interactive digital technology to produce a type of journalism better suited for the Web than traditional legacy platforms such as print or television. Because this part of my discipline is so new, you could ask a room of new media instructors their opinions about the best tools, what the best way to teach it is, or what the best approach is and you’ll get a lot of disagreement and a variety of answers. My approach, as I’ll explain in the next section, is that information in the context of community is key, and that means connecting the practice of community with the practice of journalism. For now, this means making heavy use of social media platforms because they represent the practical side of the fundamental shift going on in my field from publishing on platforms to the spread of information and news across networks. Thus it is vital my students learn not only how to use social media tools but also understand the culture that exists in these online spaces. The problem is that social media is impossible to teach if you don’t know it, or at least it’s impossible to teach in a way that feels more than superficial to students. My students have shown they are good at detecting when I’m not completely up-to-date on these tools. So part of my charge, and indeed my job as a professor, is to be sure I’m at the forefront of changes going on in media technology. But more important, to teach it effectively, I need to use it and not just talk about it. This means using the technology to learn the tools, but it also means showing them how it’s done by letting them see my own use. I consider Twitter, for example, an extension of my classroom. I teach them about proper ways to post links, reply to people, have conversations, and give credit. I answer questions and attempt to encourage them to expand their use. By using these tools together we are learning together. Asking them to use these tools without showing them how via consistent modeling has never been an effective strategy.

Community: I used to call this concept “open classrooms,” but my conception of community in teaching has evolved because of what I’ve learned through teaching Multimedia Reporting here at Lehigh. Initially this principle centered on the idea that classrooms should be safe and open places, free for discussion without fear of students attacking others rather than critiquing ideas, and respectful of diversity without losing individual identity. Essentially, a classroom is a community replete with the usual diversity of people, views, and faults (including my own). I still believe in this and practice it to the best of my ability. But my definition of a classroom has widened at Lehigh, also expanding my definition of community. Multimedia Reporting helped me build what I call a “classroom without walls,” an open learning environment in which students are learning from other types of communities that we call “tribes” as we seek them out: the Lehigh community, the local community, and so forth. My students engage these various “tribes” via social media, listen to them, and use what they learn to shape their perceptions of what is going on in these communities of interest (be they local geographical communities or online communities). These insights shape their reporting. I am gratified to say this has worked better than even my own lofty hopes. As a function of class requirements and social media use my students are meeting community leaders, and not just ones in political structures. By doing so they learn there is more to story building than talking with elite sources. They encounter and engage everyday people in social media spaces and in the real world every day as part of my classes. Local community members use my #J198 Twitter hashtag, which allows us to index discussion, in order to add tips and ideas for the students; essentially they become part of the classroom discussion in online spaces, and this is by design. A classroom without walls, in my view, is a classroom without boundaries and limits and in turn becomes a classroom that is rooted in community.

To demonstrate how my three principles detailed above work together, I have chosen a practical illustration for this statement. I asked my former students (from both the University of Missouri and from Lehigh) who follow me on Twitter to define in 140 characters their own view of my teaching philosophy. I did this because I wanted to see if their own vision of my philosophy fits the one I have stated above, but it’s also a chance to demonstrate in this statement itself the practice of my own philosophy. After each of their statements, I’ve categorized their responses in parentheses in terms of the defining components of my teaching philosophy stated above while allowing for emerging categories:

• Kamaria Morris: You like your students to discuss and debate material as a way to understand it and you like to intertwine traditional journalism with new media. (community, innovation)
• Elaine McVay: Your philosophy is to challenge, encourage debate, create experiential learning and have fun while working together. And you believe in innovation. (community, theory and practice, relaxed atmosphere, innovation)
• Jessica Chu: Relevant and engaging discussion. Plus you have an iPad, and that gives you street cred. (community, currency, innovation, modeling)
• Debbie Pearsall: Your philosophy is that the knowledge matters most, not the grade or the number. i.e. what did you get out of it all? And within the knowledge, it’s about the question, not definition. Not who or what, but why? At the same time, social networking provides your greatest transparency. We students always know it’s big if it’s on Twitter. (emphasis on knowledge, question asking, modeling)
• Ashley Sciora: Knowledge gained is the main concern, not the grade at the end of the course. And the idea that knowledge gained is never enough, there’s always more to learn; fields don’t stop changing, Follow them. (knowledge, lifetime of learning, innovate)
• Rebecca Raphael: If at first I don’t succeed that’s ok because at least I’ve learned something. (knowledge, relaxed atmosphere)
• Imani Hamilton: You teach students to use tools of social media and journalism as well as how to recognize other resources: people & communities. (community, innovation, modeling)
• Taylor Dankmyer: I’d say it’s to be modern, current. In Principles Of American Journalism, we talked about the issues in journalism today instead of 15 years ago. (innovation, currency, community)
• Lauren Bishop: A discussion-based approach leading students to question their own use of media, ethics and the tools available to them. (community, theory and practice, innovation)

