transformative teaching

Andrew Loerch, Professor and Associate Chair of the Department of Systems Engineering and Operations Research, will retire this June after 22 years at George Mason.

Tama Moni — Thu, 26 May 2022 14:08:06 +0000

Andrew Loerch, Professor and Associate Chair of the Department of Systems Engineering and Operations Research, will retire this June after 22 years at George Mason. Tama Moni Thu, 05/26/2022 - 10:08

Andy is one of the few Mason faculty members with a military background, having served as an Army Colonel prior to making the leap to academics. He has 26 years of active federal service under his belt, of which 15 were spent as a military operations research analyst. 

An ROTC grad, he made company commander as a First Lieutenant relatively quickly, which opened up an opportunity to go to graduate school. After that, “I did a tour here in Washington and went to Germany. When I was in Germany, I got a letter reading, ‘Congratulations, you’ve been selected for fully-funded graduate school,’ which was surprising since I didn’t ask for it and since I’d already been. It turned out it was for a Ph.D. In the army they only give you three years for it, and that’s hard.” 

This gave him a taste for a career in academe. Thinking he would retire as a Lieutenant Colonel; he began applying for academic jobs. “I applied for about 20 positions all around the Northeast. Do you know how many interviews I got? Zero!” After an unexpected promotion to Colonel and a few more years in the service, he received a call from Mason. “They said a lot of their students were military, government employees, defense contractors, etc. and they wanted to offer some classes in defense analysis.” Despite being “old” at the time for a new faculty member, he welcomed the opportunity. “It’s been a great second career.” 

“Andy was an outstanding teacher, a trusted mentor to numerous students, a researcher who brought in millions of dollars in funding, and an esteemed leader in the Military Operations Society,” said Ariela Sofer, Interim Divisional Dean for Engineering at the Volgenau School of Engineering. “Above all, I am indebted to him for his fourteen years of dedication and support service as my Associate Chair. He always took on departmental obligations, whether they involved big-picture matters or minute details, whether they were carefully planned activities or urgent crises. I am eternally grateful for his dedication, hard work, sage advice, and sense of humor.” 

Looking back at career highlights at Mason Andy says that, “Part of my job was the care and feeding of our military students. I advised every single one of them and many of them have gone on to be leaders in the defense analysis field.” In addition, he is proud of some of the department’s funded work, citing an important study on how the presence of women in military units impacts the units’ effectiveness.  

Andy is also a principal bassoonist of the Manassas Symphony Orchestra. “I was a clarinet player in elementary school and when I showed up at the beginning of sixth grade the music teacher said, ‘You’re going to play this,” and gave me a bassoon, which was about the same height as I was.” After getting away from it for many years, once his son began playing the clarinet Andy picked the bassoon up again, eventually having a teacher who was connected to the MSO, which led to his placement there. His wife is also musically talented and in fact is the principal flautist for the Orchestra.     

In retirement he plans to stay fit with pickle ball and cycling. He has consultant agreements that will keep him busy professionally, and intends at some point to come back and teach a handful of classes at Mason.

Topics

Retirement

transformative teaching

Podcast - EP 38: Promoting a scientific worldview

Damian Cristodero — Wed, 20 Apr 2022 18:06:50 +0000

Podcast - EP 38: Promoting a scientific worldview Damian Cristodero Wed, 04/20/2022 - 14:06

In This Story

Gregory Washington

Jim Trefil, a Mason physicist and Robinson Professor, talks with Mason President Gregory Washington about the importance of a scientific worldview. The author of more than 50 books and one of the developers of the modern theories about quarks as a fundamental component of the universe, Trefil is helping pioneer a new way of teaching science and says you don’t have to be in a lab to learn: “You live in a world full of science.”

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Access to Excellence podcast

transformative teaching

Masonat50

Faculty members share their experiences with in-person teaching this fall

Colleen Rich — Mon, 14 Dec 2020 18:39:25 +0000

Faculty members share their experiences with in-person teaching this fall Colleen Rich Mon, 12/14/2020 - 13:39

In This Story

Peter N. Stearns

Steven Pearlstein

Professor Peter Stearns lectures during his Honors 240 class, History of Emotions. Photo by Lathan Goumas/Office of Communications and Marketing

As this unusual fall semester ends, we wanted to take the opportunity to talk to several ��AV professors who taught in-person or hybrid classes. Here are their thoughts on what worked well for them.

During a career in higher education spanning almost six decades, in dozens of positions at five universities, Peter Stearns has been through it all—calming nervous freshmen, developing new educational strategies, supporting stressed doctoral candidates, and navigating the myriad administrative challenges as Mason’s provost for 14 years.

