Category: Foundation Courses

Instructor Spotlight: Dixon Discusses Learning Links, Helping Students Find their Confidence, and Working through Challenges

Brenna Dixon, Associate Teaching Professor and Learning Community English Links Coordinator, came to ISU in 2009 as a graduate student in the MFA program and has been teaching Foundations courses ever since (along with Advance Communication courses, fiction workshops, teaching methodologies and independent studies)! She is responsible for coordinating and supporting the Learning Community English Links … Continue reading Instructor Spotlight: Dixon Discusses Learning Links, Helping Students Find their Confidence, and Working through Challenges

CATEGORIES: Foundation Courses

ENGL 250 Teaching Tip: Rhetorical Analysis

Ryan Everett, RPC Ph.D. student, pushes his students to consider the rhetorical situation with every module in ENGL 250, but for many students, it is the Rhetorical Analysis module where it really clicks. Regardless of the selected medium for this assignment, instructors can encourage students to think about the elements of the rhetorical situation, not … Continue reading ENGL 250 Teaching Tip: Rhetorical Analysis

CATEGORIES: Foundation Courses

ENGL 150 Teaching Tip: Profile

In the first half of the second week of the profile module (when students are brainstorming people to interview/week six), Natalie Meyer, Associate Teaching Professor, shows her students an interview with the serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer and analyzes Stone Phillips’ interview skills. She asks students to discuss what they can learn from the interview to … Continue reading ENGL 150 Teaching Tip: Profile

CATEGORIES: Foundation Courses

New TA Q&A: Collet & Dehghanian

Carina Collet Fatemeh Dehghanian What do you wish your students knew about you? Carina: I wish that my students knew how much I enjoy it when they stop by my office hours! Fatemeh: I am more playful than they are! What one word would your students use to describe you? Carina: Hopefully “passionate” Fatemeh: … Continue reading New TA Q&A: Collet & Dehghanian

CATEGORIES: Foundation Courses

Instructor Spotlight: Dr. Sharma Leads with Gratitude, Relevance & A Focus on Her Students

Dr. Manisha Sharma’s favorite teaching moments are those when she actually fades into the background, with her students becoming the center of the classroom, overtaken by student learning. “It could be anyone else teaching that content, it shouldn’t matter; what should be paramount is the learning that’s happening and the engagement of students,” says Manisha, … Continue reading Instructor Spotlight: Dr. Sharma Leads with Gratitude, Relevance & A Focus on Her Students

CATEGORIES: Foundation Courses

Letter from the Director

Dear all, The more I hear about machines, the more I want to connect with people. Don’t get me wrong—I’m excited to learn how tools like ChatGPT might support the work of teaching writing and learning to write. But, for me, humans are at the center of our work. And isn’t writing one of the … Continue reading Letter from the Director