Faculty Advisor Spotlight on Dr. Jennifer Metzler, Ball State University (IN)

“Everybody uses Mastering in subtly different ways…” says Jennifer Metzler, Assistant Professor of Biology at Ball State University and user of both MasteringBiology and MasteringMicrobiology. Being a Faculty Advisor allows Metzler to help others use Mastering, but also to see how other Faculty Advisors respond to questions coming in from faculty. “I really love being able to see how my fellow FAs respond to questions and get their ideas on using the system,” says Metzler.

And Metzler definitely takes advantage of the features in Mastering for her courses. Not only does she use two Mastering products in her courses, but she also used it in both lab and lecture. Weekly assignments and pre-lecture reading are assigned from MasteringBiology for Metzler’s Intro Biology for Majors lecture, and she assigns pre-lab questions  for students to prepare for the day’s lab activities. Metzler uses MasteringMicrobiology  to assign weekly homework assignments and give students an opportunity to do bonus, pre-lecture reading. The homework assignments are the big element for both of Metzler’s courses and she uses these assignments to “gauge how the students are doing with the material prior to exams.”

While it’s the homework assignments that Metzler utilizes across the board for her courses, it’s the pre-lab work her students do in MasteringBiology that provide the most surprising results. “We, like many other instructors I’m sure,” says Metzler, “have always had problems having students come to lab without having read the material and retained some of it. These short, little assignments [in MasteringBiology] which open up the night before a particular lab meets have made a big difference in the level of preparedness the students exhibit.” Changes have been significant enough for Metzler’s TAs to notice.

Using Mastering is as much about the results as it is about getting comfortable with figuring out how best to incorporate the technology into your course. As a Faculty Advisor, Metzler is prepared to see lots of questions posted on ‘Ask An Expert,’ especially at the start of each semester. She’s also ready to beat her fellow FAs to the punch to get those questions answered. Metzler warns new Faculty Advisors to “get a Smartphone or you may never get to answer a question.”

How do you assign homework in your course? What pre-class work (if any) to you assign through your MyLab/Mastering product?