Dr. Roger E. Kirk
Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Statistics
Master Teacher

The Cornelia Marschall Smith Professor of the Year Award is given to a Baylor faculty member who makes a superlative contribution to the learning environment at Baylor, including teaching of the highest order of intellectual acumen and pedagogical effectiveness, research recognized as outstanding by the national and/or international as well as local community of scholars, and exemplary service in building the character of intellectual community at Baylor.

The award recipient is named each year at the University Honors Convocation. “I was honored and delighted to receive the Cornelia Marschall Smith Professor of the Year Award,” Dr. Kirk told the ATL. “The award is special because it is based on three elements: teaching, scholarship, and service.”

Dr. Kirk has served on the Baylor faculty since 1958.  During that time he has taught thousands of students and been an active member of many professional organizations as well as the Baylor and local community. He has also produced an extensive body of research, including more than 200 articles, reviews, reports, encyclopedia entries, editions of books and paper presentations, several of which have been foundational in the area of research protocols, sound experimental design, and statistical procedures in the social sciences.

After 54 years on the Baylor faculty, Dr. Kirk still keeps students on the edge of their seats. For Pauline Minnar (B.A. Psychology and International Studies, 2014), a former student in Dr. Kirk’s Statistics course, the unique ability to balance his extensive knowledge of this subject with a light-hearted outlook on life and quirky humor is what makes Dr. Kirk an outstanding professor.

“Even after teaching here at Baylor for so many years, Dr. Kirk somehow finds a way to approach each class with freshness and excitement in being able to teach his students,” Minnar said.

Megan Johnson Shen (Ph.D. Psychology, 2012) echoed Minnar’s perspective. During her graduate work at Baylor, Shen spent time in Dr. Kirk’s classrooms as both a student and Graduate Teaching Assistant. In addition to his love for students and desire to see them do well, Shen described the root of Dr. Kirk’s effectiveness as the ability to approach complicated statistical concepts from multiple angles until a student reaches comprehension.

“He is one of the most brilliant statisticians I have ever encountered and is one of the most well-respected scholars in his field. Yet when a student doesn’t understand his explanation of statistics, he considers it a defeat and will press onward until they do. To me, that is a truly humble professor who cares about his students,” Shen said.

A lauded teacher and scholar, Dr. Kirk is also admired as a colleague. Dr. Chuck Weaver, Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience, described Dr. Kirk as “an ideal role model and welcoming colleague. His love of the classroom is apparent and contagious. I have senior colleagues at other institutions that ask to meet Roger like a teenager might ask to meet a movie star. He is quite possibly the most distinguished scholar Baylor has ever produced, yet he’s kind and approachable. It’s been an honor to consider him a colleague.”

When asked to comment on the significance of the award, Dr. Kirk expressed the humility and collegiality noted by his students and fellow professors.

“I am blessed to be in a department with so many outstanding teachers and scholars. My colleagues in Psychology and Neuroscience have set the bar for excellence extremely high. Students in psychology classes are used to and expect outstanding teaching and mentoring. Although I would like to claim sole credit for the award, part of the honor belongs to my colleagues. They have motivated me to be the best that I can be.”

In the past two years I have developed significantly as a teacher. It’s a good thing, for me, and especially for my students.

I taught my first undergraduate course in the fall of 2010. My student evaluations were not as glowing as I had hoped. As I read the written comments, I couldn’t help dwelling on the critical ones. They were disheartening. To protect myself, I was tempted to be dismissive of them. Several students obviously considered the evaluations an opportunity to vent their anger in anticipation of receiving a grade less than the “A” they thought they deserved. And in that anonymous format, vent they did—harshly, cruelly, and sometimes at length. Why should I listen to them?

Gregory Poore
PhD Candidate | Philosophy

I didn’t listen to everything they said. If I had, I would have given up teaching right then and there. But I forced myself to pore over the student comments, categorizing them, reading between the lines, asking myself what truth there might be in the criticisms. And I also made myself notice the numerous compliments and encouragements.

Fast forward two years. The Graduate School has nominated me for the Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award the last two semesters as a result of my high student evaluation scores. What changed?

Getting more experience in the classroom certainly helped, as did making some changes in response to student evaluations. But the biggest factor has been intentionally seeking to develop as a teacher. Knowing the material wasn’t enough. I needed to learn how to help students learn. This process has taken three main forms: personal reflections, informal conversations, and participation in professional development activities related to teaching.

