archive

Faculty Spotlight Nomination

Twice each semester the Faculty Center for Ignatian Pedagogy features a Faculty Spotlight. The Faculty Spotight showcases a Loyola faculty member who has a project or methodology that exemplifies outstanding teaching practice. Nominate a faculty colleague or yourself to be recognized.

PARTICIPATE

Title:

Senior Lecturer, Biology and Director of the Undergraduate Program, LUC Department of Biology

Dr. Patrick Duffie has been a member of Loyola University Chicago’s Department of Biology for twenty-six years. Over the course of this period, he has always recognized the immense value of student diversity to the teaching process and experience.

“My elementary school, junior high, high school, and college were all very homogenous, I think, in terms of the student population. So it wasn’t until I came to Chicago, and Loyola in particular, that I really got exposed to a lot of different people. That, I’ve found, is the most interesting aspect of Loyola. Just hearing where kids are from, what they do, what their backgrounds are, what they’re bringing to Loyola...it makes every semester interesting.”

Because many of his students are freshmen, Dr. Duffie strives to create an academic environment that is “relaxed and comfortable” but also pervaded by enthusiasm for the discipline. Hence, Duffie models his pedagogical practices upon those of the teachers whose courses he most enjoyed and found beneficial:

“In terms of teaching practices, I try to teach the way it has worked for me. I try to show the students that this can be fun, lecture class can be fun. I want participation, which is sometimes hard in biology when our classes get a little bit larger, but I want students to feel like they can approach me. Because I predominantly teach freshmen, I try to instill in them an enjoyment for the course so they can build a good foundation and like what they’re doing. I’ve always tried to make it relaxed, interesting, and not the end of the world because Biology One and Biology Two are just the beginning.”

Hence, Dr. Duffie has effectively combined a vehement enthusiasm for his discipline and students with a fervent commitment to Loyola University Chicago's Ignatian principles and mission of global progress. Such a combination is to be celebrated particularly as Dr. Duffie reaches his twenty-sixth anniversary of service to Loyola in 2016.

Patrick Duffie

Title: Senior Lecturer, Biology and Director of the Undergraduate Program, LUC Department of Biology

Interview by Andrew Kelly

Student Worker, Faculty Center for Ignatian Pedagogy

Title:

Instructor, Department of English

Loyola website:

http://luc.edu/english/writinginstructors/alysonpaigewarren.shtml

Alyson Paige Warren obtained her MFAW from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and applies her expertise in creative writing both in her capacity as an Adjunct Instructor in Loyola’s Department of English and as a writer and illustrator of children’s books.

“I’ve definitely been a reader and a writer for as long as I can remember.”

As a member of the English Department, Alyson emphasizes the central role of student involvement in her teaching and assessment practices.

“I consider myself a constructivist. I want to teach the students what they are here to learn and make them a part of that process. I know that listening and being available to students is part of Ignatian pedagogy. I try to be available to them in as many ways as possible and also to support them in as many ways as possible.”

Essential to this effort, Alyson contends, is her employment of a wide variety of “alternative teaching practices” designed to allow students to “engage with the writing process in a new way”.

“I have a heavy online presence with regard to my use of Sakai. I tend to use multiple sign systems in the classroom, anything from listening to podcasts, to watching TED talks, to engaging in performance and debate.”

Such practices, Alyson elucidates, allow her courses to remain dynamic and engaging to her students, whose active involvement in the pedagogical process “keeps the courses fresh… and developing”.

“I think it’s a kind of trap to think that education is a passive process and the professor is just there to dump all this information in your head and you either take it in or you don’t. For me, it’s really about teaching people how to think and exposing them to things.”

This pedagogical philosophy, and its emphasis of active student engagement, has been favorably received, both in the classroom and in evaluations, by those Alyson teaches.

“My evaluations are wonderful; I get really positive feedback from students. I really let them know how important their constructive criticism and feedback are to me, and that, again, is part of Ignatian pedagogy”.

Indeed, Alyson’s commitment to Ignatian pedagogy, and its elemental mission of social justice, further informs her educational practices.

“I encourage my students to be active civil students, civil servants, and members of the community, and I really seek to model in how aware I am of what’s going on with them, in their world, and in the world in general. I believe that education can be transformative. I believe that literature can be transformative. I believe that writing can be transformative. I think that by illustrating to my students that I love what we’re doing, that I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else, I’m able to share with them my passion for things that have transformed me and I hope will transform them.”

Interview by Andrew Kelly,

Student Worker, Faculty Center for Ignatian Pedagogy

David Doherty

Title:

Associate Professor, Department of Political Science

For six years now, Dr. David Doherty has been a contributing member of Loyola’s Department of Political Science. He loves his two kids, playing the accordion (although, admittedly, not very well), and everything that the population and campus of Loyola has to offer. His love of teaching undeniably shines through when he speaks of his profession.

“One of the things that I like about Loyola is that we’re encouraged as faculty to engage in both research and teaching, so in the classroom I try to integrate those two things. I try to engage students with some of the research that I’m doing or that other scholars are doing and introduce them to how we go about trying to answer questions that we then end up teaching in the classroom.”

Integration of research into the classroom is important to Dr. Doherty. He believes that obtaining classroom knowledge and real world experience are both equally vital when it comes to the professional world, as well as everyday life.

“I think the [skills we develop] are tied to our ability to answer questions about the world. If we want to change the world, we need to understand how the world works. We need to understand what kind of policies or inventions might improve the world, and trying to develop an understanding of how to systematically go about answering those questions is one way that I think students can become more prepared to act effectively in the world.”

Dr. Doherty has found that many students gravitate more towards this research-based learning in his politics classes, and some even follow up with him later in hopes to educate themselves further on the subject matter. It is obvious that he is able to make a real connection with his students; they enjoy his class just as much as he enjoys teaching it.

“My primary area of expertise is public opinion research, so I teach a class on that every couple of years and I really enjoy that. It’s an opportunity to share some of my greatest strengths, in terms of some of the topics I’m [best] at. It’s a topic that I think students really engage with because it’s familiar. It’s sort of thinking about how people think; we all have models in our mind about how people make decisions about politics, and to work through some attempts to understand that more systematically is rewarding for me—and I think for the students, too.”

Interview and write up by Mia Sciarrone

Student Worker, Faculty Center for Ignatian Pedagogy