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.

Robert Wolfgang Rumpf

After my doctoral and postdoctoral research programs were over, I immediately started working in industry. While my job does give me the opportunity to do some informal lecturing, I found that I really missed teaching – seeing those "Aha!" moments when it's clear that you've successfully managed to convey a new principle to a student, the satisfaction of knowing that you can pass along some of the love of science, the joy of discovery. Short of a being a parent, nothing can be more important in someone's life than a good teacher.  I really love being able to share the knowledge, the joy of science, and the joy of learning that I have with others.

My "day" job is that of Scientific Product Expert at Rescentris Inc. We make electronic laboratory notebook software for life-scientists – i.e., software that really enables better research by facilitating collaboration and analysis, preventing reinvention/rework (the sorts of things scientists often do because we can't find something in one of the hundreds of notebooks we have, or because it's faster to repeat an experiment than searching a shoebox full of notes), and helping scientists just do a better job tracking their work by automating the "mundane" tasks that we as scientists know we should do but often don't because it detracts from the science - things like time/date/name stamping each entry in a notebook, signing off on experiments when they are done, etc. I help design the product and help with training and workflow integration for the end user.  It keeps me in science more than any other job I can imagine!

Having taught face to face for years I understand how hard it can be to get concepts across sometimes, especially things that happen at a molecular level.  Therefore, I try to reinforce the material, to present it in different ways whenever possible.

Interviewer:

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

Robert Wolfgang Rumpf

I think the material has to be engaging - whether it's through humor or through examples that the student can relate to, or questions that make you go "hmmm…." There has to be a way to grab the student's attention. Rather than rely on a dry text, I'll always give them a supplemental "spin" using my own thoughts and ideas and experiences on a given topic.

The person who influenced my teaching style would definitely be my graduate advisor, "Wild" Bill Birky.  He had a way of presenting things that made the material clear without seeming dry, a way of interjecting humor without detracting from his own professionalism. I think I'm probably a bit more "showy" than he is, but I'd like to think I'm on the right path.

Interviewer:

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

Robert Wolfgang Rumpf

I doubt it's special or unique, but I try to combine the written text with real-world examples, then take the two and explain them in my own words in order to try and make the material more approachable. It's part of the whole repetition thing - explain it in several different ways so that it sinks in even with everyone's individual learning styles.

Interviewer:

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

Robert Wolfgang Rumpf

I think the fact that I find it easy to flow between the formal didactic style and a casual friendly way of presenting things helps. I want the students to know that at the end of the day I'm just a person, and that I'm here to help them. So walking that fine line between professional distance and availability becomes an art form. It's important to me to be there for the students in that way.

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.

Robert Wolfgang Rumpf

Currently I'm teaching online only. I prefer teaching face-to-face, definitely. It’s so much easier to read the class and see if the lecture is getting through, so much more rewarding to literally see the "aha" moments. It appeals to the part of me that always wanted to go into drama. I tend to wave my arms and walk around a lot while lecturing.

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?

Robert Wolfgang Rumpf

Originally it was genetics that I was interested in, then after getting my Master of Science in 1990, it was clear that molecular biology was the way to go and during my doctoral program I just naturally became a bioinformaticist. I had to since it was the only way to deal with the problems and data we were addressing. It all came originally from a high school biology class where my teacher showed us the Hardy-Weinberg equation- you know, the application of simple quadratic math to the distribution of traits in a species? It was hugely eye-opening. There were rules for the way life worked, and I instantly needed to know those rules. It'll keep me busy for a long time…although lately I've started to feel the same way about cosmology and quantum physics, so I imagine that after I retire I'll be headed by for some degrees in Physics.

To stay current I try to read some of the broad-focus online journals, and of course, my day job helps since I'm continually exposed to scientists in my discipline as well as closely related ones. I wish the Nancy Kress "Sleepless" gene (from her sci-fi "Beggars in Spain" trilogy) were real. I'd love to have an extra eight hours a day to try and keep more current.

I like the fact that the field is constantly advancing at a rapid rate and that the potentials for future advancement seem boundless. It's exciting! That excitement easily rubs off onto the students, who often send some of the most interesting news articles and posts to the class in their "spare time."

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.

Robert Wolfgang Rumpf

Sometimes it's difficult to convey materials online. Being able to visually walk someone through an analysis is so much easier and more effective than doing it in a stepwise fashion. It's like trying to explain cell division – i.e., if you show someone a video of it, they get it right away, but if they just read about it in books where it's broken down into snapshots, it can be hard to put it all together. I try to give the students in-class examples of analyses and have them walk through and solve the problems in front of everyone else (in the conferences). They become their own check-sum, in a way. They end up teaching each other.

It's always difficult to be removed from the students – i.e., not seeing their reactions, not being able to give the entire class easy access to a question that one student might raise. I try to encourage students to always post any comment or question online, but often they feel embarrassed to do so. The asynchronous nature of the online setup does remove everyone from the stream-of-consciousness discussions that can happen in brick-and-mortar classes. Of course the advantages are that the class fits in with everyone's schedule more readily! I keep toying with the idea of doing a group video chat for things like midterm reviews - scheduling an hour where anyone can login and do a Skype™ video chat with myself and their colleagues. 

Interviewer:

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

Robert Wolfgang Rumpf

Get a good background in molecular biology and then struggle like the rest of us to keep up on new developments.  It's not a prerequisite for the BIOT series, but I personally think it only helps your skill set to have a firm grounding in the basics. Even if you're not going to be doing research yourself, you can't manage employees or run a company if you don't have a good grasp of the sorts of things your colleagues will be dealing with on a daily basis.

Interviewer:

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

Robert Wolfgang Rumpf

I think the broad range of available classes and programs is one big draw. There are plenty of online colleges where you can learn accounting, for example, but not so many where you can get a degree in Biotechnology. The quality of the faculty is also exceptional. Everyone I've interacted with at UMUC is absolutely on top of their game.The faculty is really more available to the students, even (if not more) in the online courses. I've taught at universities where the faculty members are too pressured with their grants, publications, and tenure pursuits to really spend quality time teaching, and at UMUC, the teaching comes first.

Interviewer:

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

Robert Wolfgang Rumpf

UMUC has a well established reputation and an excellent system (WebTycho) for online teaching and collaboration.  The available resources and support (from faculty as well as WebTycho support, library services, etc.) are very professional and easy to access. I can't seem to find any drawbacks to teaching at UMUC.

Interviewer:

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

Robert Wolfgang Rumpf

The best advice I could give would be to put in the extra time in advance to prepare your classes, and then put in the extra time to be really available to the students. Don't forget to have fun along the way.