Faculty Excellence at UMUC

Interviewer:

Please tell us about yourself—what made you decide to teach at UMUC? What kind of work do you do when you are not teaching at UMUC? Are there any life experiences that have influenced your teaching at UMUC? If so, please share one story.

Lowell Brubaker

I had been teaching in Japan since 1983 and established my family there. My daughter was attending the American school on the US Naval base at Sasebo, and I saw a sign for UMUC. I knew basically zero about UMUC at the time, but I dropped by the office and asked if they needed any adjunct teachers. (At that time, I was a full-time professor at a Japanese university.)  The office staff gave me papers to complete, and I did so. I was eventually hired which is one of the best things to have happened in my professional life.

I am semi-retired, so I appreciate the chance to teach at UMUC and help support the fine people who defend our nation.  This has been reinforced by several seemingly small incidents that occurred since I began teaching with UMUC. I remember how moved I was by an event that followed shortly after 9/11. I was teaching a class at Sasebo, and, of course, security was very tight. All civilian workers were required to park our cars outside the base and walk in. One cold, wet night I trudged up the slope to the back gate of the housing area where my class was held, feeling sorry for myself all the way. When I got to the gate the guard was one of my students, a young woman of maybe 20, just a tad over five feet, dripping wet in the rain, with a shotgun slung over her shoulder, as big as she was. When she saw me she exclaimed, “Oh, Mr. Brubaker, I’m sorry, but I’ll be late to class tonight – I don’t get relieved till twenty-hundred.” It just got to me – this “kid,” standing there in the pouring rain for hours, protecting me.  There I was complaining about having to walk a few extra yards.  Things like this made me aware of the sacrifices others were making for us all and inspired me to try harder.

Interviewer:

How would you describe your teaching style or philosophy? What experiences or person(s) have influenced your style or philosophy?

Lowell Brubaker

I like to keep things a little bit light and loose, but not totally informal. I’m still the teacher. Given that, I do make use of humor and am not afraid to tell stories where I have been the butt of the tale. I try to avoid pomposity. Personal stories that illustrate a point are the best way to get a message across.

When I was accepted into graduate school at Western Reserve University I was fortunate to be selected to work in the lab of Jan Bruell. Jan was a Polish émigré and survivor of Auschwitz. He brought to his scholarship a European sensibility that was more compatible with the ethology of Lorenz and Tinbergen than the behaviorism of Skinner. He taught me so much of psychology and life in general. He was an amazing person.

Interviewer:

Please explain if you do something special or unique in your teaching and what made you develop this.

Lowell Brubaker

In my History of Psychology class I include stories of personal experiences I have had with some of the people we are studying about. Due to luck more than anything else, I have had a number of revealing encounters with several significant figures in psychology’s young history, and students seem to enjoy hearing about these things.

Interviewer:

What do you think it is about your teaching style that appeals to students?

Lowell Brubaker

I think the less-than-formal approach and personal responsiveness that I use are appreciated by students.

Interviewer:

Do you teach face-to-face, online, or both? Do you have a preference between teaching face-to-face and online? If so, please explain.

Lowell Brubaker

Currently I only teach online classes. I prefer online teaching. I like the opportunity to think over responses to questions or comments rather than responding immediately. I just work better with that time delay that online teaching provides.

Interviewer:

Please tell us about your chosen discipline-i.e., what made you interested in the area initially? What do you do to stay current in your discipline? What do you like best about teaching in your discipline?

Lowell Brubaker

I have always been interested in human behavior. My father was a high school history teacher, and I think his stories of American and world history got me hooked on questions of what people do and why. Then in high school I became interested in Native American cultures. All of this led me to psychology, which I majored in from the first day of undergraduate school all the way through the doctorate. I have never regretted the choice.

I belong to the Association for Psychological Science and the American Psychological Association and read their journals to keep current on new developments. Psychology knows so much of what we do, how we do it, and why. We know a lot of the different levels of functioning.  It’s startling information, especially the recent developments in neurocognitive science. If we tell it right, it makes people sit up and take notice.

Interviewer:

What is the most challenging to you in teaching in this area? What teaching strategy do you use when you encounter the challenge? Are there any special challenges in teaching this subject matter online?  If yes, please explain what could be done to meet the challenges.

Lowell Brubaker

The challenge is to “hook” the student – get the student to catch the excitement of the field. Our students are busy people, and busy for good reasons – raising families and defending the nation. We can’t compete with that, nor should we try – but beyond that – I have a story to tell that you’ll love, and I’m going to do my best to catch your attention and get my message across – maybe get you on the road to a new career!

Yes, there are challenges, but also benefits. One thing that defines online learning as we do it at UMUC is asynchronicity; we’re not interacting (generally) in real time. I present some information at one time, and a student might read it five hours later and respond, which I read sometime after that. Now, many people consider this a handicap, but I feel it is a real advantage. It allows more time for consideration of the issues and for the preparation of a more reasoned response. Online learning is the greatest development in education in recent history.

That said, the greatest challenge presented by online learning is the lack of opportunity to get to know each other on a personal, one-to-one basis. It’s just more difficult online. Maybe if President Obama could invite us all over to the White House for a beer, we could overcome this. Otherwise, it remains a problem.

Interviewer:

What suggestion would you give to students who are interested in majoring or working in your discipline?

Lowell Brubaker

Read science, real science, especially biology. Don’t read popular psychology, self-help, pseudo-science, or outright quackery.   

Interviewer:

In your opinion, what makes UMUC the college of choice for students?

Lowell Brubaker

Well, we're there where the students are located. Beyond that, we're good. We're a university, not a business. We're the pros.

Interviewer:

In your opinion, what makes UMUC the employer of choice for future faculty members?

Lowell Brubaker

UMUC gives faculty opportunities to see the world and to be on the cutting edge of twenty-first century education. 

Interviewer:

What suggestion would you give to new faculty who are interested in teaching in your discipline at UMUC?

Lowell Brubaker

Be aware of who your students are. Let students know that you have some of the same concerns that they do.