Teaching

TEACHING

Lecturer
Western Kentucky University
School of Journalism & Broadcasting
Bowling Green, KY
Fall 2017-Present

Understanding Media Content, Ethics, and Technology (SJB 101): Introductory course in media studies, primarily for majors in the School of Journalism & Broadcasting and related disciplines. 

Instructor of Record, Fall 2017
•This large lecture course introduces students to the role that media and media content play in society and their effects on audiences and culture.
•Media development is explored from both historical and technological dimensions for both legacy and digital media.
•Media purposes and practices are considered, including ethics and media law.
•Created a syllabus, assignments, lesson plans, tests, grading materials, and rubrics for a class of 80+ students; evaluated and graded assignments.
•Used Blackboard course management software to create a shell to organize and manage this course and facilitate weekly class discussions.

Media Content, Collaboration and Community (SJB 102): Introductory course in collaborative media content generation for majors in the School of Journalism & Broadcasting.

Instructor of Record, Fall 2017
•This lecture/lab course gives students hands-on experience in key areas of content production, including photography, audio, video, writing, and design.
•Students work in collaborative teams to develop a digital media project on a topic of community interest, using skills learned in key areas.
•Created and presented the course’s writing module for presentation to 200+ students as part of a multidisciplinary teaching team; developed assignments and grading rubrics for the writing portion of the course.
•Oversaw two lab sections of 20 students each, providing hands-on instruction in all five key areas of content production.
•Graded assignments and projects for 40 students in two labs.

Instructor/Teaching Assistant
University of Florida
College of Journalism and Communications
Gainesville, FL
2014-2017

Winner, 2017 Outstanding Graduate Student Teaching Award

Media and Politics (MMC 3614): Elective junior-senior level course for majors in the College of Journalism and Communications

Instructor of Record, Spring and Summer 2017
•This is an online course that explores how the media, politicians, and the voting public interact with and affect each other and how and why media-based politics have become ascendant in the United States.
•Used Canvas course management software to create a shell to organize and manage this course and facilitate weekly class discussions.
•Created a syllabus, assignments, lesson plans, grading rubrics, and course materials for a class of 40; evaluated and graded assignments.
•Topics covered include media influence on the political process; the media’s watchdog role; how politicians shape media coverage; covering campaigns; polling, debates, and political advertising; use of new media in politics; and incivility, negativity, and media bias in politics.

Applied Fact Finding (JOU 3110): Required junior/senior level course for all journalism majors in the College of Journalism and Communications

Instructor of Record, Summer 2016 and Summer 2015
•The emphasis of this course is teaching undergraduate journalism majors how to find, access, and use public records and publicly available information as a reporter.
•Topics covered include using the Florida Sunshine Law, the Florida Public Records Law, and the federal Freedom of Information Act to obtain information; using public records ethically in reporting news stories; computer-assisted reporting; and using public records in covering specific beats, including local government, education, legislatures, courts, police, and business.
•Created a syllabus, lesson plans, grading rubrics, and course materials for a class of 20; evaluated and graded assignments, including news stories utilizing public records and a final project that was a comprehensive analysis of all available records related to a single address.
•Coordinated guest appearances by industry experts and working journalists to discuss specific examples and techniques for using public records.

Multimedia Writing (JOU 3109c): Required junior-level course for all journalism and public relations majors in the College of Journalism and Communications.

Lecture Assistant, Fall 2015/Spring 2016
•Under the guidance of Dr. Julie Dodd, helped manage a class of up to 210 undergraduates.
•Periodically lectured to the class on topics such as online journalism, media ethics, and AP style.
•In charge of managing the grading of the class, through use of the Canvas course management system.
•Helped coordinate the activities of six lab instructors, both graduate students and adjuncts.
•Served as a mentor for new lab instructors with no previous teaching experience.
•Guided one lab section of 20 students in honing their skills in news writing, editing, and writing press releases, as well as using social media journalistically.
•Evaluated and graded 20 lab assignments each week, which is 280 assignments over the course of a semester.
•Worked with Dr. Dodd to migrate Multimedia Writing to an online course in preparation for making the public relations major available online, including creating online lecture materials and quizzes and working with the university’s instructional design team.
•Created a set of comma drills designed to strengthen students’ punctuation skills, which were used by the entire teaching team.
•Created a set of exercises in use of AP Style to strengthen students’ newswriting abilities.
•Facilitated the use of a UF-hosted cloud service for use by the teaching team.
•Created a Qualtrics-based midterm evaluation tool for use by the teaching team.

Lab Assistant, Fall 2014/Spring 2015
•Worked as part of a collaborative team of six teaching assistants, managing and guiding two lab sections of 40 students in honing their skills in news writing, editing, and writing press releases, as well as using social media journalistically.
•Evaluated and graded 40 lab assignments each week, which was 560 assignments over the course of a semester.

Adjunct Faculty
Pulaski Technical College
North Little Rock, AR
2011-2014

English Composition Fundamentals (DEVE 0324)
•This is a developmental writing course designed to provide students with a •Taught students basic grammar and punctuation skills, as well as helping them develop the organizational and creative skills needed to write effective essays.
•Taught 40 to 50 students each semester, creating syllabuses, lesson plans, grading rubrics, and course materials.
•Graded 200 to 250 essays each semester.

College Seminar (COLL 1300)
•This is a lecture course designed to introduce incoming students to the college experience and provide them educational and life skills to help them succeed.
•Taught up to 125 students each semester, creating syllabuses, lesson plans, tests, and course materials.
•Managed a web-based component that was a required supplement for students in this class.

