Tips from the AEJMC Teaching Committee

Honing your teaching skills using the 2009 convention teaching committee sponsored sessions

(Article courtesy of AEJMC News, July 2009 issue)

At my first few AEJMC conventions, I presented my papers and then went to every research panel I could, trying to get ahead on my scholarly agenda. I made the mistake of overlooking the wide variety of panels and workshops that could help me hone my teaching skills.

As you flip through your convention program, check out the outstanding teaching sessions sponsored by AEJMC’s division and interest groups. Sheri Broyles, a member of the AEJMC elected Standing Committee on Teaching, is compiling a list of teaching-oriented activities to help you find these gems. That list will be available for pick-up near the registration desk at the convention.

The AEJMC Teaching Committee also is sponsoring three sessions in Boston designed to bring out the best in all journalism and mass communication educators. All sessions are open and no pre-registration is required.

A roundtable session, “So many projects, so little time: Faculty concerns over balancing teaching, research, service and life,” set for Friday 8:15 to 9:45 a.m. Administrators and veteran faculty members will discuss the stress of earning tenure, work-life challenges for a parent, and how to say no while not alienating your colleagues or chair. The session will start with brief remarks by each panelist. Participants at the interactive session will then have their anonymous questions answered by the panel members.

An interactive small-group discussion session, “The doctors are in,” set for Thursday from 1:30 to 3 p.m. This teaching consultation session, now in its third year, is billed as “where speed dating meets group therapy, all in the name of better teaching.” At the session, participants choose one of five tables, each with its own topic, and participate in a small group discussion, sharing ideas and tips with a moderator. Every 20 minutes the chimes will sound and participants can move to another area. Tables will discuss teaching diversity, using online teaching tools, student evaluations, the Fulbright program, and preparing a teaching portfolio.

A panel presentation highlighting the winners of our “Best Practices in Teaching Diversity” competition, set for Wednesday from 11:45 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. The top six entries of the 30 we received in the 2009 Best Practices competition will present their ideas, which range from short activities for any class to full course designs on diversity-related topics. Winning entries include: “Civic engagement, new media and journalism: A template for the organic incorporation of diversity into a new journalism curriculum” by Joel Beeson, West Virginia; “Professor for a day,” by Lisa E. Baker Webster, Radford; and “Voices of Utah” by Kimberley Mangun, Utah.

In addition to these open sessions, the Teaching Committee will train incoming teaching chairs for the divisions and interest groups on Saturday from 8:15 to 9:45 a.m. If you are in line to be elected a teaching chair, please plan to stay in Boston through Saturday morning for this session.

By Jennifer Greer,
University of Alabama
AEJMC Teaching Committee