This is another in a series of interviews with staff, faculty, administrators and students across campus promoting the goals of EKU’s Quality Enhancement Plan. The current QEP, Read with Purpose, calls for Eastern to develop critical readers through the use of metacognitive strategies. Building on the past QEP, which focused on developing critical and creative thinkers, this effort represents the University’s commitment to institutional improvement and provides a long-term focus for faculty and staff professional development and student learning.
This installment in the QEP Spotlight series features EKU English lecturer Chad Reece.
1. In what ways have you been involved with the EKU QEP, Read with Purpose?
I have attended QEP workshops at EKU for many semesters. I have also been actively engaged with the Eng 101R and Eng 102R course curriculums. I have worked with other faculty in integrating the QEP strategies into the classroom. As a professor who mainly focuses on teaching the R courses I have been engaged for a while now in incorporating the QEP philosophy into my syllabi for those courses.
2. In what ways has QEP professional development impacted your teaching and learning?
I work with students who often have difficulties with engaging with their texts, for a variety of reasons. The QEP, Read with Purpose, really gave my lectures and assignments the structure they needed to help students tackle those difficult texts. Without those QEP goals, it was often hard to understand how and where students were disengaging or struggling. The QEP built a strong foundation to help get those students on the right track.
3. What impact is the QEP having on student learning in your discipline?
As I mentioned, the QEP helps build that initial foundation, out of skills and metacognitive practices, that helps students see reading in a new light. The QEP gives students a clear instruction on how to get the most out of what they are instructed to read in the classroom. Most importantly, it helps students understand the difference between being a passive reader and learner and being an active participant in the reading process.
4. How has the QEP benefited the campus community?
I believe just by simply having the shared language of the QEP has benefited the community. Faculty and students both now have a shared way of talking about reading. For faculty, I have seen this conveyed in faculty workshops. For students, that shared language is at work in group projects and in the transition from Eng 101R to Eng 102R.
5. How will you continue to promote critical reading in your courses, discipline, or across the university?
My teaching methods and my curriculum have changed drastically since I began working with the QEP. Those skills and exercises will remain a critical aspect of my classes, even beyond the integrated reading and writing courses.