Dr. Sarah Charmichael
Professor of Geology
Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences
The Center for Academic Excellence has enlisted the help of many faculty champions across the campus community to help with workshops and support for the Keep Teaching initiative during the virtual transition of Covid-19. Faculty champions are helping others with transitioning to online delivery; continuing support of faculty and staff within their home department throughout this semester; providing consultations and workshops, as well as assisting faculty with efforts for accessible course content.
"I'm currently assisting faculty with transitioning to online tests in AsULearn. I've found that AsULearn is a wonderful tool for exams and quizzes. It has a lot of powerful and innovative ways of testing that are not typically taken advantage of. I will probably continue to use some of the methods I've learned over the past few weeks in my face-to-face classes in the future. I have also been setting up a video platform on Vimeo for our department to host videos for labs. I got the department a Vimeo Business account due to the sheer number of videos we are uploading (last count 143...more on the way). I filmed petrology (GLY 3715) samples, which deal with composition of rocks, and set up a vimeo account so that students could see what they would see on the microscope. Keeping students up to date has been one of my main goals. I set up a COVID-19 FAQ page for our majors. This is a Google Doc that is updated in real time by our chair and is specific to students in our department who have somewhat different needs than other App State students. I have also helped keep faculty up to date on the latest from the IT department about why we use certain software and not others. I'm super proud of our faculty who have all migrated to an online format without major disasters. Everyone has been innovative, creative and calm about this truly bizarre series of events," said Charmichael.
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About the Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences
Located in Western North Carolina, Appalachian State University provides the perfect setting to study geological and environmental sciences. The Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences provides students with a solid foundation on which to prepare for graduate school or build successful careers as scientists, consultants and secondary education teachers. The department offers six degree options in geology and two degree options in environmental science. Learn more at https://earth.appstate.edu.
About the Center for Academic Excellence
The Center for Academic Excellence is Appalachian State University's lead teaching and learning resource for faculty, staff and students. It was formed in 2016 by combining the staff and resources from Learning Technology Services and Faculty and Academic Development into a single, comprehensive center dedicated to growing excellence in teaching and learning and supporting faculty and student success. Among its services, the center provides support for teaching innovation, the scholarship of teaching and learning, learning technologies and professional development for faculty and staff. Learn more at https://cae.appstate.edu.
Compiled and written by Maddie Seehafer and Ellen Gwin Burnette
May 5, 2020
BOONE, N.C.
Dr. Sarah Charmichael, Center for Academic Excellence Champion. Photo submitted.
Dr. Sarah Charmichael, Center for Academic Excellence Champion. Photo submitted.