As someone who spent several years in a corporate job, I have experienced firsthand the need for employees with strong rhetoric and communication skills. I am now in a position to help foster those skills in my students who are preparing to enter the workforce. While there may not be time for students to completely master a genre or group of genres in any single course, my aim has always been to help all students who take my classes leave with the resources and skills they need to adapt to different real-world communication situations. To create a classroom environment that helps students develop these resources and skills, I emphasize two areas. First, I emphasize the importance of focusing writing around audiences or users. Second, I stress connection to the larger communities of which students are part, including the immediate classroom community. In emphasizing these areas, I want my students to recognize real-world potential in classroom communication situations and make connections.
Click here to download my complete teaching philosophy:
Click here to download my complete teaching philosophy:
Courses I have designed and taught
Click on course for sample syllabus
Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 2018-present
Research in Professional Writing (Engl 203)
Multimedia Writing (Engl 419)
Professional Writing Practicum9 (Engl 505, graduate course co-taught with director of Purdue Professional Writing)
Technical Writing (Engl 421 - taught in person and online)
Business Writing (Engl 420, taught in person and online)
Introductory Composition (Engl 106)
Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, 2005-2007
Introductory Composition (Engl 150)
Technology-focused Introductory Composition (Engl 150)
Teaching Awards
Quintilian Award, Graduate Teaching, Purdue University, 2019
Ed M. and Minnie Berry Rowe Award, Graduate Teaching, Brigham Young University, 2007
Link to Sample Assignments
Link to Course Evaluations
Link to Sample Student Feedback