Engelhard Blog

April 10, 2012

Engelhard Professors Donoghue and Stiles recognized for teaching

Faculty Fellows are given the 2012 Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching

March 15, 2012

Engelhard Fellow featured at Shift Series

Sarah Stiles talks about her Engelhard course on social entrepreneurship

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Department of BiologyMaria Donoghue

As an Engelhard Fellow, Maria has established close and trusting relationships with her biology students and worked to demystify afflictions such as mood disorders by breaking them down and analyzing them biologically.

To learn more about Maria's involvement in the Engelhard Project, expand the sections below.

Maria's Engelhard Experience

"By talking about the biology of a mood disorder in class, it sends a message to students that this is a problem like any other problem...you demystify it."

Since arriving at Georgetown in 2006, Assistant Professor of Biology Maria Donoghue has sought to establish strong connections with her undergraduate students, acting on her mantra that teaching is a partnership. "My students need to trust and respect me and I need to trust and respect them," remarked Donoghue.

The Engelhard Project has certainly helped her to this end. Donoghue credits the project with helping her students - both biology majors and non-majors - find some "common ground" with her, resulting in a much closer and deeper student-teacher partnership.

Donoghue, who has infused wellness issues into the content of both her advanced undergraduate neurobiology course and a general-education course called an Issues Approach to Biology, has incorporated visits from campus professionals on infectious disease, addiction and mood disorders. The mood disorders unit proved particularly important to students' personal lives, Donoghue said.

"It brought up so many questions about the biology, and it turns out that many, many students have either had a mood problem themselves or have a family member - or, what is even more important, a friend here at school - who has struggled with one. By talking about the biology of a mood disorder in class, it sends a message to students that this is a problem like any other problem...you demystify it."

After the health professional visits the class and presents on the wellness topic, she requires students to post reflections on Blackboard, and then respond to at least one of their classmates' reflections. The responses, Donoghue noted, showed not only an increased understanding of how the biology concepts work but also a mature consideration for each other's challenges.

Even for students who neither follow science-related careers nor need to utilize the campus health resources they learn about, Donoghue said she feels the Engelhard project has clear benefits. When students connect personally to her science courses, they become a resource they can draw on long after the semester ends. "What Engelhard does is put this information out there in a way that is part of their regular coursework, so they can then turn back to that later in their lives."

The benefits, Donoghue added, aren't just for the students. Donoghue said her collaboration with both the other Engelhard fellows and the health professionals has changed the way she thinks about her research and inspired her to learn more about the topics she introduces. Additionally, she said the project has helped her connect her work to fellow faculty across campus.

"They may teach something so different, such as in the humanities, but it is good to hear that they are having similar interactions with the students," Donoghue said. "I think a program like this really communicates to the students that the university wants them to be successful and that we want to help them with challenges. Just as we would send them to the library for a research challenge, we can send them to resources for their personal challenges."

Engelhard Goal

Dr. Donoghue hopes that through her Engelhard courses, students will develop trust and respect for each other and for her, not only as a faculty member but also as an individual. Especially through the reflection component of the class, she wants students to show a mature consideration for each other's personal wellness challenges and respond to them with empathy, respect, and compassion.

BIOL-195 : Neurobiology

BIOL-195: Neurobiology is intended as a gateway course for Sophomore Neurobiology majors and covers the fundamentals of neurobiology and the study of the cellular basis of nervous system function. Throughout the course, several neurobiological topics are covered, including the cellular composition of the nervous system, the characteristics and functions of neurons, the ways that signals are relayed within the nervous system, the cellular and molecular basis of sensory and motor systems, plasticity, development and learning, among many others.

During the spring semester of 2009, Dr. Donoghue delivered a lecture focusing on the neurochemistry of mood regulation, i.e. what keeps our mood stabilized, what happens during destabilization (specifically depression), and what we can do about it. After the lecture, students read a memoir by William Styron entitled "Darkness Visible," in which he describes his own experience sinking into depression. As a follow up, students wrote personal reflections on their own experiences with depression, contextualized by Dr. Donoghue's lecture and Styron's piece. Dr. Donoghue's choice to address mood regulation is inspired by its striking relevance on Georgetown's campus and in the collegiate environment in general. Problems with mood regulation (mainly depression) touch many college students personally either through their own struggles or the challenges of people in their lives.

"I want students to understand that the regulation of mood is a neurobiological question, into which we are gaining insight. By demystifying the process, I intend to educate students about how to confront tough neurobiological issues."

To view the class syllabus, click here.
Department of MathematicsJim Sandefur

Jim has participated in the Engelhard Project since 2005, looking to improve student engagement in his Math Modeling class by relating course material back to his students' personal lives in a practical and meaningful way.

To learn more about Jim's involvement in the Engelhard Project, expand the sections below.

Jim's Engelhard Experience

"The Engelhard Project fit right into what I have always wanted to do. The class is math modeling, so for years I had been looking for engaging models that were important to the students, models where they could see math as it affected their life as well as the life of all those around themselves."