Reflecting on how I teach and how students learn has helped me be more aware of myself as a teacher. I imagine how students will perceive assignments and modify my pedagogical approach to meet them where they are. Such reflections have been essential in helping students achieve course goals and objectives. These reflections have been most fruitful when in conversation with the insights and approaches of others. I eagerly initiate conversations about teaching with colleagues in my department and with friends from other departments and at other universities. I cannot overemphasize the ongoing benefit of these conversations. They encourage me as I deal with difficult classroom dynamics; humble me as I see new areas for improvement; challenge me to rethink my class objectives; and inspire me to craft dynamic assignments that engage students in critical and imaginative thinking.

In addition to these informal reflections and conversations, I have greatly benefited from participating in formal opportunities for teacher development. Since fall of 2010, I have participated in approximately twenty teaching-related programs, conferences, workshops, and seminars. These have included numerous Seminars for Excellence in Teaching offered by the ATL and an intensive four-day seminar on teaching in my own discipline. These events have made me aware of pedagogical perspectives, approaches, and dynamics that previously weren’t even on my radar screen. As a result of this exposure, I am more aware of my own default teaching modes. Sometimes I have modified these, but even when I have retained them, they are no longer merely default. I am aware of myself as a teacher, have reasons for what I do, and act intentionally and strategically. These events have helped me acquire a language with which to understand and reflect on my teaching. Some of the best seminars not only discussed a pedagogical approach but embodied it in the presentation, giving me a concrete picture of how to use it effectively. Finally, these events have afforded great opportunities to connect with colleagues committed to and excited about developing as teachers.

Great teachers never stop intentionally developing as teachers. Formal and informal opportunities to grow as a teacher abound. For those who choose to utilize these opportunities, they are both easily accessible and rewarding. Join the conversation. You’ll improve your own teaching, and you’ll impact young teachers like me.

by Gregory S. Poore
Doctoral Candidate, Philosophy
2012-13 Graduate Fellow

Dr. Elizabeth Davis
Executive Vice President and Provost

Let’s consider our first aspirational statement – Transformational Education.  This section of the vision document deliberately combines academic excellence, student engagement, and leadership development.  Our students must understand that an education is more than just content delivery for the sole purpose of getting a job.  Now, we want our students to be employable or ready for graduate school, and I believe we have an obligation to help them navigate that path.  But I’ll save that discussion for another day.  A transformational education is made up of experiences that occur inside and outside the classroom.  In Pro Futuris, we commit to help our students create a cohesive set of learning experiences that will “increase our students’ desire for wisdom, understanding of calling, and preparation for service in a diverse and interconnected global society.”

How we create and communicate this idea of a transformational education is an issue for us to work on together.  One of the ways we are doing that is through the Provost’s Faculty Forum, a weekly lunch gathering coordinated through the Academy for Teaching and Learning.  The purpose of these gatherings is to generate interdisciplinary conversations for the purpose of inspiring and encouraging innovative teaching.  Transformational Education is the theme for this fall, and I am so grateful for Kevin Dougherty’s and Lenore Wright’s facilitation of these meetings.

This fall marks our third year of the forum, and I continue to be invigorated by these conversations that are helping transform some of our own work.  Who would have expected to learn, say, that Mike Stegemoller in Finance uses The Grapes of Wrath in his class?  When we learn to appreciate the beauty and rigor of disciplines outside of our own, we are able to help our students understand that courses they take in areas outside their major contribute to the whole of their education.  The forum is also providing an opportunity for us to transform how we teach by adopting strategies that are used in other disciplines.  I look forward to the day I can start using a tip I learned earlier this month from DeAnna Toten Beard – the use of “we” to encourage students to take on the persona of an expert in our field of study.

Perhaps one of the most fundamental ways that we can help our students understand our desire for them to be transformed is for us to demonstrate the humility that we, too, are forever learning – from them and from our colleagues across campus.  I’m grateful for the energy that is being generated through the Academy for Teaching and Learning, giving us all the opportunity to continually improve our ability to deliver a transformational education.

by Elizabeth Davis
Executive VP & Provost, Baylor University

#1.  By using the first person plural pronoun, “we,” when speaking to the class about my field, I am teaching students to imagine themselves as co-workers in the discipline for the duration of the course.

Years ago I developed a habit of referring to my students in theatre history as if they were all theatre historians, and I later realized that this was having an interesting effect on classes. It is important for my reader to recognize that virtually no freshman heads to college with dreams of growing up to become a theatre historian; they want to be actors and designers. I have always chosen to ignore this reality and speak to the whole class as theatre historians. The unintended consequence is that I get more buy-in to the work of the class. I have discovered that the little word “we” has the power to reduce the distance between the self-identity of my students and the material as everyone “tries on” the role of theatre historian and investigates the topic together.

#2.  My efforts to be efficient in the use of literary texts in class is teaching students that knowing about a text is the same thing as actually reading it.

