Dr. Stephen R. Shoemake: BIO

Dr. Stephen Shoemake earned his Doctorate of Arts in Biology degree from Idaho State University in 1998. Now tenured faculty in the Sciences at WWCC, he has taught Biology and Anatomy & Physiology for more than 27 years to aspiring nurses, scientists, and learners of all kinds. Not a farmer, Steve nonetheless lives out in the country on 18 acres that his neighbors lease to raise heifers and grow crops. His wife (who is a Microbiologist), his daughter (of course…an artist), his two dogs and one cat just enjoy the quiet and the space. �

Besides the Seahawks, Teaching is Steve’s other passion. Recently, he became the Faculty Canvas Support Specialist in the Center for Integrated Learning. This role was created with him in mind, and through it he dedicates himself to supporting a new constituency – Faculty – as they use Canvas and continue to develop ways to support student learning across modalities and in all courses. As it turns out, you can learn as much from Faculty as you can from students.

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Requests for You

My requests for you:

• Feel free to ask questions/comment throughout.

• If I don’t comment on something, ask.

• Be nice to the Newbie. I will depend on Alissa to help me monitor the chat/hands up and interrupt where appropriate

The Problem: Pre-COVID

Are students getting worse?

• Less willing to study enough?

• Less able to study effectively?

• Less willing to commit to their education?

• More anxiety/less confidence concerning abilities.

During COVID

• ALL OF THE ABOVE GOT WORSE

• Confounding Factor: It is NOT right to assume that modern students will be more comfortable using the tech they will need to at a distance.

SOLUTION? Assumptions

Assumptions I ran with:

• I didn’t forget how to teach at some point in the last 27 years.

• I can continue to complain, or I can try to do something to better serve my students.

• Areas of emphasis for improvement:

• Strategies to increase student engagement with me, the material, and each other.

• Providing explicit guidance as to HOW to excel in this course.

• Strategies to ease navigation and/or �facilitate rapid feedback.

Strategies: Engagement 1

• Onboarding for the technology

Strategies: Engagement 2

• Surviving A&P I: Humanizing the prof and the course

Aside: The 6 C’s

• 6 Characteristics of an excellent Nurse (Student)

Care

Compassion

Competence

Communication

Courage

Commitment

Strategies: Engagement 3

• Surviving A&P I: Humanizing the prof and the course

Strategies: More Engagement

• Humanizing the prof II: Plea for engagement

• Zoom and in person office hours
• Posting of complete schedule/modes of contact
• Addition of Zoom (1on1) Link via Redirect Link

• Part of onboarding involves explicit instruction on how to study for Anatomy & Physiology.

• Asynchronous but frequent contact through email, announcements, and recorded lectures.

• Engagement with the material: Rapid feedback with rubrics/keys available upon turn-in of quizzes and assignments.

Strategies: Engagement

• Attention paid to navigation and resources

• Frequently used information is easy to navigate (Test challenge procedure, Exam schedules, due dates) --- HOME formatted for Cell phone

• Daily schedule, alternate content, resources a few clicks away

Show and Tell

A&P I Home Page

What’s Next?

• How do you assess student engagement?

• Did implementation of these things make a difference? How to assess…

Resources/Links

LINKS�BIOL&241: Anatomy & Physiology I (Canvas Commons)�BIOL&241: Anatomy & Physiology I (Viewing Link)�Surviving Anatomy & Physiology (PowerPoint Intro.)

Engagement Survey�This slide show

Steve’s contact information�Dr. Stephen R. Shoemake

Instructor, Walla Walla Community College

500 Tausick Way, Building D

Walla Walla, Washington 99362

Stephen.Shoemake@wwcc.edu�(509)527-4643

Thanks.

Many thanks to

Gwen Bloomsburg

and

Scott McLean

QUESTIONS or SUGGESTIONS?