Teaching

As evidenced by my list of courses taught, I have had the pleasure of teaching around 80 undergraduate and graduate courses in education and mathematics through Niagara University (NU), Medaille University, and Niagara County Community College since 2015. My teaching effectiveness specifically at Niagara University has been supported through my promotion from Lecturer to Adjunct Professor in 2019, and most recently through my Chair and Dean observations. My observations have continuously highlighted my ability to create a comfortable and welcoming classroom environment, engage students in the learning process, and integrate technology both in-person and online. As evidenced by my syllabi, I strive to provide students with all the information needed for success from day one. This involves the inclusion of textbook images for quick recognition, outlining all assignment expectations in detail, stressing the importance of active participation in the learning process, and incorporating the professional dispositions and virtual learning expectations they’ll be expected to exhibit in the field. As evidenced by my included assessments, I strive to be creative with classroom activities and assignments, push students to be reflective practitioners, and link learning to pragmatic field experience. This involves integrating technology in class participation, scaffolding necessary skills, and applying constructivist practices to engage students in building their own knowledge. I pride myself in creating a higher education learning environment that actively engages students with course content and one another, motivates 21st century learners, accommodates individual needs of students, and promotes critical thought. As evidenced by my grade distribution, high expectations and rigor are constant throughout my courses.

During my first year at NU as an Assistant Professor, I had the pleasure of teaching two sections of EDU 228 Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion in-person to undergraduate students. Having taught primarily online to graduate students for years prior at Medaille University, I welcomed the opportunity to teach our new NU students. Although this course was one I had not taught in the past, I was familiar with the content having developed a similar course for Medaille University. I implemented a Social Justice Lesson Plan as the final assignment to speak to the importance for social justice (both at NU and in the field of education), as well as to familiarize new education students to the fundamental aspects of a lesson plan. Students in this course also had the opportunity to conduct a Cultural Research Interview to engage in dialog with an individual from a different culture and develop a Cultural Research Poster to share with their peers, as well as harness their creativity to express their own culture through clay models. This course is currently not required but offered to students as a Cultural Diversity credit. My suggestion for this course to be required stems from current social justice issues greatly impacting the field of education; based on the student course evaluations from two sections, it appears the students agree as well: “I believe this course is very good for teacher candidates to take”, “I took this class for a gen ed requirement and I am so glad I did”, and “I would recommend this class to other education majors.” One of the greatest moments of teaching this course came through receiving the course evaluations from a section with 19 students (94.74% response rate) and a section with 15 students (100% response rate). The plethora of comments students chose to include indicated satisfaction with my instructional strategies: “really enjoyed how this class was set up”, “enjoyed the use of pear deck as an educational tool”, and “learned from my peers and from the instructor.” Course evaluations also indicated satisfaction with the classroom environment: “She created a positive and comfortable class environment”, “teacher was super respectful and helpful”, and “She is always equitable. Never picks a side of a discussion she always encourages you to see all sides.” Course evaluations also students left thinking deeply about their future careers: “this course got me thinking about my future classroom and who I want to be as a teacher”, “this course helped me to fall in love with teaching even more”, and “this course…made me even more sure that I want to become a teacher.”

For the past few semesters, I had the pleasure of teaching several sections of EDU 760 General Methods of Secondary Teaching virtually to graduate students seeking initial teacher certification. Given this course is certification area specific and must appear with the correct content area on a student’s transcript, it is listed as a separate course for each student enrolled (EDU 760.01-EDU 760.26). Although this reads in a unique manner on my list of courses taught, grade distribution, and course evaluations, all EDU 760 students in the same section (A or B) meet as a cross-listed class despite being enrolled in separate .01-.26 courses. Having taught secondary methods before, I was identity several goals for the course related to the needs of the College of Education, as well as the needs in the field of education in general. These included integrating Planbook.com for lesson planning, as well as several other educational technologies (Pear Deck, Canva, Edpuzzle, etc.). This integration allowed students to become familiar with various technologies they may see in the field, scaffolded their knowledge of technology to build confidence in effectively leveraging technology in their own classroom, as well as naturally enhance their own digital citizenship. I also applied constructivist practices in this course through weekly field experience assignments that called upon students to build their own knowledge of best practice through the combination of theory with their Teaching Assistantship (TA) experiences. Two assessments that I included at the end of the semester, a Future Me letter where students reflected on their progress and future goals and a thank you note to a classmate, both worked to build reflective practitioners, professional dispositions, and cohort relationships. The high response rates and written feedback from two sections taught this past Fall 2023 semester seconded my Dean and Chair observation feedback related to student engagement: “Dr. Riegel did such a great job at keeping everyone in the virtual classroom engaged and involved”, “She was dedicated to making the class as interactive and engaging for all of us and made it into a fun experience that will be impossible to forget” and “I also find this course very engaging and manageable because of how you set it up”. Course evaluations also indicated satisfaction with the rigor: “She challenged us and our thinking”, “made class challenging but effective”, and “She is well prepared and knowledgeable on the subject”. Course evaluations also indicated satisfaction with social-emotional connections: “always felt supported”, “She treats students with respect”, and “Dr. Riegel is a kind, compassionate, and knowledgeable professor”. I plan to explore more avenues for discussion and use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the future to address the direction of the field and keep our education programs relevant.