To make the most of class time and to offer students exposure to a larger number of dramatic literature, I have been known to assign either 1) part of a text only or 2) a whole text but spend little class time on it in order to stay on schedule. But I realized that these solutions were unintentionally teaching my students that reading part of a text or skimming it is as good as experiencing the whole. I fundamentally believe that knowing “about” a text is not the same thing as having really encountered it, yet my efficient course plan was not teaching that. So I have radically reorganized the syllabus to allow each student the luxury of spending focused time on a whole text.  I use class time to hold seminar-style meetings with a small number of students who have prepared for that day of class by closely reading one dramatic text in its entirety.  The revised course plan is, I think, teaching students the pleasure that can be found in thorough preparation, close reading, and lively discussion of a great text.

#3.  By commenting on written work without asking for the work to be revised, I am teaching that writing is something you’re supposed to do, get right or wrong, and then move past.

Like many of you, I spend a lot of time marking essays and research papers. However, I realized many years ago that when I returned marked papers and moved on, I was unintentionally teaching students that my comments did not matter. The grade mattered, of course, but my comments were mere justification for the grade.  So I began requiring students to rewrite each graded essay and research paper. It is more work for them and for me, but if the point of writing assignments is to strengthen writing, then this is the only thing I see fit to do.

#4. By marking grades on tests with points off rather than points earned I am teaching students that they start with a state of perfection which is then ruined by the testing situation.

I can show a score on a test, quiz, or project in terms of the points earned on a question (+6) or as points lost (-4).  I have realized that there is a philosophical distinction in this simple choice. When I show scores as points earned, it teaches my students that I am grading them on the level of mastery they are showing rather than on what they are getting wrong. This is not an issue of self-esteem building; I am not trying to make my students feel better about themselves. I am trying to teach them what I think is really happening in the learning environment. I want to teach my students to see their knowledge and understanding as something that they are growing and building through coursework.

#5. When I unselfconsciously demonstrate my sincere passion for the scholarly work I do, I am teaching students to be better members of society.

I am convinced that the greatest teaching happens when you and I express our personal (and frequently geeky) passion for the narrow and specific topics in which we specialize. My own shameless enthusiasm for theatre history teaches my students that there are people who dedicate their lives to this discipline, and sharing my current research work in World War I military theatre teaches that my field has nuances that they never dreamed of. The recognition that others can be passionate about things you do not have an interest in (and vice-versa) is at the heart of healthy citizenship, preventing the easy dismissal of people with unfamiliar interests, jobs, and passions.  We have the power to teach intellectual and social compassion through the simple act of sharing our professional enthusiasm in the classroom. That may be the best thing we could possibly teach.

I can only speak about my own realizations, my own recognitions, shortcomings, and occasional triumphs, but I offer these comments in the sincere hope that you will identify with some. And I hope that my true confessions generate a list of your own realizations!

You can access NBC LEARN at http://highered.nbclearn.com and within Blackboard from the “Browse NBC Learn” link, which is located at the bottom of the “Tools” module on the “Home” tab. The NBC Learn resources are available from any computer at Baylor University, or you can login through Blackboard if you would like access these materials from home. These resources are also available to students for use in their research and projects, so please encourage them to use the site.

For a quick introduction to NBC LEARN, there are two videos that you may consider watching:

Brian Williams, NBC Nightly News anchor, discusses the NBC LEARN archive (3 mins)

The NBC LEARN video tour (15 mins)

If you would like to know more about NBC Learn, please contact John Lowe (John_Lowe@baylor.edu) to set up an appointment or look for classes offered through Baylor’s Learning and Leadership site.

by Sandy Bennett
Manager of Online Teaching and Learning, University Libraries-Electronic Libraries

I am writing to remind you and your colleagues of the following faculty development opportunities available to all full-time Baylor faculty members:

Summer Faculty Institute (SFI)

The SFI is a five-week faculty development workshop that runs from the end of May through early July. The purpose of the SFI is to explore elements of teaching, research, service, and collegiality in the context of Baylor’s mission and new strategic vision, Pro Futuris. Activities and discussions include but are not limited to course design and syllabus construction; teaching demonstrations and peer assessments; scholarship, publication, and research agendas; and service paradigms and opportunities.

The 2012 application deadline for the Summer Faculty Institute is November 5. Applications are available at http://blogs.baylor.edu/atl/services/sfi/
Selected participants will receive 20% of their annual salaries up to $10,000.

University Teaching Grants (UTG)

UTG are internal grants designated for teaching development. They support activities that will enhance teaching effectiveness, including attendance at conferences devoted to teaching in one’s discipline; meetings or interviews with an expert in one’s teaching area; participation in a seminar or workshop dedicated to course topics or text/s; and field visits to sites surveyed in one’s course/s.

