Building bridges to better learning outcomes can be an important way to engage students in the material they are learning.

This is how Faculty Center for Innovative Teaching director candidate James Therrell approaches learning.

Therrell, the third FaCIT candidate has implemented some of his ideas in his current position at Northwestern Oklahoma State University in Alva, Okla.

An open forum was held Monday in the Charles V. Park Library Strosacker Room. His role, should he be hired, would be to help professors evaluate themselves and advise them on how to best teach their students.

“I start with this concept of ‘obuchenie,’” Therrell said.

It involves combining teaching and learning as one integrated process, he said.

One instance of this concept Therrell uses is something he calls the “M and M’s,” or most meaningful reading. Here, he asks his students to read an entire chapter of something and tell him what the most meaningful part is.

“A lot of times, a student will read a whole chapter but take no meaning from it,” he said. “I’ve implemented this in my classes and told other teachers I know about it, and they’ve all loved it.”

Therrell believes that the amount of challenge in the workload also affects the way students are engaged.

“I see kids dropping out of high schools, and colleges not retaining (students) because the content isn’t meaningful to them,” Therrell said. “We have to ask: is this too complex, too simple or just the right challenge level?”

He said teachers should show the students how to use the info they are processing.

“We are in the age of synthesis,” Therrell said. “Teach them to take the info and actually do something with it.”

Therrell is interviewing on five core values. He emphasizes respect, responsiveness, openness, collaboration and relationships.

“Anybody who asks me why I’m here, it’s all about the people.”

Therrell also is operating on a four-part mission.

He wants to identify current desires for faculty, create a timely avenue for development, link the values to meaningful avenues and opportunities, and encourage actionable links between teaching practices and learning outcomes.

In order to accomplish these things, Therrell believes you need face your competition.

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, kids spend 45 hours a week on TV, music, video games and instant messaging, he said.

“These are your future students. If you’re not as good as your competition, they may tune you out,” he said.

Information compiled by Staff Reporter Griffin Fraley.

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