Elizabethtown College faculty member honored for excellence in first-year teaching method

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Michele Lee Kozimor-King

ELIZABETHTOWN, PA (08/16/2012)(readMedia)--

Dr. Michele Lee Kozimor-King, associate professor of sociology at Elizabethtown College, is the recipient of the McGraw-Hill Excellence in Teaching First-Year Seminars Award. Kozimor-King was honored during a luncheon at the 31st Annual Conference on the First-Year Experience in San Antonio, Texas. The award is co-sponsored by The National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition, (http://www.sc.edu/fye/awards/teaching/current/index.html), and the McGraw-Hill Companies. The award is presented annually to an instructor who has shown great success in teaching a first-year seminar and who inspires students to continue to learn, grow and succeed.

Only one faculty member per college or university may be nominated for the award. Each nominee must provide a curriculum vitae-a summary of education, publications, presentations, awards and other job-related experiences-a course syllabus, teaching evaluations and philosophy of teaching. In addition, each nominee submitted a personal statement and/or letter of recommendation. Each nominee was evaluated in three different areas: Development of success in the classroom and beyond, development of students' personal strategies and incorporation of innovation into teaching. The nominees were further assessed by looking at one of three other areas: Development of critical and analytical thinking, encouragement of student involvement in the community or support of effective utilization of campus resources.

Kozimor-King's seminar, Simple Living, encourages students to step back, examine their lives and consider living an alternative lifestyle characterized by less consumption, greater awareness of their surroundings and productive action. The seminar challenges participants to reconsider living in a world founded on materialism and consumerism, and instead, address the wastefulness of our society and seek sustainable alternatives. In addition, the Simple Living seminar encourages students to seek meaningful work and promote social justice. This course hopes s not only to teach students the values of simple living, but encourage them to integrate the learning into their lives and their own belief systems.

"Effective teaching doesn't come only from technique," said Kozimor-King when asked about her teaching philosophy, "I connect with my students by being open and vulnerable, too." She stressed that, "Students pick up on that and I believe they are more willing to engage and think critically when they know I'm right there with them during the exploration process." The classroom sessions are dynamic; Kozimor-King utilizes a variety of traditional and innovative teaching methods to reach her students. One project, called Change it Up, requires students to choose three behaviors they would like to change, implement those changes and journal about their experiences. Kozimor-King also emphasizes service as part of the curriculum; students are required to plan and execute a service project to complete the course.

When asked about the service-learning requirement, Kozimor-King said, "The service component allows students to connect what they have learned in the classroom to the real world. The hands-on experience shows students that these ideas can exist beyond their textbook."

Unlike many first-year seminars, the students in Kozimor-King's class live together in a Living Learning Community (LLC). The students spend the entire first year sharing a floor in one of Elizabethtown College's dormitories. The LLC puts Kozimor-King in a unique position; not only does she serve as the students' professor and first-year advisor; she also is the faculty advisor for their LLC.

Kozimor-King is a graduate of Elizabethtown College, having earned her B.A. in English literature and sociology/anthropology in 1993. After her graduation she earned her master's and doctoral degrees in sociology from Penn State University. She was selected as a 2008-2009 Sloan Early Career Work and Family Scholar and is a sponsoring member of the Work and Family Researchers Network. She served as president of the Mid-Atlantic Council on Family Relations and is currently the executive council representative for Region III of Alpha Kappa Delta, the International Sociology Honor Society. Kozimor-King's research interests include the impact of family structure on retirement expectations for women and using service-learning to teach research methodology. Her work has been published in both the Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare and Research in the Sociology of Work.

Elizabethtown College, in south-central Pennsylvania, is a private coed institution offering more than four dozen liberal arts, fine and performing arts, science and engineering, business, communications and education degrees. Through personal attention, creative inspiration and academic challenge, Elizabethtown College students are encouraged to expand their intellectual curiosity and are given the opportunity to become a bigger part of the world through experiential learning-research, internships and study abroad. Elizabethtown College's overall commitment to Educate for Service is fulfilled as students are taught intellectually, socially, aesthetically and ethically for lives of service and leadership.

Visit www.etown.edu for more information about Elizabethtown College.