The remaining 2012-13 application deadlines for UTG are Nov. 9, Feb. 11, and April 10.
Applications are available at http://blogs.baylor.edu/atl/services/utg/
Grant recipients are eligible for $1500 biennially.

Please encourage your faculty colleagues to apply for these valuable faculty development opportunities. If you have questions about SFI, UTG, or other faculty development programs, please contact me via email or by phone (x3412).

Best,
Lenore Wright

In the debate regarding the nature and function of American higher education, Columbia University professor Andrew Delbanco considers both the traditional role of the college as intellectual laboratory as well as the more pragmatic and modern reality of the institution as a professional training ground. College: What It Was, Is, and Should Be reflects observations and concerns that should be entirely familiar to those engaged in teaching and research at the college or university level.  Delbanco examines the changing relationship between the student and the teacher from the earliest days of American higher education to contemporary concerns about the accessibility and cost of post-secondary education.

As a professor of American literature, Delbanco unabashedly argues for the importance of a liberal education.  He draws upon an army of literary, philosophical, and scientific references to support his vision of an effective learning environment that emphasizes interdisciplinary critical thinking over a more closely directed march towards the accumulation of a degree. Tracing the evolution of our university system from its Puritan roots, he views education as an opportunity for students to participate in a community of learning in which they can develop as individuals and contributing members of society. In his analysis of what constitutes the development of the whole student, Delbanco borrows heavily from the Jeffersonian ideal of education’s civic obligation to “help [students] develop certain qualities of mind and heart requisite for reflective citizenship.” To counteract what Delbanco sees as an unfortunate commercializing of the learning process and its emphasis upon grades over knowledge, he relies upon John Henry Newman’s and Ralph Waldo Emerson’s assertions that contemplation is essential to the deepening of understanding. Contemplation is imperative to the growth of the individual because “knowledge of the past helps us to think critically about the present.” In our current educational crisis, the opportunity for diverse and well-rounded study is rapidly dwindling, and is increasingly regarded as wasteful of both time and money.

The ATL hosted its first Open House on August 30, 2012. Faculty from across Baylor’s campus enjoyed refreshments while visiting with one another and learning about the ATL’s many programs and resources. Dr. Lenore Wright, the ATL’s Interim Director, described her vision for the year ahead under the banner of the center’s mission: “inspiring a community of learning.” Together with ATL Interim Assistant Director Ashley Palmer, Dr. Wright proceeded to announce the center’s newest cohorts of Baylor Fellows and Graduate Fellows.

The program continued with brief spotlights of ATL programs and initiatives offered by various faculty affiliates. Dr. Darin Davis announced a monthly faculty luncheon series entitled “Engaging Faith: Teaching and Learning at Baylor,” presented by the ATL in conjunction with the Institute for Faith and Learning. Other programs and resources showcased included the Provost’s Faculty Forum (Dr. Kevin Dougherty, Sociology), the Summer Faculty Institute (Dr. Tom Hanks, English), University Teaching Grants (Dr. Julie Sweet, History), and the popular Seminars for Excellence in Teaching.

For more information regarding these and other ATL programs, please see the ATL’s website or contact the ATL.

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We have been abuzz with activity in the Academy for Teaching and Learning(ATL). How active have we been? 382 instructors attended our falland spring Seminars for Excellence in Teaching (SET), one of six teaching development programs in the ATL. That number is exciting for lots of reasons. For one, it signifies the commitment to excellence in teaching on our campus—your commitment to excellence in teaching.

Lenore Wright,
Interim Director

Thanks to the generous leadership of Ed Burger, Vice Provost for Strategic Educational Initiatives, junior and senior faculty members have engaged in discussions about (and observations of) teaching throughout the academic year. These colleagues, participants in the Jr. Faculty Gathering and the Baylor Fellows programs, have spent time reflecting on various teaching-related topics, including sources of inspiration for teaching, creative assignments and activities in the classroom, and innovations in teaching techniques. I believe Ed’s legacy of outstanding teaching will live on at Baylor in the programs and people he has shaped during his tenure here.

I could describe other teaching development activities in the ATL—the Summer Faculty Institute, University Teaching Grants, teaching assessments—but I won’t. Instead, let me say a word about the learning component of the ATL’s mission: “To Support and Inspire a Flourishing Community of Learning.” We teach so that our students will learn; we learn, in part, so that we are better equipped to teach. In this summer edition of the Spark, a quarterly newsletter produced by the ATL, contributing authors remind us that teaching and learning are yoked activities. I hope you enjoy their insightful contributions as much as I do, and I encourage you to join in the exciting teaching (and learning) opportunities available through the ATL in the coming academic year. Let’s continue to inspire a flourishing community of learning together.

Highest Regards,

Lenore Wright