I organize coursework in ways that encourage students to develop and share with classmates and colleagues new research-based understandings and the bearing of those understandings on their work. My goal is to make students feel they are participants in a dynamic field of inquiry that generates significant theoretical and practical knowledge. I also design my courses to provide students with multiple opportunities to develop and discuss core professional skills.
In collaboration with colleagues in Psychology and Linguistics, I created a course on language science outreach. Students learn informal science principles and practices and spend most of the semester conducting interactive demonstrations that introduce language phenomena to science center visitors. To the left you see students in the Language Pod Course sharing language science demos with visitors to COSI, Columbus’ science and technology center.
I have also collaborated with COSI colleagues to develop and deliver professional workshops for early childhood educators in Central Ohio. We brought together hands-on, inquiry-based science learning with strategies to support dual language learners and engage their parents in their science learning. We have led workshops for Head Start, Columbus City Schools, and at Ohio TESOL.
Somali History, Language, & Culture is a teacher workshop that I developed in collaboration with Laura Joseph (Center for African Studies); Somali Studies scholars; public educators with extensive experience with Somalis; and Somali community leaders, activists, educators, and artists. The 2009 workshop was sponsored by OSU, the U.S. Department of Education and a Major Grant for K-12 Education from the Ohio Humanities Council/National Endowment for the Humanities. We digitally documented the course in Somali History, Language, & Culture: A Workshop (a 12-DVD archive) and a 2-hour selected clips DVD.
At OSU I have taught
- Language Socialization (PhD)
- Ethnography of Literacy (PhD)
- Ethnography of Communication (PhD)
- Linguistics for Literacy Education (MA)
- Second Language Acquisition (MA, PhD)
- Sociolinguistics & Language Education (PhD)
- Seminar in Foreign Language Education (PhD)
- Language, Diversity, and Education (GE, online)
- Linguistic Diversity in Education (BSEd, MA, online)
- Issues in Foreign/Second Language Education (PhD)
- Linguistic Diversity in Early Childhood Education (MEd)
- Advanced Field Placement (FSMLE MA, TESOL Endorsement)
- Language Arts and English as a Second/Foreign Language (BSEd, MA, TESOL Endorsement)
- Somali History, Language, & Culture (workshop)
- Informal Science Education (workshop)
- Training in Informal Science Outreach aka the COSI Course or the Language Pod Course (cross-listed with Linguistics & Psychology)