The growing popularity of the center’s online Graduate Program in Seed Technology and Business (STB) has paved the way for enhanced learning opportunities.
In addition to the recruitment of talented and knowledgeable teaching faculty in 2016, Program Coordinator Lori Youngberg focused her attention on exploring ways to enrich students’ online learning experiences.
Lunch and Learn Session Focuses on Best Practices
New in April 2016 was the first STB Lunch and Learn session designed by Youngberg and aimed at engaging STB faculty teaching students online. During the session, STB instructors analyzed feedback from current and past students and discussed techniques they could implement to enhance their online courses. “The session not only helped to create a sense of community among our faculty members,” said Youngberg, “but it gave participants an opportunity to learn about the best practices involved in teaching courses online.”
Youngberg says that teaching online can present challenges, so opportunities that allow instructors to exchange ideas with their counterparts can often be beneficial. “Everyone seemed to feel it was a worthwhile exercise, so we hope to continue offering Lunch and Learn sessions that touch on a variety of online learning topics in the future.”