In regards to curriculum development, I have redesigned courses for the German section, as well as offered new courses. I redesigned courses to make them more fit for the students and in alignment with our curriculum goals. I also brought GER 319: Business Correspondence/Communication back to life. Although this course exists in the catalogue, it had not been taught in many years. I am designing the course anew every time I teach this course, since there are no up-to-date books for this course and this subject changes rapidly. I took over GER 494/521: History of German Language and redesigned it so that the content included cultural history as well as linguistics. I have offered newly designed courses: GER/SLC 494/598: Multi-Kulti: Multiculturalism in Central Europe, GERSLC: Intercultural Communicative Communication; GER 494: Outreach: Teaching German in the US. Our new curriculum for German majors and minors began in fall 2014. I actively participated in this process and was part of expanding the 300-level courses as preparation courses to the 400-level ones. As the German lower-division Coordinator and supervisor of the German instructors, I have changed syllabi on a semester-basis, adapted new approaches and intensified teacher training. I am very actively involved in perfecting language learning according to the newest research. I designed GER 201 online (as an iCourse) and have presented the new approaches and ideas I had created for online teaching and learning at the CLAS e-learning Demofest in 2014 at ASU and also at international conferences. Expanding on that, I became part of a team designated to train all online instructors for the entire school.
As Honors Faculty, I have worked with and mentored many students over the years. Working with students entails anything from honor contracts in courses, meaning developing a curriculum outside of class time to ensure their research interest are met, to be part of honor theses in the capacity as either a chair or committee member. I have also mentored many graduate students and served on many of their projects and theses.
Teaching and teacher training are very dear to my heart. I have encouraged and welcomed colleagues and peers to observe my courses and welcome feedback and criticism. I believe that there is always room for improvement and I have yet so much to learn. I enjoy learning form my students and colleagues and have observed several of my colleagues. Having been part of our peer evaluation committee, I have learned so much from these observations.