Team teaching broadens horizons
Campus Times
December 6, 1996
Dr. Steven Sayles, professor of history, and Dr. George Keeler, associate
professor of journalism, team up to teach War and the Mass Media. Junior
Christie Reed, senior Josh Sherod, senior Marcia Boyd, junior Wendy Lau
and sophomore Sonia Amezquita participate in discussion. Dr. Sayles focuses
on the history of war and its effects, while Dr. Keeler focuses on the mass
media's involvement and influence. This is one of three team-taught classes
offered this semester.
For students who have demonstrated exceptional academic achievement,
the University of La Verne Honors Program is offered to provide even greater
opportunities for intellectual and personal growth. Team teaching allows
students the opportunity to learn from two different disciplines in one
course.
Participants in the Honors Program can enhance and enrich their undergraduate
experience by participating in mentor relationships with faculty and distinguished
alumni, receive specialized academic advising and be involved in enrichment
activities around campus such as seminars and field trips.
There are also four interdisciplinary seminars offered to students in
the program. These seminars are team-taught by professors from different
areas of the curriculum.
"There is an expectation in the honors program that you are a leader-that
is why they (the team-taught classes) are taught in small, interactive seminars,"
said Dr. George Keeler, associate professor of journalism.
One seminar taught this semester is "War and the Mass Media,"
with Dr. Stephen Sayles, professor of history, and Dr. Keeler.
The course illustrates for the students the mass of contradictions for
the human as a lover of peace and a wager of war by utilizing the tools
of the journalist and the historians' craft. This combination works to show
how war has affected the course of contemporary human development.
"It is my hope that we have learned from war and have come to appreciate
peace," said Dr. Keeler. "We have learned from history that each
war sets up the next war and from the journalistic side, that newspapers
and magazines of the day can cause a war or stop a war depending on the
individual reporters."
The "War and Mass Media" course will be completed by Dr. Keeler
since Dr. Sayles had open heart surgery in late November.
While the Honors Program has offered the team-taught courses since its
creation, courses in the new general education requirements also call for
such courses.
One course, formerly offered in the Honors Program, scheduled now as
a core course for the general education requirements is "The Human
Condition: Politics and Film." This course will be team-taught by Don
Pollock, associate professor of communications and Dr. Richard Gelm, associate
professor of political science.
This course is now offered as part of the new general education standards
and is offered to all students. Two areas in particular of the new general
education requirement that is focused on team teaching is the "The
Human Condition" courses and the "Toward a Sustainable Planet"
courses.
"Politics and Film" balances two different disciplines. This
course uses the themes, eras movements and political periods of the 20th
Century in the United States to examine filmmaking through that period.
"There are different facets of human life. 'The Human Condition'
takes history and shows that it is not isolated. The two disciplines each
bring new insights," said Dr. Gelm.
"It shows how politics is impacted with Hollywood and the ways
they interact," he said.
Because this course is not limited to Honors students, one current challenge
is keeping the size to a number comparable to the seminar format. The class
is limited to 25 students. The format of the class will include watching
a film and having a discussion afterwards.
Dr. Gelm has been considering topics such as labor unions and civil
rights, among others.
Pollock and Dr. Gelm both said they learned from each other while teaching
the class.
"It's always interesting to work with someone else. Richard is
very knowledgeable about politics and political movements and I'm there
as a student learning myself," said Pollock.
"I learned a tremendous amount from him. I hope the students got
as much out of it as we did," said Dr. Gelm.
He added that the possibilities are almost endless as to which disciplines
could be taught together.
"I could see politics and religion, politics and economics, or
politics and science," he said.
Another advantage of team teaching is that students cannot possibly
take every course or a course from every discipline and this type of seminar
course offers students a broad view of two different disciplines.
"Interdisciplinary courses offer individual pursuit in areas of
interest of the student. We hope they build a niche or an area of expertise
throughout the courses," said Dr. Keeler.