I also had the pleasure of teaching several sections of EDU 595 Introduction to Educational Research & Statistics virtually to graduate students for the past few semesters. Having taught this course many times in the past, I was aware of the level of rigor this course brings, the anxiety many students have taking with research and statistics, and the unique needs of the graduate student population. I developed a template for the Common Course Assignment, a research project, and after interviewing a teacher in the field regarding current issues in education, permitted students to choose a research topic related to their own interest. Although having this course asynchronously is undoubtedly challenging, the individual research topics allow for students to apply the concepts learned to an area they are passionate about, as well as see how their peers are applying the same learning differently within their research. Students in this course are encouraged to meet with me individually to discuss their topics in detail. Through modifying this course over time, I have found that building an online community leads to student comfort in reaching out, which ultimately leads to higher success in the course. After implementing optional meetings at the start, middle, and end of this asynchronous course, I found the largest number of students scheduling one, if not more, individual meetings throughout the semester. This course relies on my availability to my online students, as well as my ability to implement Teaching Through Feedback (TTF). Course evaluations from my most recent section of 17 students (82.35% response rate) reiterated the work-life balance challenges graduate students face, as well as a satisfaction with the course structure and scaffolding, as well as my feedback: “I really liked that the assignments scaffolded into the bigger paper, it made it much more manageable”, “the professor was super responsive to email”, “I also really appreciated Dr. Riegel's timely feedback and responses to any and all questions I had”, “Dr. Riegel was extremely professional and knowledgeable about the course and its content”, “the professor was fantastic with communication and setting expectations”, and “At no point was I concerned about not knowing the expectations or where I stood in the course”. To address workload concerns for this asynchronous course, I revised and re-evaluated the depth of content included on source evaluation, analysis, and synthesis matrices for the current Spring 2024 semester.

This past summer I had the pleasure of teaching a section of EDU 536 Human Learning, Development and Motivation virtually to graduate students. Having taught this course before in the M.A.T. International Teaching and Learning program, I welcomed the opportunity to teach it again to those seeking initial teacher certification. I developed a template for the Common Course Assignment, an Ecological Analysis that serves as a case study of one student. This template included multiple assessments (e.g., student observation, teacher interview, work sample analysis, student questionnaire, etc.) that were integrated in coursework each week to scaffold knowledge of the student throughout the course. Course evaluations from my most recent section of 17 students (82.35% response rate) reiterated the importance of building relationships with my students and further confirmed student application for my course structure and scaffolding: “She was always accessible when I had questions, and made me feel like she genuinely wanted to help and wanted me to succeed.”, “[I] was not afraid to share my thoughts and opinions because it was a safe space”, “This course was very thoughtful designed”, “The weekly assignments built up to the final project in a way that connected them together and with the content”, “[class] was informative and engaging and will go a long way toward preparing us to work with students”, “I loved the energy that Dr. Riegel brought to every class even though it was on zoom”, and “[she] found excellent ways to teach the class in an online format.” After speaking with the Dean, I identify a goal for the course related to family engagement and was able to develop an activity utilizing the capabilities of Artificial Intelligence (AI) that will be implemented this upcoming Summer 2024 semester to allow students to practice parent/guardian communication, which is a traditionally underdeveloped but necessary skill.

I continue to teach MAT 101 Math for the Liberal Arts as part of NU’s Military Online Program (GEM), as I have done since 2018. These courses are offered through Veteran Services and offer freshman and sophomore level general education courses to Airmen seeking their associate degree in applied science from the Community College of the Air Force (CCAF). These courses allow me to stay current in the field of mathematics, actively implement best practices in a content setting, and make a historically challenging course accessible to a population of students with demanding careers. I developed a template for the finance project at the culmination of the course, which clearly outlines student expectations while focusing on their ability to correctly input values into variables in formulas, perform calculations, and provide a rationale for their conclusions.

I pride myself on my building relationships with my students and my ability to model professional expectations. As evidence by my student evaluations and letters of support, I have been successful at these initiatives. Before each course begins, I spend time learning my student’s names to set the foundation for personal connections. During the beginning of each course, I spend time learning about them as an individual and a learner, and introducing myself. During class and individual interactions, I weave in what I have learned about them and work to modify course expectations based on that specific group of students. I continuously make note of student responses and comments in order to connect with them and improve their learning and understanding. The personal notes that I have received through my career, and specifically those from this past semester, speak to the importance of building these students relationships and my success in this area.