My teaching goals
I am passionate about information literacy skills, the cross-disciplinary intellectual inquiry of the liberal arts, and hands-on, experiential teaching centered around primary sources. In lectures I bring excitement to whatever subject matter I convey, because I know how infectious and effective my energy is for learners. During discussions, I value the input of those who are motivated to talk while also drawing out the quiet observers whose opinions are just as valuable. From one-shot information literacy instruction sessions that focus on research skills to quarter-long seminar classes, my goals are always the same. No matter the course, one of my student learning outcomes is always to empower students to leave the classroom equipped to continue independently learning, exploring, researching, and thinking critically. I do this by conveying practical tools, scaled to the skill level of my audience.
The following is a sample of my teaching work, as both a librarian and a historian.
One-shot Information
Literacy Sessions
For three years I coordinated the information literacy instruction program at Pacific Union College. During that time the new ALA Framework became the standard. Inspired by that change, I led a complete overhaul of the ENGL 101 and 102 instruction series. The previous standard presentations ranged from demo-heavy, technical, and static to overly simplistic. We moved from that format to one that balanced show-and-tell demos with class discussion about concepts such as how to transform a research question into keywords and what makes an article peer-reviewed or a website reliable. I introduced an active think-pair-share activity to the instruction session as well as guided searching. Assessment data tracked over the course of my last year in charge of the program showed that students retained key ideas—such as how to read a call number—between ENGL 101 and 102.
In my current position, I still regularly provide research instruction for scholars at all levels, from undergraduate to post-graduate and beyond. I follow a similar actively demonstrative format that prioritizes the real life application of research skills and resources.
HIST/RELH 360:
Adventist Heritage
This intensive four-week summer course covers the history of the Seventh-day Adventist Church from its roots in the Second Great Awakening and the Millerite Movement to its modern position as a major global denomination facing pressing questions of doctrine and faith.
Our required texts—Light Bearers by Schwarz & Greenleaf, and Walking With Ellen White by George Knight—are supplemented by robust classroom discussion that ranges from the historical to the personal and spiritual. One learning outcome of this course is that students will walk away with the skills to find primary sources, read them with understanding, and integrate their content into scholarly discourse. To this end I have integrated digitized Adventist resources from various institutions into research assignments and in-class activities.
ACHIEVEMENTS:
-Highlighted primary sources by building in-class assignments around appropriate digital objects.
-Integrated primary source research into the final writing assignment.
ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT:
-Revise assignments and final exam prompts to minimize student desire to rely on AI or engage in academic dishonesty.
YouTube Tutorials
As Digital Librarian for the Adventist Digital Library, I’ve created a series of video tutorials to empower researchers anywhere around the world to asynchronously learn how to accomplish their goals on ADL or the Seventh-day Adventist Periodical Index database. In keeping with best practices, these videos are short, sweet, and to the point—none exceed 3 minutes and 30 seconds.
HNRS 380: Pilgrimages
I co-taught this course with my colleague Dr. Eric Anderson during Spring 2020. This course was a discussion-based seminar class within the Pacific Union College Honors Program.
The content spanned literature, history, and religion and built around the concept of the Christian "pilgrimage." We asked ourselves the question "What is a pilgrimage?" We engaged this question in an environment in which the instructors were also learners. The course employed four major readings, each of which is, in its own way, considered a great book.
ACHIEVEMENTS:
-Transitioned from face to face to online within a week but still managed to create camaraderie in the classroom, which is necessary for class discussion.
-Departed from traditional “research paper” format by providing creative or autobiographical writing options for the final project.
ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT:
-Expand the reading list to include marginalized voices in addition to classic “great books”; explore spiritual pilgrimages in those works. Do the authors’ approaches and experiences differ? If so, why?
LibGuides for Courses & Topics
I’ve been creating guides to accompany courses, subjects, and academic disciplines for over five years. Before my library adopted LibGuides, I created pages within SubjectsPlus. Some of the pages I created years ago even see continued use by faculty members who left Pacific Union College but still value the guides I made. I am pleased to hear this, as it confirms that I’ve created something truly helpful.
I recently created a LibGuide for COMM 105, a freshman-level GE course. This guide helps students find resources to support their researched speech assignments. I created this guide in Fall 2020 during the COVID pandemic, so it is geared toward an entirely digital research experience. I introduced this guide to the COMM 105 students during a 50 minute information literacy session, which I followed up with email and discussion board support for any questions. Our LibGuide analytics report that this guide sees more use than any other on our site.
I also enjoy creating subject guides, such as one I recently finished that supports primary source research into local Napa Valley history.