Summer Teaching Stories
Published Summer 2022
The CMA building is quiet during summer evenings.
Mostly.
On a recent evening in late June, one corner of CMA’s 6th floor bursts with energy, as students in Dr. Erin Reilly’s Immersive Hack Lab prepare for presenting their group projects. Over the next three hours, flowers play music, Greek gods offer advice, and virtual cars careen off the virtual sidewalk. The class is small, hands-on, and laser-focused on giving students the opportunity to experiment.
Experimentation and focus are hallmarks of Moody summer classes, said RTF Associate Professor of Instruction Ben Bays. That’s not just the case for students—faculty, too, get the chance to experiment with teaching strategies.
A shorter timeline for instruction means faculty must put on their “self-editing hats” and get creative, as journalism lecturer and Knight Center Associate Director Mallary Tenore describes it.
“To be a good self-editor, you have to determine the most essential elements of whatever you're writing about, and you need to be mindful of your word count,” Tenore said. For course planning, that means figuring out what assignments and lectures carry the most weight for student learning outcomes and orienting the shorter course around them. In Tenore’s Journalism Practices class, she mixes lectures with writing workshops, peer review sessions, student presentations, and weekly guest speaker discussions.
Even though the pacing of a summer course is faster, “students adapt to it effortlessly,” said Bays, who is teaching two web-based classes (Comics and Cartoons, and Video Game Production).
Students can be more motivated during the summer, he added: Because they are enrolled in fewer courses, students can devote more energy and attention to each one.
“It’s the perfect time to take (and teach) digital media production courses,” Bays said.