Teaching and learning during a pandemic was a predicament that provided new challenges for Stearns.

Nevertheless, he jumped in when the call went out for faculty interested in teaching face-to-face for Fall 2020.

“My daughter, who is a doctor, advised me not to do this,” he added. “But I saw this as a legit opportunity to pitch in.”

Any remaining concerns Stearns harbored regarding teaching face-to-face evaporated when he arrived at his Honors 240 classroom in Robinson Hall B. While the room would normally be set for 40 students, it was laid out for 18.

“It’s a very well-organized arrangement,” Stearns said. “It was all done by Facilities. The other chairs are completely gone; wipes and hand sanitizer are provided.”

Musicians in the in-person classes are protected by plexiglass while playing their instruments. Photo by Lathan Goumas/Office of Communications and Marketing

Stearns taught two history courses this semester, one in a hybrid format, and one completely online, and said they both went well.

The new requirement of regularly sanitizing classrooms has kept Kathleen Mulcahy, director of woodwinds in the School of Music, on her feet—literally. Because Mulcahy does a significant amount of one-on-one teaching and the rooms need to be sanitized, Mulcahy must change venues after each student.

“I’m doing a lot more moving around,” she said. “It's been an adjustment getting used to carrying my work and instruments between several different locations on campus, but it has been worth it."

Mulcahy said she did not hesitate to return to campus to teach this fall.

“I felt like our school did so much more research on safe options for teaching music than many other university music programs,” she said. “My colleagues at other schools were very impressed with the information I was receiving from our leadership. None had received anywhere near the level of support and research available to me.”

In addition to moving among classrooms, Mulcahy noted that there were very visible differences inside those classrooms. Ventilation was a key part of the School of Music research.

“They decided what rooms we could safely use,” she said. “We are in a larger space than normal. And the students are surrounded by plexiglass, because it isn't possible for them to wear conventional masks while blowing into an instrument.”

When the weather is nice, Mulcahy moved her classes outside.

Part of Mulcahy’s inclination to return to face-to-face instruction was founded in the earlier limitations of teaching music online.

“Zoom was not intended for use to teach music lessons,” she said, adding that “certain settings have now been upgraded; musicians all over the world are using it.”

The best part of returning to campus was the response Mulcahy received from the students.

“The students are so appreciative of the opportunity to play live and together,” she said. “I feel like they’re more appreciative of me, too, and they thank me every day.”

That student affirmation is echoed by Robinson Professor of Public Affairs Steven Pearlstein.

“The students really appreciate it,” he said. “They see that the professor is working hard to make the class possible.”

In fact, one student jokingly told Pearlstein that his class was the highlight of his social week.

Pearlstein added: “I really wanted to teach in person. I get a lot of energy from the students, and they get a lot of energy from me.”

Pearlstein’s Honors 131 classroom is fully equipped with microphones throughout the room and cameras on the walls.

“Chairs are arrayed like a traditional classroom,” he said. “[Facilities] put Xs on the floor, and arranged eight feet between each of them” to comply with physical distancing requirements.

The microphones allow students and Pearlstein to be heard clearly through their masks.

It was important to Pearlstein to maintain the same Socratic method format for this class that he has honed over the years. He credits the classroom he uses for the ability to deliver his lectures as he always has.

“When you teach a large lecture class it’s a little bit like performance art,” Pearlstein said.

During Pearlstein’s classes, a graduate student coordinates the technology and handles the slides, the microphones, the camera and links to Blackboard Collaborate.

“Tech and my support spent a long time together preparing for this class, and Blackboard Collaborate has been great,” Pearlstein said.

In his history class, Stearns also uses Blackboard Collaborate once a week to support small group projects. These group exercises also help students stay engaged.

“This gives students the opportunity for contact in a group setting,” he said.

This semester, Stearns noted an interesting phenomenon that he attributes to the lack of other activities during the students’ days.

“Some students are actually doing things better this semester,” Stearns said. “I think this classwork is the only thing they have to do—more students are turning in work early and the quality of work for the freshmen students is especially better than I’ve previously seen.”

That, according to Stearns, is a silver lining of this unprecedented semester.

Topics

Campus News

transformative teaching

Safe Return to Campus

Mason alumna raises funds and gathers books for diversity awareness

Colleen Rich — Fri, 24 Jul 2020 09:00:03 +0000

Mason alumna raises funds and gathers books for diversity awareness Colleen Rich Fri, 07/24/2020 - 05:00

Topics

Mason Alumni

College of Education and Human Development

transformative teaching

anti-racism

Students