Student feedback that I sought and collected by employing the very principles in my philosophy  showed that students recognize my interest in community and modeling as part of my teaching approach, mixed with the desire to combine theory and practice (and perhaps the humor even shows the low-key nature in which I try to engage students). Even better, I learned a couple things about myself. I talk about innovation a lot in my classes and my department interactions with colleagues, but I hadn’t considered that a formal part of my philosophy. As I read through the replies, I realized that it is. Though it is the backbone of the three principles I stated above, clearly it stands out as something separate from the others to these students. Second, a few students talked about the importance of knowledge over grades. This rings true for me as well, and it plays out at the end of the semester when students fret about grades. Even though many of them end up doing quite well in my classes, I get e-mail and post-class conversations that reflect worry about the grade they will end up earning. I have a standard reply for these students: “I’m in this for the knowledge, and you should be too. It’s what sustains you when the world gets reinvented overnight.” In the real world, people want to know if you can make sense of chaos, and that starts with knowing the principles. Prepare for that, and the grade will work itself out.

Applying Teaching Philosophy in Methods and Goals

Given the principles above, the methods and goals I use in the classroom are channeled toward those aims even as class sizes and course goals change the types of instruction I employ.

In COMM 100 (Media and Society) I am more limited in what I can do in terms of modeling because the course is a large lecture-based course with 65-plus students, but I find opportunities to creatively use my principles quite enjoyable in a larger course.  I make heavy use of the principle of community by requiring group presentations in the course and emphasizing community-oriented discussion points in the material (in this case, the community being fellow students).  I find this strategy not only breaks up the lectures but also gives students a chance to apply what they are learning. Groups of five or six students present each week about current issues related to a topic. For example, in the week we talk about radio students have presented on current trends in new media that are changing how we think about radio, such as Pandora or podcasting. Though I consider myself new-media savvy, I often learn about new things by hearing how they talk about the material, and students benefit from hearing classmates take a concept we’re discussing and apply it in a way unique to college-age students. Second, I make heavy use of theory and practice in this course. While it’s not a skills-teaching course, I use examples consistently to show how a concept connects to things many of them do every day. For example, when I talk about social networking I talk about how students use Facebook, and that is a gateway to talk about concepts such as libel and how it applies to their own media use. I want students to come away with some practical knowledge of how the big-idea concepts of that course relate to what they are doing now, and to what they will do in the future.

My JOUR 198 (Multimedia Reporting) course is perhaps the best embodiment of my teaching philosophy.  The course is hands-on, giving students an opportunity to learn how to do multimedia journalism by getting experience applying reporting methods using new tools and platforms such as video work, social media, podcasting, interactive maps, and Web building. This gives them a chance to combine theory and practice.  Assignments increase in point value and students can revise, allowing them to learn from mistakes and improve as the semester goes along. Community is the backbone of this course. We engage with the local community via social media and the Lehigh community through interpersonal interaction and Twitter. Their microsite final projects are unique from their other journalistic experiences in classes in that I require them to cover issues of concern to the Lehigh Valley, not those at the university. The classroom itself becomes a tight-knit community as students learn the ropes together, and group projects add to this experience. Finally, there is a good deal of modeling on my part in that course. This is why I blog, tweet, use Foursquare, experiment with Storify, and create Xtranormal video introductions for my classes – all of these are newer interactive media tools, and just using them as part of the classroom experience is a signal to the students that they should be bringing their curiosity with them into the course. Some of this process is playing with the technology so I am familiar with it, but the other part of it is figuring out how to work it into assignments and labs so students learn how to use it. And then I engage students in those spaces. I post course reading links and announcements on Twitter, which requires them to be there. I reply to student tweets. I “retweet” (pass their messages on to my own network) and promote their blog posts so they see the value of information in the context of networks. I ask questions. I show my sense of humor. Students read my Twitter stream and learn as much about the culture of Twitter as they do about the functions. In turn, it gives them confidence to jump in and try it. Students often start out mimicking my voice but over time they learn to find their own. I consider this whole process part of the lesson plan.

