Reflections by NFTEP participants

Beth Schussler (BOT)
I found the program to be a positive experience in the sense that it allowed me to step away from the practice of teaching and spend time reflecting on the "art" of teaching. The first semester of teaching is overwhelming, and it is so easy to fall back on your "old ways" of presenting information. This program introduced you to new ideas that you may not have had the time to consider in your first semester. I found the Lilly conference presentations to be very enlightening-particularly the ones on peer evaluation of teaching and leading class discussions. And I adore the ideas I learned that inspiring students and building trust with your students may be just as, or more important, that how you deliver the subject content to them. My favorite non-Lilly presentations were the ones on teaching portfolios and mentoring undergraduate researchers. Besides the teaching information, my other favorite part of the program was the opportunity to interact with other new faculty from the departments other than your own. This absolutely strengthens your first semester experience to be able to reach across departments and colleges and reflect on teaching as a group of faculty, rather that within your field of study alone.


Joseph G. Johnson (PSY)
One thing that I found especially useful in some of the seminars I attended (initial meeting, 7 September; CATs, 3 October; and Berk presentation, 19 November) was when they provided the opportunity for self-assessment. That is, these sessions all involved questionnaires or surveys that were designed to give the instructor a better understanding of his/her personal teaching style and priorities. These seminars allowed me to assess my general teaching style; my priorities and teaching goals inventory; and my use of humor in a classroom setting. I found each of these to me useful in understanding myself better as an instructor.
I really enjoyed the collegial atmosphere and the sense of community that these seminars helped develop among my cohort and me. It was nice to see many of the same faces at many of these events, and to be able to share successes and frustrations with my colleagues.
It is also really nice when the material from thee seminars reinforces behaviors that are already in place in my teaching practices. Whereas in isolation I may wonder if something I'm doing is working, or whether I am approaching something the "best" way, in the group settings of these seminars I can hear about the proven success of different strategies and methods either from my colleagues of from authoritative individuals. It's really nice to hear when the way one should be doing something is the way one's been doing it all along!
I would definitely recommend continuing the NFTEP program in much its current form. I found it very valuable and don't have any comments for global changes, although some individual sessions may benefit from some minor "tweaking". It really contributed to my assimilation here at Miami in both a professional and a personal sense.

Sarah McGough (WMS)
This journal helped me reflect on my goals as a teacher in a liberal education university. I will now be able to better articulate my vision of teaching to colleagues and future employers, as well as implement my goals in my classroom. I found the sessions that dealt with creating an academic portfolio and preparing to secure an academic job especially pertinent to my interests in this program as a first year visiting faculty member. These activities also related to my own personal research interests in philosophy of education and I was pleased to see the university encouraging other faculty in various disciplines to develop their own philosophies as well.


Capt. Brett Sammis (AER)
Throughout this semester I have been exposed to numerous new thoughts and ideas in the field of education. I having never taught on this scale before, and certainly not at the University level, the learning curve was quite steep. Thanks to Miami's Center from Learning Enhancement (CELT) and the New Faculty Teaching Enhancement Program (NFTEP) I have been able to make grade strides in improving my teaching approach as well as my students enjoyment of the class and understanding of the material presented. My end of course critiques included rave reviews about the improvements that the students had seen this semester. Both my own awareness of improvement and the students is a tribute to CELT and the NFTEP program. Following are my notes on the program throughout the semester.


Richard L. Bretz (CHM)
The New Faculty Teaching Enhancement Program sponsored by the Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning at Miami University has been my source of professional development during the Fall 2005 semester. This is my first semester of teaching at Miami after a four year assignment in the Provost's Office at Youngstown State University. The NFTEP has assisted me with the Miami culture. In addition, the NFTEP has sponsored and/or advertised many workshops and seminars this semester that have helped me use the Blackboard software and incorporate strategies in my classroom that accommodate different learning styles. I am also exploring ways to shift my courses toward a learner-centered classroom, i.e. create an active learning environment.

Mike Brudzinski (GLG)
Reflecting at the conclusion of my first semester, I have found that the NFTEP program has been an excellent series of well spaced events to keep me in tune with the continuous development of my teaching activities. It is very easy in the first semester as a new faculty to be overwhelmed by the number of things that you "should" be working on. In fact there is very little time to reflect on your priorities as to what needs to be and in what order, because you're too busy trying to get as much done as possible. So it turns out that whoever in knocking at your door, ringing your phone, or filling your email inbox in most likely to get your to do things. Being exposed to a variety of teaching (and a few research) development activities through the NFTEP program was very useful to remind me that I'm not just trying to survive my first class, I'm trying to learn how to better the next time I teach it, or even how to better the next time I'm in the classroom. In that regard, the reflection aspect of this program is critically valuable to in essence force new faculty to spend some time thinking how to do things better instead of just how to do all the things asked of them. Force may sound like the wrong connotation, but I'm certainly driven by the forces on me (deadlines work extremely well in this regard), and it's why I chose to be part of the program in the first place: to make a commitment to my teaching when I know I'm still at a very formative period for my classes.

Jeong-Hoi Koo (MME)
The new faculty teaching enhancement program (NFTEP) has been very helpful to me. It provided me a great opportunity to meet other faculty members across the university. Moreover, it has been a great resource for teaching and learning. Participating in NFTEP this semester, I learned new effective teaching skills, styles and other teachers' experiences, which were applicable to my classes. I attended various seminars, workshops, and activities (for example, technology workshops offered by the library, CELT seminars, and Lilly Conference). Among other NFTEO seminars, I found a seminar on developing teaching portfolios was most valuable to me because it provided very important information for new tenure-track faculty (such as P&T guidelines, elements of teaching portfolios, case example documents). Attending Lilly conference was also beneficial. I think that it is fortunate to have Lilly conference, a national conference focused on college teaching, at Miami campus each year. I plan to attend this conference every year. In summary, I have learned a lot about teaching from the NFTEP program, and would recommend it to everyone, especially new college instructors.

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