North Little Rock School District
North Little Rock, AR
Substitute Teacher
2013-14
•Worked as a substitute teacher in a wide variety of classes at all levels, including elementary, middle, and high school.

Teaching Evaluations
•Summer 2017, MMC 3614, Media and Politics: Overall rating, 4.77 mean/5 median out of 5; above department and college means.
•Spring 2016, MMC 3614, Media and Politics: Overall rating, 4.6 mean/5 median out of 5; above department and college means.
•Summer 2016, JOU 3110, Applied Fact Finding: Overall rating, 4.69 mean/5 median out of 5; above department and college means.
•Spring 2016, JOU 3109, Multimedia Writing Lab: Overall rating, 4.77 mean/5 median out of 5; above course, department, and college means.
•Fall 2015, JOU 3109, Multimedia Writing Lab: Overall rating, 4.58 mean/5 median out of 5; above course, department, and college means.
•Summer 2015, JOU 3110, Applied Fact Finding: Overall rating, 4.44 mean/5 median out of 5; above department and college means.
•Spring 2015, JOU 3109, Multimedia Writing Lab: Overall rating, 4.57 mean/5 median out of 5; above course, department, and college means.
•Fall 2014, JOU 3109, Multimedia Writing Lab: Overall rating, 4.71 mean/5 median out of 5; above course, department, and college means.

TEACHING PHILOSOPHY  (shumate_teaching_philosophy.pdf)

I didn’t consciously set out to become a teacher; rather, it was one of those happy accidents of life. But I have developed a passion for this profession for one reason — students. Interacting with them and seeing them learn and grow is tremendously rewarding, and that is why my teaching philosophy is student-centric. After all, they’re why we’re here.

I believe in challenging students by setting and articulating specific expectations. However, I realize students (usually!) don’t know as much about the topic I’m covering as I do, so those expectations have to be kept within reason. Being student-centric means going the extra mile to help students who might be struggling, always trying to find what’s positive in their work, instead of only pointing out what’s wrong with it. Teaching is not imparting knowledge from a lofty perch; rather, it is coaching and mentoring students at their level.

Many years ago, a journalism professor said something that has stuck with me ever since — “An education is more gotten than given.” I use that quote in every class I teach because I believe it articulates the higher mission we have as educators. We should not just be teaching students a specific slice of curriculum; rather, we should be teaching them how to think critically and how to motivate themselves. After all, to function effectively, journalists must be lifelong learners.

Journalism is a unique because a) it is more of a calling than a profession and b) it is something you learn by doing. Teaching the next generation of journalists requires cultivating both of these aspects, both by imparting my enthusiasm for the journalistic life and by providing hands-on instruction in the skills they will need to succeed. However, in addition to practical skills, students need to develop good news judgment — knowing what news is, how to find it, and how to process and present it. As a journalism educator, I need to embed news judgment in everything I do.

Journalism students come to the field with different strengths and weaknesses. Some are great writers, but reporting doesn’t come naturally; others are imaginative and tenacious reporters, but they struggle with the written word. Recognizing the areas where students shine and where they need improvement is part of what I need to do as a journalism educator, so that my students are as well-rounded as possible.

One thing I always tell my students is that once they are my students, they are always my students. The bond doesn’t end just because the class does. There is nothing more gratifying than coming across a student a semester or two after our time together and seeing how they well they are succeeding, in school and in life.

Having the opportunity to change lives is what motivates me to be the best teacher I can be. That is what gets me out of bed in the morning. That is why I’m a teacher.

SYLLABI
Understanding Media Content, Ethics, and Technology (SJB 101_fall 2017_syllabus)
This is a syllabus developed for Understanding Media, Ethics, and Technology, an introductory course in media studies, primarily for majors in Western Kentucky University’s School of Journalism & Broadcasting and related disciples. This course introduces students to the role that media and media content play in society and their effects on audiences and culture.

Media and Politics (mmc3614_spring17_syllabus)
This is a syllabus developed for Media and Politics (MMC 3614), an elective junior/senior level course for all majors in the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications. In this course, students explore the ways in which media affect American politics and how politicians utilize both traditional and digital media and advertising to communicate with voters.

Applied Fact Finding (jou3110_summer16_syllabus)
This is a syllabus developed for Applied Fact Finding (JOU 3110),  a required junior/senior level course for all journalism majors in the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications. In this class, students learn how to find, access, and use public records and publicly available information as a reporter and gain an understanding of how to use open meetings and public records laws in the practice of journalism.

Multimedia Writing (jou3109_spring 16_syllabus)
This is the syllabus used in Multimedia Writing (JOU 3109), a required course for journalism and public relations majors in the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications in which students learn news writing basics and digital media skills. I was the lecture assistant for this 200-student course in the Fall 2015 and Spring 2017 semesters, in charge of coordinating lab instructors, grading, and providing lectures on a number of topics, including media law and using AP Style. I was a lab instructor in the Fall 2014 and Spring 2015 semesters, guiding 40 students through weekly labs in which they perfected their multimedia journalism skills.

Backpack Journalism (shumate_backpack_journalism_syllabus.pdf)
This is a syllabus developed for a proposed journalism course developed as part of the Mass Communication Teaching (MMC 6930) class at the University of Florida. This class is not yet scheduled to be taught.

JRN SCRIBE (jrnscribe.wordpress.com)
This is a mini-curriculum for high school students that I developed to spark their interest in the craft of writing by exposing them to the basics of writing as a journalist.