Thus far my teaching philosophy and methods have resulted in successful completion of the course goals.  My courses are engaged and vibrant atmospheres thanks in no small part to Lehigh’s unique students.  My larger course has a great deal of discussion for a class that is supposed to be lecture-heavy, and students tell me they get a lot from discussions, even ones that feature sharp disagreements.  In J198 I have found that students have enthusiasm for the work and embrace what I believe is a fairly heavy workload because they believe the material will help them improve and teach them new skills necessary for a journalism career.

While these observations are anecdotal, I believe my evaluations bear this out. Qualitative responses on my COMM 100 evaluations often include notes from students about it being the best class they’ve had at Lehigh or that it makes them want to study communication more as a minor or even perhaps as a major with us. While the response may reflect on me as well as on my teaching, I know it also fulfills a larger and more important goal, and that is to represent the relevance and benefits of studying journalism and communication to our Lehigh students.

Contributions to Curriculum, My Department, and the University

All of the courses that I have taught at Lehigh were new courses to our department curriculum and ones that I designed entirely.

As previously stated, students from outside my discipline and even outside the College of Arts & Sciences have reported they found my COMM 100 Media & Society course to be interesting and relevant, and thus I believe I have made a contribution to the University by adding a strong general elective course to the catalog of choices students have at Lehigh.  In COMM 100, students learn about the media environment in which they are immersed and gain understanding of it in a way that will serve them in both their careers and lives after they leave as graduates. This is a class in basic media literacy, which I am becoming more convinced is a need for Lehigh students in general as we move toward a society in which communication is more and more heavily mediated.

While I do believe I have made a positive contribution to the University curriculum, I believe my largest impact has been within my own department.  Obviously COMM 100 serves our majors and minors with an additional offering, but my JOUR 198 course has been part of a larger effort in the Journalism and Communication Department to infuse more new media instruction into the curriculum.  In this course students are learning to do things they haven’t had to do in courses at Lehigh, such as using video cameras and practical immersion in social media tools that are becoming more commonplace in the changing field of journalism, business communication, marketing, and public relations.  The fact that these concepts stretch beyond my own discipline and that I am unique in using these tools in the classroom represents my own unique cross-discipline contribution to the University.  Social media, in particular, is an innovation that has benefited my students.  Use of these tools is a fairly new phenomenon in my field, and few professors are teaching it in part because they are not always well versed in either how to use them or what they mean.  I am comfortable with both parts of that equation, and thus I have been focused on making sure my students are getting this unique experience in the classroom.  I believe it makes Lehigh’s curriculum more forward-looking than most in our field, and that benefits both my department and the University.

Most important to me: In the short time I have been teaching social media in my classes, my students already are getting internships and jobs because they have social media and multimedia skills. They are getting immediate benefits from what they are learning in my courses, and that adds value to their Lehigh experience and ultimately to their degree.

Students have been enthusiastic in response to the opportunity to be trained in some of the more forward-looking areas of journalism, and while we are early in this phase of implementation the JOUR 198 class has already generated buzz among students in our program.  I have used a variety of methods to ensure that students in our department know that new media is our future here at Lehigh. This includes using social media such as Twitter and YouTube and my professional blog to publicize the class and chronicle what we are learning (my own attempt to model theory and practice for my students) and the creation of viral videos that spread the word about registration options and the new tools are students are using in the course.  My methods are catching students’ eyes, but it’s also putting us at the forefront of this in our field. Last year the Chronicle of Higher Education did a story about me promoting courses using YouTube. This has led to a good discussion in my discipline about using the very tools we teach to get students interested and excited in studying courses in my field, and my invitation to speak at conferences and on an AEJMC teaching panel this coming summer is an indication that I am helping spread the word about Lehigh as a place for forward-thinking journalism instruction. I also have made myself available outside of class to students and groups that wish to talk about how they can use social media and blogging for either professional development or class projects.

All of these strategies have been employed specifically to increase the sense of excitement about the new offerings in our department both now and in the future.  I believe that part of the challenge our department faces integrating new media into the curriculum is not only figuring out how to best do so but also how to get the word out to our student population.

Beyond courses, I have had an impact on curriculum on a department-wide basis.  I was hired in part to help bring new media instruction ideas into the department, and I have made contributions in that vein by being available for feedback for other instructors and also by participating in ongoing curriculum revision discussions in the department.  My J198 course has served as a trial run on topics we want to teach more broadly, and some of the modules in areas such as video recording and editing, blogging, microblogging, podcasting, and using new media tools such as custom maps have been and will continue to be moved into courses earlier in a student’s experience in our department.  This will allow some of the concepts and skills I teach in J198, which is soon to become J230 Multimedia Storytelling, to become part of the student’s initial experience and make my multimedia courses more advanced training for students as my time progresses at Lehigh.