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Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton

Hello World

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton

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I’d like to introduce myself to the Fall ’18 Contemporary Pedagogy community. My name is Kristen Felice Noble. I am a PhD Chemistry Candidate starting my 6th year at Virginia Tech. Thus, my focus for the next several months will be to publish, write my dissertation, and apply for jobs (e.g., instructor positions at PUIs). My involvement in chemistry outreach and coaching (soccer) helped me to discover my enthusiasm for educating and inspiring young scientists. My background is in Forensic & Investigative Sciences and Chemistry (WVU ’11). A fun fact about me is that before coming to Virginia Tech I worked as a criminalist for the NYPD crime laboratory.

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Please ignore

Every week, all semester long….

I am so glad that I took this class. I’ll be honest here. If I would not have taken the Engineering Ethics and the Public course which was a requirement for another certificate, I would not have thought about taking this class. And though it is not so much fun taking more classes when you have tons of research expectations, I am definitely not going to regret taking ‘Preparing Future Professoriate’ class.

I have gained so much from this class. I was not aware of so many issues going in the higher education and in the world, in general. I believe the diversity of the class is the major driving factor behind the exponential learning curve. Though I have been in classes with different majors and various age groups, this class was by far the most diverse class. Of course, when there are new people, you get an opportunity to make new friends and no doubt, I got to know so many new people because of this class. Just the mere presence of a diverse crowd was not the reason for this learning. The discussions which took place because of that diversity ensued such an enlightening experience. The discussions ranged from race issues to gender issues, accessibility to utility and history to the future.

When Dean DePauw asked us in the first class, what do you expect to learn from this class, I thought about teaching, university policies and some more fields very intimately related to professors and university. One feels satisfied when the expectations are met. But just imagine getting a bonus which is ten times the base salary. It is a euphoric feeling and I can definitely say that I feel that way when I look back at what perspectives I gained from this class. Understanding the education system of the US in depth helped in understanding the limitations of the current system and the steps to be taken for the development of the future system.  Learning about the education systems over the world (Thank you to everyone who presented their education system) gave an opportunity to understand how the education has developed and what can be done to enhance the future of the education for everyone.

Overall it was a great experience. That’s the reason I feel this class is not only for the individuals who are thinking to go in academia or higher education. This class is about higher education and everyone who is pursuing higher education should be aware of the issues in the US and around the world. This will help in shaping the future of our society irrespective of the career one chooses later in the life. I am eternally thankful to everyone who participated in this class, to Abram-our fantastic TA and last but the most important person, Dean DePauw for taking the time to teach this class and discuss various aspects of the university education. I am looking forward to the next class in this certificate program ‘Contemporary Pedagogy’. I hope to see some of you there. Have a fantastic summer everyone!