Faculty Advisor Spotlight on Suzanne Long – Monroe Community College (NY)

“Even though I assign a substantial number of Mastering homework each week – often three assignments – as the semester draws to a close, the students are often clamoring for more,” says Suzanne Long, Biology and Microbiology Professor at Monroe Community College. Long uses Mastering in all the courses she teaches – General Biology (majors) and Microbiology. She uses Mastering within her courses in a number of ways, assigning short pre-lecture quizzes and extensive post-lecture assignments containing tutorials and activities. “Using Mastering in this way keeps Long’s students more engaged. “They come to class and lab more prepared since the pre-lecture/pre-lab assignments have gotten them to interact with the material ahead of time,” says Long.

Long also uses the assignments within Mastering to customize her lectures for her students. “I use the diagnostics generated from both pre-lecture and post-lecture assignments as a “just-in-time” tool to enable me to tailor the lecture to those topics that seem to be most problematic for the students.” There are even topics Long no longer has to lecture on since students are now able to learn them outside of class through Mastering.

As a Faculty Advisor, Long especially enjoys the opportunities to interact with other faculty. Getting to share ideas allows Long to, “learn as much as I contribute.” Long spends most of her time interacting with faculty at events either as a panel member or in training sessions. “It is always fun to see faculty that are newly introduced to Mastering get excited about the potential it offers,” she says.

For new Faculty Advisors, Long reminds them that, “the busiest time for answering questions is just before the semester starts or during the first few weeks of the semester.” Luckily, though, many of the questions are similar and saving responses to reuse is a great tip Long recommends.