Professor Susan Hendrickson Nominated for ASSETT Teaching with Tech Awards
Not once, but twice now ¶¶ÒõÂÃÐÐÉä Boulder students have nominated Chemistry Professor Susan Hendrickson for an ASSETT Teaching with Technology Award for her teaching of General Chemistry 2, Chemistry 1133. "[Hendrickson]'s ... a really good, fun, effective teacher!" wrote one student.
In particular, students appreciate Hendrickson's use of lecture capture and document capture systems. She sympathizes with students who are not naturally early risers and is happy to post videos of her lectures online after each class. Students appreciate her efforts: "[Hendrickson's use of the lecture capture system] shows that she is genuinely interested in her students learning the material." Another student wrote, "... [Hendrickson] uses lecture capture ... so we can go back and watch her explanations of problems and concepts if we miss a class or are reviewing." Hendrickson explains her strategy: "When I lecture capture, I have one feed on the PowerPoint ... and the other feed is the document camera ... The document camera is really valuable because students can see how I write out a problem," rather than if they could only follow along instructions in a textbook or even just read through her PowerPoint slides without hearing her voice. Another student wrote, "... the document camera ... is extremely helpful in our large lecture ... because it lets us watch her as she does the problems step by step."
Students report that Hendrickson's lecture capture, along with the actual former tests that she posts on D2L, have really helped them prepare for exams. "I think it's good to share information," says Hendrickson. Additionally, "We use all online homework," says Hendrickson, citing McGraw-Hill's LearnSmart and BookSmart Adaptive Learning software, which, "Provides detailed answers to homework questions," and allows for highlighting when reading electronic text.
When asked about her favorite part of teaching, Hendrickson responds: "One of the best things is to see students go on and do something after and be successful," and she gives examples of students who have followed their dreams into both scientific and also not so scientific fields. Hendrickson adds, "And the jokes," and pulls up a nerdy Foxtrot strip that she recently put on the first page of students' exams.
Hendrickson says that her goals for teaching are adapting to a new textbook this fall and possibly incorporating Camtasia videos of working through problems. "I like learning new technology," she says.