We expect positive student evaluations of your classroom performance that demonstrate your

ability to create an environment that invites student learning. We also expect to see steady improvement in your student evaluations as you gain experience. Finally, university colleagues will look for patterns of consistency in your student evaluations. A successful profile will reflect either ongoing improvement in teaching or high consistently high levels of performance. Significant fluctuations in student evaluations from semester-to-semester will require an explanation.

Over the first five years of my appointment at Utah State University, I have been the instructor of record for 20 courses, including seven new preparations (listed in the table below). Collectively I have in an academic setting. Combined, these experiences have allowed me to learn a tremendous amount about

effective pedagogy, and more importantly, how to maximize the output of individuals and research teams. Over the initial five years of my faculty appointment, three overarching goals have emerged for me as a teacher and mentor.

First, I aim to help students become proficient in the content area being studied or researched. their knowledge and abilities, providing the foundation for their own career trajectories. In pursuing this objective, I frequently employ interactive learning experiences in the classroom, drawing on media as well as group activities. As an example, I use an outdoor lab experience in PEP 5200: Human Motivation in Physical Activity Contexts that affords students an opportunity to apply learn critical life lessons best through free play, rather than adult-directed, sport participation. In building from this platform, this lab experience forces students to design and implement games while negotiating rules and building rubrics of interaction. Utilizing free play showcases for students the role of intrinsic motivation in sport, physical activity, and recreation settings. In end-of-semester feedback, students shared that this and other lab experiences greatly enhanced

the learning experience.

Ultimately, career success is not solely about knowledge, but the application of that knowledge in

varied, real-life contexts. Therefore, my second goal is to support students as they link the knowledge they gain to practical skills they can use in the future. I believe critical thinking is an important skill that transcends any single academic subject. Therefore, the ability to think analytically about theoretical and practical issues will serve my students beyond the walls of the classroom. To foster this in my students, I challenge them to move beyond rote memorization to a place where the internalization of knowledge prepares them to apply it in a practical manner. In asking my students to thoughtfully pursue ways to challenge the status quo, I continually push them to examine existing theories while simultaneously developing their own hypotheses and world views. This reinforces for students the idea that they are scholars and thinkers and forwards a message that no single way of thinking about the world is the right way. Although often unpredictable, I have found that this strategy offers students very important opportunities to link knowledge and application through the creation of their own world view. As an example of how I support this process, I purposefully design end-of-semester topic papers in FCHD 1500:

Lifespan Development to help students integrate learned subject matter with their own outside experiences. Specifically, I ask students to discuss why their chosen topic (e.g., autism spectrum disorder, sexuality, cognitive development) is important to researchers, practitioners, individuals, and families. I challenge

to describe how the topic links to other facets of human development. Finally, I prompt them to elucidate See Appendix A for an

example student topic paper.

I believe integrated learning opportunities foster a more personal connection to learned material. This personal connection is motivating to both my students and me and engenders a classroom built on respect for knowledge acquisition and critical discourse. Providing students with the necessary tools to ask the important questions and find the correct answers better prepares them to take on any problem. In light of this belief, my final goal is to instill in my students a lifelong commitment to learning. This ownership of their learning process allows students to (a) feel a connection to the material, (b) experience autonomy over their learning process, and (c) perceive a sense of confidence in their ability to apply the knowledge they gain to their future career endeavors. These are the critical elements of intrinsic motivation, elements essential to the formation of a lifelong commitment to learning. One way in which I make course content both informative and practical and which allows students to make a personal connection with the material

is by providing -the- sequence

of three lab assignments I give to my students in EDUC 6770: Qualitative Research Methods. Specifically, I ask them to use one or more of the observational techniques we discussed in class to collect field data on a participant (e.g., minority, teacher, stay-at-home-parent), setting (e.g., school, sport, workplace), or phenomenon (e.g., love, disability, racism) of interest. In doing so, I ask students to create an observational gives them the autonomy to design, execute, and disseminate a mini-project that means something to them, while solidifying many of the concepts learned in class. See Appendix B for the sequence of three lab

assignments.

STUDENT EVALUATIONS

Criterion 2: We expect positive student evaluations of your classroom performance that demonstrate your

ability to create an environment that invites student learning. We also expect to see steady improvement in your student evaluations as you gain experience. Finally, university colleagues will look for patterns of consistency in your student evaluations. A successful profile will reflect either ongoing improvement in teaching or high consistently high levels of performance. Significant fluctuations in student evaluations from semester-to-semester will require an explanation.

Over the first five years of my appointment at Utah State University, I have been the instructor of record for 20 courses, including seven new preparations (listed in the table below). Collectively I have in an academic setting. Combined, these experiences have allowed me to learn a tremendous amount about

effective pedagogy, and more importantly, how to maximize the output of individuals and research teams. Over the initial five years of my faculty appointment, three overarching goals have emerged for me as a teacher and mentor.

First, I aim to help students become proficient in the content area being studied or researched. their knowledge and abilities, providing the foundation for their own career trajectories. In pursuing this objective, I frequently employ interactive learning experiences in the classroom, drawing on media as well as group activities. As an example, I use an outdoor lab experience in PEP 5200: Human Motivation in Physical Activity Contexts that affords students an opportunity to apply learn critical life lessons best through free play, rather than adult-directed, sport participation. In building from this platform, this lab experience forces students to design and implement games while negotiating rules and building rubrics of interaction. Utilizing free play showcases for students the role of intrinsic motivation in sport, physical activity, and recreation settings. In end-of-semester feedback, students shared that this and other lab experiences greatly enhanced

the learning experience.

Ultimately, career success is not solely about knowledge, but the application of that knowledge in

varied, real-life contexts. Therefore, my second goal is to support students as they link the knowledge they gain to practical skills they can use in the future. I believe critical thinking is an important skill that transcends any single academic subject. Therefore, the ability to think analytically about theoretical and practical issues will serve my students beyond the walls of the classroom. To foster this in my students, I challenge them to move beyond rote memorization to a place where the internalization of knowledge prepares them to apply it in a practical manner. In asking my students to thoughtfully pursue ways to challenge the status quo, I continually push them to examine existing theories while simultaneously developing their own hypotheses and world views. This reinforces for students the idea that they are scholars and thinkers and forwards a message that no single way of thinking about the world is the right way. Although often unpredictable, I have found that this strategy offers students very important opportunities to link knowledge and application through the creation of their own world view. As an example of how I support this process, I purposefully design end-of-semester topic papers in FCHD 1500:

Lifespan Development to help students integrate learned subject matter with their own outside experiences. Specifically, I ask students to discuss why their chosen topic (e.g., autism spectrum disorder, sexuality, cognitive development) is important to researchers, practitioners, individuals, and families. I challenge

to cover every topic in the book, I aimed to highlight the most important information and to build connections among them. I also spoke candidly to the students about the mission of the course to introduce a breadth of topics. To facilitate this discussion, I shared the range of classes available across our department , highlighting the fact that there is an undergraduate majors class for nearly every topic we cover in FCHD 1500: Human Development across the Lifespan. In subsequent semesters, this disclaimer has helped students better understand the role of the course in the curriculum.

GRADUATE MENTORING