Jim Sandefur originally joined the Engelhard Project in 2005 seeking a way to boost student engagement in his math classes. Because most of his students represented non-math majors, the idea of infusing his curriculum with wellness issues that would resonate with his students on a personal level was an appealing one.

Since joining the project, Professor Sandefur has experimented with using math modeling to explain the effects of eating disorders, gambling, and the elimination of alcohol from the body to make his classes more accessible on a personal level for his students. And by meeting with campus health staff, Sandefur said he was able to better understand the issues he was modeling and add a means for students to personally connect to the topic.

As a result, Sandefur has consistently noticed that his students not only understand the math better, but enjoy it more. By showing students very applicable, very concrete ways they could use the math skills they learned, the course became one which extended beyond the classroom walls into the students' personal lives.

Sandefur has also noticed that the curriculum infusion model of the Engelhard Project improved his students' overall well-being. He explains that when students arrive at Georgetown, they are inundated with sessions about avoiding eating disorders and alcohol problems during freshmen orientation, but a barrage of information actually seems to have the opposite effect as intended with students absorbing very little. "Students actually knew very little about things like alcohol's interactions in the body," said Sandefur.

By infusing wellness issues into the mathematical content of the course, and bringing in help from campus health professionals, students are not only better retaining information about these wellness issues, but also using this information to make better decisions. "The added benefit is that a few students who have had serious problems were able to get help," Sandefur said. "But even more importantly, for the majority of the students, especially with the alcohol unit, the class made them think more about potentially dangerous problems. One student said to me, 'well, I don't sit there and calculate exactly how much alcohol I have drunk, but I now I keep count.' And that's great, because it is a sign that they are thinking about themselves in a new way."

Engelhard Goal

To make his classes more engaging by relating math to the lives of his students, and to establish his classroom as a place where his students are receiving honest and real information that they can use to make informed decisions.

MATH-007 : Intro to Math Modeling

In Intro to Math Modeling, students are taught how to apply previously acquired mathematical skills to "real-life" situations and problems, such as how to model the elimination of caffeine or alcohol from the body, how to calculate the sustainable management of renewable resources, and even how to manage one's lottery winnings. The most important aspect of the course is to learn how mathematical modeling can be used to help in making informed decisions. Examples are given in which insufficient math analysis has lead to disastrous results, such as the forced sterilization of hundreds of thousands of people worldwide.

As an Engelhard course, health and wellness issues are infused into the normal curriculum, which Professor Sandefur accomplishes by supplementing the mathematical modeling of issues related to alcohol abuse, dieting, and gambling with open discussions and presentations from health professionals on campus. In past semesters, Dr. Phil Meilman, Director of Counseling and Psychiatric Services, and Carol Day, Director of Health Education Services, have provided further context for these issues by relating them to the Georgetown University community. The math modeling and health presentations are two parts to a whole: the math arms students with the necessary tools to make informed decisions about their health, while the health professionals arm the students with the confidence necessary to carry out these decisions.

To view the class syllabus, click here.
Department of TheologyJulia Lamm

Through the Engelhard Project, Julia addresses with her students how we deal (or try not to deal) with human experiences, such as anxiety, alienation, meaning and meaninglessness, joy, intimacy, courage and trust.

To learn more about Julia's involvement in the Engelhard Project, expand the sections below.

Julia's Engelhard Experience

"I wanted to become a better teacher, and I definitely think Engelhard has helped me develop and improve my pedagogy."

Julia Lamm joined the Engelhard Project in the Fall semester of 2006 after noticing that she was already dealing with issues of health and wellness as they pertained to issues of human experience in her Problem of God class. If anything, the Engelhard Project was a way to formalize the incorporation of these issues into the course. "I feel like the material really lends itself to the Engelhard component," remarks Lamm.

In the past three years that Lamm has taught the Problem of God as an Engelhard course, she has infused issues of anxiety, crisis, joy, intimacy, trust, sexual violence, and suicide into the course material. "The Engelhard component helps take the theory from the classroom and apply it to the students' real lives," explains Lamm. "In fact, one student wrote in a reflection assignment: 'I think it was positive to take themes from our theology book, which can sometimes seem theoretical and disconnected from our daily lives, and apply them to something that affects almost all of us directly or indirectly.'" Reflective assignments include writing their own religious autobiography after reading Augustine's Confessions and applying Paul Tillich's categories of anxiety and courage to their own lives.

At certain points throughout the semester, Lamm holds "Engelhard Seminars" that specifically address wellness issues with the guidance of a health professional on campus. Lamm notes that the benefits of these sessions are twofold. First, her students find these sessions especially informative and stimulating because classroom theory is connected to their lives. Second, the health professional is able to address very important yet sensitive wellness issues that Lamm feels uncomfortable discussing with her students. "There are some issues, such as suicide, that I just feel much more comfortable having a professional address," explains Lamm.

The Engelhard Project has also changed Lamm's perception of herself as an educator: "I wanted to become a better teacher, and I definitely think Engelhard has helped me develop and improve my pedagogy." Lamm has noticed for the past three years that her classes have been especially good, and she attributes this in part due to the fact that Engelhard has enabled her to approach her students differently. The Engelhard Project allows teachers to feel more comfortable letting students into their world, and this in turn effects a positive change in students.

