Faculty Testimonials
Faculty members are making use of Media Center Services and Media Classrooms in exciting and creative ways. Read what some have to say. Want to share your own experiences? E-mail us your thoughts.
In my Media Literacy classes this semester, in discussing the power of images and memory, I asked the students to use Photoshop to construct a collage
of images of 9/11 and of Katrina, paying attention to size and location of the elements. For the next assignment, students had to make a photomontage
about themselves, then decide what sounds would accompany them. Lee Walis (Media Center) came in to teach Cool Edit, and now each student has composed a
2-3 minute soundtrack of their life as depicted in the photomontage.
In my Gender, Culture, Comm class I asked to move into a smart classroom from the assigned room so that it's always possible to use a website, a video,
a DVD, etc. In a recent class debate about raising children with gender expectations, both sides brought in movies to play to support their arguments.
Right now, I'm researching audio archives to find material that will bring the voices of feminist pioneers into the classroom. We've also been watching
a film that's integral to discussions about gender issues.
In Writing for the Media, there are always articles to search for: examples of great and atrocious writing, websites to explore, and samples of writing
to project on the document cam.
In previous semesters students in Media Lit presented PowerPoints for their midterm deconstructions of the presidential election, and powerpoint
sequences of photographs to create a "mini-movie." They also used the tv studios to devise and revise evening television news. I really don't know
what-or how-I'd do if all of this technology didn't exist, as it's vital in my students lives and in my life as a teacher.
Karen Michel
Visiting Assistant Professor, Communication and the Arts
The Marist Media Center helped us with the production of a video lead-in to
a regional competition featuring four accounting majors. They took the time
to understand the rules of the competition, as well as provide feedback to
the students on how well they would look on camera. They also provided creative
suggestions and feedback on our ideas. The sound and video quality was excellent.
They were also very timely in getting the finished product to us. We placed first
in the regional competition, and advanced to the national finals.
Robert Walsh
Associate Professor of Accounting, School of Management
The media classrooms are great. While it's been a challenge to integrate
Power Point Presentations, videos, and hands-on classroom activities
within a class session, the results have been effective and fun.
John F. McAdam, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Mathematics Education
Last summer I created videos for on-demand streaming for a distance
freshman-writing course. I was able to integrate the video content with
the PowerPoint content and the student samples. Student response to the
videos was positive. They felt that the videos enhanced their learning
experience by making the lecture content come alive. I was pleased to
see that students referenced the video content in the planning stages of
their papers.
Victoria Sarkisian
Coordinator, Linguistic Studies, Academic Learning Center
Can you imagine a quantitative subject such as finance be fully discussed
in class solely through Powerpoint slides where each slide is shown
step-by-step along with animations, entertaining metaphors, video clips,
music clips, and cartoons? If you enjoy this setting, then join me in one
of my classes.
Kavous Ardalan
Associate Professor, Finance
I am making the conversion from using slides for class presentations to
using digital images. What a difference it makes to have images with
clean, clear colors, instead of slides that are easily misplaced and fade
rapidly over the years; the potential to develop more visually
interesting presentations; and (no small thing!) also to teach my classes
without having to compete with the noise of the slide projectors.
Jan Mainzer, Ph.D.
Art and Art History
Media classrooms contribute to a more efficient course experience, in
terms of teacher preparation and student learning. They allow us to bring
web-based and other electronic resources into the classroom, so students
can interact with a multitude of media. The diversity in content delivery
methods (e.g., print, audio, video, web-based) allows me to create more
dynamic lessons. The ability to connect to a network allows me to store
files remotely and access them right before class starts, thus reducing
class preparation time. But above all, the increased level of student
engagement keeps me requesting the media classrooms every semester!
Tina Royal
Director of Technology Assisted Learning
When I was considering applying for a sabbatical, the director of the
media department and the staff of the department supplied the support and
encouragement I needed to submit a proposal that involved the videotaping
of clinical material through a microscope and the digital editing of over
6 1/2 hours of tape into a coherent, professional product. The resulting
tape and DVD has been used by our Medical Technology students in
laboratories as a teaching and study aid. The program has allowed me to
make clinical material available to students that I was previously unable
to provide. The program was presented at an international meeting and a
presentation was made at a national meeting instructing other Medical
Laboratory professionals in the process of producing clinical teaching
materials using digital editing. A paper was accepted and published,
authored by both the current director of the media department and myself,
in a top laboratory medicine journal.
Robert J. Sullivan, Ph.D., MT(ASCP)
Associate Professor, Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences
