Teaching

Teaching Awards And Recognition

ISU Distinguished Teacher Nominee (2018-2019)

In Spring 2019, I was nominated for the ISU Distinguished Teacher award. Nominations require endorsements from current faculty, current students, and alumni.

ISU Master Teacher / ISU Distinguished Teacher Nominee (2016-2017)

In Spring 2017, I was nominated for the ISU Distinguished Teacher award. I was chosen as a top 5 finalist, earning an ISU Master Teacher distinction. Nominations require endorsements from current faculty, current students, and alumni.

ASISU Faculty Member of the Year (2016-2017)

In Spring 2017, the Associated Students of Idaho State University (ASISU) selected me as the Faculty Member of the Year.

LDSSA Excellence in Education Award Nominee (2017-2018, 2015-2016, 2014-2015, 2015-2016, 2017-2018, 2018-2019)

In the seven years I have been at Idaho State University, I have been nominated six times for an Excellence in Education Award from the Latter Day Saints Student Association (LDSSA).

Honors Graduate Most Influential Professor Recognition: Ashley Sondag (Spring 2017)

In Spring 2017, I invited to attend the Idaho State University Honors Program Banquet as the “Most Influential Professor” for Honors Student, Ashley Sondag.

Teaching Philosophy

“Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.”

William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)

We get only a limited amount of time to impart knowledge to our students. While this easily could turn into our sole focus, as William Butler Yeats so elegantly stated, we must do more than fill our students’ heads with knowledge, we must strive to ignite a passion for learning. I have identified four strategies that have allowed me to ignite the sparks that fuel a desire for lifelong learning.

First, I strive to create a positive and safe learning environment for my students, an environment where they are free to express their opinions and where they feel safe to make a mistake. As I frequently tell my students, mistakes are great moments if we learn from them and together we will fail forward. By treating my students as more than just individuals filling the seats, I work hard to create an atmosphere where students know that their contributions are not only welcomed, but are sincerely valued.

Second, I encourage students to take an active role in their learning. Each semester, I incorporate projects and pedagogical strategies that allow students to engage the concepts of the course in new ways beyond memorization, paper writing, and test taking. I encourage students to apply their new knowledge through assignments such as participating in debates, engaging the community, completing hands-on projects, and conducting first-rate research. One example of community engagement happens in my Grant Writing course. In this class, I recruit clients for the students to work with so they can have a “live” grant writing experience. Students learn to work with clients, search for grant opportunities, write full grant proposals, develop budgets, and present materials and recommendations to the clients. This project has been so successful that several students have been hired on by our clients.

Next, I train my students to think critically and carry this skill with them to their various fields of study and career paths. By encouraging them to explore new ideas, challenge conventional wisdom, question research finding, and examine new information with a critical eye, students develop the skills necessary to be good consumers of information, and thus better-informed citizens.

Finally, I demonstrate the relevance of the course content by encouraging students to engage classroom concepts and apply them to everyday life. Students need to see how the knowledge and skills they learn in the classroom will apply to their everyday lives. Helping them to make this connection takes their education to a new level, and they are better able to market themselves to potential employers and demonstrate that they have the knowledge and skills that employers are looking for. One way that I have been able to help student make connections to the real world is through the incorporation of simulations in my pedagogy. For example, I have developed a simulation that allows student to act as policymakers and experience the variety of influences including constituent interests, interest group pressure, campaign funding, and personal preferences on their decision making. Students walk away with a greater appreciation of the difficulty in policymaking and an understanding that policymaking is not one-dimensional.

Combining these four strategies has helped me to create and implement effective courses that give students hands-on experience and knowledge that equips them to succeed in their future careers. More importantly, they develop the necessary skills to become thoughtful, engaged citizens.

As evidenced by my approach to teaching, I strive to effectively implement the teacher-scholar model. I frequently engage students in the research process and have co-authored numerous projects with students. My approach is more than having students participate in my research. Instead, I focus on the research that they are interested in and mentor students through every aspect of the research project from conception to publication. In my time at my current institution, I have worked with nearly 30 students to present their research at national and international political science conferences. My students cite these experiences as some of the most important in their educational career, and I have had numerous students accepted into prestigious graduate programs based on their research. Mentoring students in their research has been one of my greatest joys as a professor. Seeing them become excited about a research question and helping them to bring their projects to fruition ignites my passion for my research, and it becomes a never ending cycle of mutual inspiration.

Students work with their “live” clients in my Spring 2018 Grant Writing Course.

Courses Taught

I have taught a variety of courses at several institutions. My courses have ranged in size from approximately 8 students to more than 250 students. I have taught in several different formats including face-to-face, synchronous online, and asynchronous online. I have also taught multiple dual enrollment courses both on the college campus and in the high school setting. I have also offered several of my courses as honors courses.

Undergraduate

Introduction to American Government
Introduction to Public Policy
State and Local Government
The American Presidency
Congress
Political Parties and Interest Groups
Public Opinion and Political Behavior
Media and Politics
Women and Politics
Health Politics and Policy
Research Methods
Grant Writing

Graduate

The American Presidency
Congress
Political Parties and Interest Groups
Public Opinion and Political Behavior
Media and Politics
Women and Politics
Health Politics and Policy
Reproductive Politics and Policy
Morality Politics
The Politics of Food
Research Methods
Grant Writing