Below, I provide the Engineering and Physics expanded criteria for tenure pertaining to teaching. Amid the lists, I interleave brief reflections on how I have addressed the requirements and striven for excellence.
Department Expanded Criteria for Teaching
The applicant should possess a strong grasp of the subject material. The applicant should be able to effectively communicate with students in the form of a) answering students’ questions, b) effective class meetings, c) effective assessment strategies, d) a general overall concern for student welfare, and e) well written syllabi. The following two lists delineate typical activities viewed by the department that exhibit and demonstrate teaching:
List 1 (required) Activities
- Turning in all syllabi to the department by the end of the first week of classes.
- How satisfied
- Throughout my time at both Lamar–where it was a matter of State Law–and at ACU, I have ensured my syllabi were posted to the required university website (Activity Insight at ACU) within the requisite timeframe.
- Teach or arrange alternative experiences for all scheduled classes unless negotiated in writing with the department chair.
- How satisfied
- I have never missed a class period without arranging for a substitute lecture or providing a recorded lecture on-line.
- Turn in semester grades by the deadlines.
- How satisfied
- In my time at Lamar and ACU I have never missed a grading deadline with the lone exception of the Spring 2020 semester. In Spring 2020, I delayed reporting grades for three classes at the specific request of the Dean’s Office. Despite the required delay, I still reported all grades in time for students to select the CR/NCR option.
- Grade, or insure grading by a competent grader, of all student work.
- How satisfied
- I have personally graded all student exams, including the final exams, and have either graded assignments myself or with department-approved student graders.
- Turn in Goals and Reflections in a timely manner
- How satisfied
- At Lamar, teaching goals and reflections were provided by annually completing the required Form F2.08; and, at ACU, I have ensured Activity Insight is up-to-date with annual teaching goals and reflections.
- Schedule and attend a departmental annual evaluation
- How satisfied
- Each year at Lamar, I was evaluated separately by both the acting Physics Department Chair and the acting Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. All three years at Lamar, my performance in all categories rated from “high merit” to “highest merit.” At ACU, I have arranged annual evaluations with my Department Chair. In all categories I have rated either “effective” or “excellent.”
- Solicit observations of your teaching.
- How satisfied
- During the delivery of my Master Teacher course, I solicited peer-observations from Drs. Lori Houghtalen and Kendra Jernigan.
List 2
Other indicators of excellence in teaching might include:
- Student opinion surveys (i.e. end of course student evaluations)
- Peer-to-peer reviews on instruction
- Pedagogical improvements
- How satisfied
- In each semester, I have tried to implement improvements to each course I teach, e.g. implementing active learning techniques and technological tools.
- Teaching awards
- Reflections that lead to changes in teaching
- How satisfied
- See the previous sections of my portfolio for details.
- Write and Submit new course requests for university approval
- Development of new curriculum for a course or curriculum innovations
- How satisfied
- At Lamar, I completely redesigned the College Physics II laboratory, including compiling a new lab manual sold through the campus store. Based on this experience, when I was hired at ACU, the department requested that I rework Engineering Physics (EP) I Laboratory. After teaching the lab for one year, I did a complete overhaul of the curriculum, introducing a new set of original lab exercises.
- Becoming an ACU Master teacher through the Adams Center Program
- How satisfied
- I timed the implementation of the new EPI course for Fall 2019 with my participation in Master Teacher to make the most effective use of the tools given through the program. Despite the disruptions caused by COVID-19, I completed the Master Teacher program with all its assignments in the Spring 2020 semester.
- Be asked to team teach a course by someone else from another department.
- How satisfied
- During the Spring 2020 semester, Dr. Kendra Jernigan and I proposed an Honors Colloquium on biotensegrity and the physics behind biological structures. The colloquium was approved to be delivered for the Fall 2020 semester.
- Implementation of teaching strategies from your own research or gained through working with the Adams Center
- How satisfied
- I have drawn extensively from my research experience to improve the relevance of my teaching. At Lamar, I introduced a new course on Data Reduction, motivated largely by my experience analyzing data for the STAR experiment. My research in spin physics has helped tremendously in my quantum mechanics courses, where we devote an entire chapter to the concept of spin. My experience writing software for the STAR collaboration has aided me tremendously in our initiative to incorporate computational techniques (Click here for Solution) in our courses.
- In spring and summer 2020, I made extensive use of Adams Center resources to improve my Canvas courses and virtual class delivery. I completed the Introduction to Online Teaching 2020 program in summer 2020 and presented my course development in the Canvas Course Showcase on July 30, 2020. I completed the August 2020 Mission and Implementation Workshop at Incentive Level 3.