Lamm also expresses that the Engelhard Project is bringing students closer together, and making them more in touch with their surroundings on campus. "Engelhard seems to be heightening an awareness of this sense of 'community' on campus. Just as we're becoming more comfortable being educators, students are becoming more comfortable being students."

Engelhard Goal

1) To provide for my students intellectual and spiritual resources that they can draw on now and later in life.

2) To help my students identify vulnerabilities in others and help to address them (in current and future communities).

THEO-001 : The Problem of God

This course approaches "the problem of God" from the angle of human experience and how many of our experiences, ordinary and extraordinary alike, give rise to theological questions, despite how we may choose to answer those questions. Through readings and discussions, students reflect on and analyze such complex issues as freedom, evil, meaning, joy, the struggle of belief and unbelief, betrayal and trust, and human action.

In addition to these theological and philosophical questions, specific wellness topics such as anxiety, depression, and suicide are addressed in an ongoing fashion as they relate to issues raised in reading assignments and course material. To formalize the integration of these wellness topics, Professor Lamm organizes several "Engelhard seminars" throughout the semester in which health professionals on campus visit the class to discuss these issues from the perspective of the health professions and to help relate the content of the course to the real world.

To view the class syllabus, click here.
Department of PhilosophyHeather Voke

Since joining the project in Fall of 2006, Heather has sought to approach mental health issues from the perspective of civic engagement, having her students make connections between theory and direct experience in the community.

To learn more about Heather's involvement in the Engelhard Project, expand the sections below.

Heather's Engelhard Experience

Heather Voke explains that her Community-Based Learning class, Civic Engagement and Education, grew out of the concerns of an undergraduate student who said that Georgetown did not offer sufficient opportunities for students to study the civic engagement of young people and the processes through which youth become civically engaged. In response to these concerns, Voke created a class that gave students the opportunity to participate in the surrounding community and learn from those experiences.

Throughout the semester, students have opportunities to make connections between theory and direct experience, allowing one to influence the other. That is, students not only apply theory to the world outside the classroom, but they use their experiences in the community to augment the application of theories in subsequent classroom discussions and assignments.

Students in Voke's class take a guided tour of D.C. neighborhoods, interview local activists (including youth activists), work with D.C. public school students, and spend hours with residents and local organizations looking to identify a community problem. Students then research previous attempts to address the problem, develop and implement their own solution, and conclude the semester by evaluating the effectiveness of the solution they created.

Voke notes that going out into the community and being civically engaged offers a perfect context within which to raise issues related to mental health: how does one cope when confronted with injustice and the knowledge that one cannot solve all the problems of the world? What do we do when we realize that our own privilege is inextricably linked to privileges that have been denied to others through no apparent fault of our or their own? Through the Engelhard component of the class, students focus directly on managing the stress and conflict that accompanies recognition of individual responsibility and social injustice.

With the help of a campus mental health professional and via their own personal reflection, students learn about effective strategies for coping with confrontation in discussions about controversial issues with others, including violence and race-related prejudice.

Professor Voke explains that when she incorporates mental health and wellness themes throughout the entire course, she finds that her students are more engaged and reflective about material. Additionally, Engelhard has positively influenced her students in that it has continuously fostered an atmosphere of openness in her classroom.

Engelhard Goal

My main goal in this course is for my students to develop an appreciation of the complexity of the context of teaching and learning. I want them to understand that schooling and education are, for better and for worse, about much more than the transmission and absorption of factual information within the classroom. I want them to see that teaching and learning are inextricably connected to the social, political, and moral context in which they find themselves. And I want them to understand that education and schooling affect not only the facts we come to know, but also how we feel, how we treat others, what we believe to be true and good, what we do in the world, and ultimately the kind of world we create for ourselves and others. I want to empower them to become active agents within their own educational process and, by extension, within their communities.

PHIL-157 : Community-Based Learning: Civic Engagement/Public Education

This course focuses on the relationships between civic engagement and education in a society that seeks to be a liberal democracy. Specifically, the course focuses on two central dichotomies: (1) the role that education ought to play for a society to function as a liberal democracy as opposed to the role that education actually does play in our society and its consequences for our democracy; and (2) the role that the public ought to play in education in a liberal democracy as opposed to the role that the public does play in education in our society and its consequences for our democracy.

As part of a Community-Based Learning curriculum, students will participate in the surrounding community and learn from those experiences. Throughout the semester, students will have opportunities to make connections between theory and direct experience, apply theory to the world outside the classroom, and use experiences gained in the community to evaluate theory in the classroom. In the fall semester of 2008, the Engelhard module of the course focused on moral responsibility and the psychological response to injustice within the community. Maia Shanklin, a representative from Peaceoholics, spoke to the class about violence and conflict resolution at Ballou High School, the public school in Southeast D.C. where students volunteered.

To view the class syllabus, click here.