Interview with Web Drake, Communication Arts - recipient of the Teaching and Learning Grant-Course Redesign/Development

1. Briefly describe what you did with your Teaching and Learning Grant.

I was able to use the grant to develop and teach a course on persuasion in the Spring semester. First, I purchased a variety of books, both textbooks and scholarly volumes, on the subject. Then, I consulted via telephone, internet, and personal discussion with several experts in the field. I was then ready to teach the class. I think the class went well for the first time I had taught it.

2. How was your teaching and your students’ learning enhanced by this grant?

This was a new class. The grant allowed me to build my library concerning the subject and thus increase the students’ learning opportunities. I was also able to bring the experience of several veteran professors to bear on the new class. I developed a reading list, a variety of learning exercises, assignments, and even lectures thanks in some part to the teaching and learning grant.

3. How did (or might) this grant award lead to other opportunities to further develop your teaching and enhance learning?

This was the initial offering of a class which will be taught every other year from now on. It will be required for the Speech Major and Minor and the Advertising Major. As I teach the class repeatedly and become more and more comfortable with the literature on the subject, the class will become better and better.