Teaching - Achievements and interests

 In the area of teaching I have grown tremendously since I came to Kent 16 years ago. I have become a more confident teacher and more skilled in understanding how to push students to reach their potential. I have also taken on leadership roles in curriculum development,  most prominently in knitwear design. Over the past few years I have created a specialization in Knitwear which includes 3 courses; Machine Knitting –single bed, Machine Knitting – double bed and Knitwear design. Through this process of course development  we can clearly see that our graduates are being offered jobs in knitwear at a much higher rate and level than was possible before, this even just after the first year of students who have taken all three classes in the specialization graduate.

 Besides knitwear my time at the Fashion School has mainly been focused on courses relating to junior and senior year. At this point in the program we are trying to teach students to become more independent learners. For us this means the students are exploring and searching for knowledge while we help facilitate each individual in their pursuit through the design process.  An example of this is in Junior year where we (Noel Palomo-Lovinski and I) have developed the course Fashion Design Studio I and II. In these two 6 credit courses we teach the students that design is a concept developed through the meeting of the skills of illustration and construction, one informs the other in the development of design. These team-taught classes have been taught the past two years. As is evident through evaluations it is a class that is quite a challenge for the students to grasp mainly in the freedom and responsibilities of time management and the understanding of course load in a 6 credit hour studio course. Some students understand the idea and the responsibility are successful in the class and stronger going into senior year and future employment, while others have a more difficult time grasping the concept. We still feel strongly that this type of class needs to continue and are continuously evaluating the process by asking students questions throughout the year, both in candid conversations and in reflection questionnaires where the students reflect on their approach to learning and to the set-up of the class.  We read the reflections and re-evaluate our own process as well as learn more about the students’ perspective to be able to meet them and approach this challenge in a more effective way.

 During the past year I have also developed and taught one of the most stressful and most rewarding classes I have ever taught; Senior Fashion Design Thesis I (6 credits) & II (3credits). These classes are selected by the students who wish to graduate with a BFA in Fashion Design, a new degree in the Fashion School. During these courses the students develop a thesis question and explore it through aa collection consisting of 6-10 looks depending on level of difficulty. To discuss and the thesis and evolution of their collection they are required to write a senior thesis. . Due to the individualized nature of the course it is important to meet each student and push them to reach their greatest potential based on their ability and future goals. To graduate with a BFA, the students need to have at least one look from their collection accepted into the juried annual Fashion Show and a thesis paper approved by the BFA committee by then end of the spring semester. The pressure of these components adds to the pressure of the class, however, it also helps push the students to do their very best. Being that this was the first time the course was taught and only a small number of students responded to the evaluations I decided to add an evaluation for the students at the end of the semester with questions more specific to the class. I made arrangements with the secretary to collect the evaluations and keep them until the grades in the class had been filed so that the students would not feel hindered in their answers. This seems to have been successful as most students spent a lot of time on these evaluations.

 The best part of teaching is the multitude of opportunities to learn on so many levels, both in areas of pedagogy and in the subject area you are teaching. Being challenged by students both in teaching approaches and skills I have learned more than I would ever have learned working on my own work and I will continue to learn as long as I teach. My goal as an educator is to inspire the students to have a similar joy for learning and help push them as best I can to reach their greatest potential. That is when reading comments from students like the ones below makes you feel like you have hit your mark and you need to keep trying to do better and work harder every class you teach.

 Linda is a great professor to learn from. She is always prepared to teach her students. She is very good with construction and will teach you new techniques to try. She has helped me with construction throughout this whole semester. She pushes her students to work hard to achieve goals. She has taught me new techniques that I found I am passionate about and I plan to use these techniques for my senior thesis. She is very professional and I plan to recommend other students to take courses she instructs because she creates a great learning experience.