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news
CSULB conquers
teacher quality
By Ayako Ando
On-line Forty-Niner
When Elizabeth
Morse, a faculty member of the dance department at Cal State
Long Beach, was asked whether CSULB has higher quality of
teaching, she said with confidence that yes, it really does.
Morse said many
people hear or speak good things about the dance department
at CSULB because the department and its faculty members are
taking great care of their students.
"The department
has a policy to change the faculty members every once in a
while, so that we always have new ideas and new dance movements
for students," Morse said. "Also, all the faculty
members in the dance department are really working with their
students, knowing what's happening in their bodies."
Morse said she
takes any criticism about her teaching style and quality and
personally tries to modify the movements according to her
students' physical conditions.
"Even though
the method of teaching differs, all the faculty members have
the same goal: To improve students' techniques," Morse
said. "And our students really understand it through
our efforts."
Timothy Caron,
an associate professor of English who has been teaching for
14 years in three different universities including CSULB,
also thinks CSULB has a high quality of teaching compared
to other universities.
"We have high
teaching quality because we focus on students as the center
of what we are doing, and faculty also recognize it and are
ready to help students," Caron said.
Caron said he explaines
his expectations and goals early in the semester to avoid
any misunderstandings with his students.
"A professor's
teaching style may not fit with a student's learning style,
so I am trying to do the things that I am good at," Caron
said.
To add variety,
Caron has never received any critical comments on the course
evaluation sheets because he thinks that he tried hard to
explain not only what his students are doing and why they
are doing, so his students understand Caron and his teaching
style well.
"For a high
quality of teaching, I stimulate my students to feel involved,"
Caron said. "I also try to create atmosphere that everyone
feels welcomed and valued, and that all ideas are respected."
Tim Xie, professor
in the department of Asian & Asian American studies also
assures CSULB of its high quality of teaching.
"I think CSULB's
high quality of teaching comes from the supports of the administrative
departments," Xie said. "Administrative departments
not only prepare computer services and library for students,
but also give professors opportunities to join a lot of conferences
in many different places. CSULB gives teachers chances to
learn more, then gives them chances to teach well."
Xie has realized,
in his nearly 30 years of teaching, that teaching foreign
languages such as Chinese can bring a lot of problems between
teachers and students.
Therefore Xie said
he always asks his students if he is going too fast or not,
as he is respecting to his students' learning style.
If some complaints
arose, Xie said he would try to rethink what he did and what
he should have done, and would think if he can adjust the
way of teaching for his students if it was his fault and wasn't
students' misunderstanding.
"Teachers
and students need to understand each other, so the communication
is very important for high quality of teaching," Xie
said.
"My teaching
point is treating students not just as students but as friends."
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