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.

Pilar Pulido:

I have been with UMUC for a long time. The first was as a student in the early 90s as a field representative and a computer technician, so it just made sense to continue onto the next step. I see UMUC as the one real opportunity for the military community overseas to have a chance at an education, just as I did, and I want to be a part of that.

I am always teaching! Besides the teaching, I have been one of the Faculty Peers for two years and a mentor to many faculty members. I am currently helping with the development of the new modules for SPAN111. I also teach faculty how to use the new Wimba tools. Besides that, I spend the rest of my time among family and friends, my pets, my chickens and my garden.

"Let me count the ways." We all have had students who lost their homework, or the dog ate it, and so on. During one term, I had a student ask me for an extension to turn in the final paper. I requested an explanation. He had been injured in Iraq, lost one of his legs and was testifying in front of the Senate. I realized just how fragile these guys really are, and how little my "standards" really mattered when this kind of stuff was happening to them. I think from that time onward, my teaching was a bit different than before.

Interviewer:

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

Pilar Pulido:

I think I am a very energetic and passionate person in general, and that is how my students see me. It does not matter if I am teaching Spanish or information systems classes, my students are very aware of my presence. If you ask any of my students what my goal is when I am teaching, they will simply answer, "It is for us to learn."

If I had to pick one person who influenced me, it would be Dr. Toni Sepeda, who was my instructor for several years. Her energy was very contagious!

Interviewer:

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

Pilar Pulido:

In my classes, students interact constantly. I make certain that we all know each other by name, and I try to remember little things about every one (during week one, we all introduce each other). With that bit of information, I can then try and challenge each one of them in a more personalized manner. This was very important for me, since almost none of my professors could remember my “weird” name when I was a student. Students, I think, appreciate this “personal” approach.

I use lots of diverse technologies when teaching online. There are many tools available to help students learn, specifically in the field of foreign languages, and I use every single one of them. As new ones come out, I play with and try to master them before using—students love the idea of voice emails, Skype, or links to YouTube videos in Spanish. All of these will help our students learn better. All of these will help our faculty teach better in a world that is no longer a flat, two-dimensional text world.

Interviewer:

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

Pilar Pulido:

Students should answer this one. The fact that I am constantly reminding them that we are learning from each other, that we are all working together to get to the same goal, that we all win when they pass my classes. I treat my students very respectfully, and they appreciate that. When they turn in work, they know that feedback will arrive shortly, showing them what they did right and wrong with an explanation of both. My passion for them to learn is real, and students can feel that.

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.

Pilar Pulido:

I teach face-to-face, online, and hybrid courses. I prefer face-to-face, because of the direct interaction in the classroom. That said, I have been teaching in distance education since the early days and I quite enjoy it as well.

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?

Pilar Pulido:

My field is computers. I didn’t have one until I was well into my BA. I felt I had missed something. They are the way of the future and continue to grow into our daily activities. Students need to understand the basics, just like they would learn how to use a screwdriver or change a tire.

My other field is Spanish. I’m a native speaker. When I was 12, I won a silly contest about the "key to the future"—mine was a bad drawing of a person holding a key full of foreign words (to represent languages). In the U.S. today, knowing Spanish can open new doors.

I stay current by reading. I continue to read things such as ACM and IEEE publications, online blogs, and so on. I love teaching the ethics class. Why? Because I have classes full of many different majors and the interaction among this diverse group is quite challenging. I also enjoy the information assurance and homeland security fields.

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 to teaching your discipline online?

Pilar Pulido:

All of my students are part of the military community, and when we approach topics that are a bit “uncomfortable” (like abusive governments, censorship, etc.), some of them react.

I tell them that all coins have two sides and that as adults we all have to respect them, even if we don’t like them. If they continue to distrust me and label me as a liberal or a socialist, as some do at first, I give them my side of the story. I come from a country where we had no freedom of speech, no privacy, basically no rights. I can explain to them by using my personal experiences how a government can become abusive and how, in those circumstances, it is ok to say so. I tell them how lucky they are to come from a place where all people are born with given rights and how it is so very important that we protect those rights.

I believe that learning should be fun, so that is one of my teaching strategies.

There are not really any special challenges to teaching online. I think that face-to-face students get to know me better and can push me harder with their own ideas/conclusions. Online, students are more reserved because communication is done primarily in writing.

Interviewer:

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

Pilar Pulido:

As I mentioned earlier, computers are here to stay. I would suggest majoring in a very specific area of the computer field, like information assurance. Also, I would remind them that this field, like their own computers, requires constant updating.

Interviewer:

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

Pilar Pulido:

From my experience, which is limited to the military community, UMUC offers flexibility to students who have bullets shot at them, work all the time, and have different obligations than the normal student. UMUC is there for them, anywhere (i.e., Iraq), anytime (we teach mornings, afternoons, nights, weekends), and offering whatever classes they need at that moment (from Math to Arabic). Who else would do that?

Interviewer:

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

Pilar Pulido:

It is the Peace Corps of academia. If you are looking for a career to make lots of money, go someplace else. If you are looking for a career that will fulfill you, then join us.

Interviewer:

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

Pilar Pulido:

In the computer field, stay up-to-date with the technology and be ready to recreate each one of the classes you teach as the content continues to change.

In Spanish, use a lot of patience with students who are trying to learn a foreign language via the Internet. For some, it is worse than math.